Page 52 of Veil

“No.” She scoffs. “Cannon couldn’t run that place without Desiree. Besides, she’s practically family. I’ve known her since I was a kid. We were pretty close. Especially after my parents died. But after they broke up, we kind of drifted apart.”

What the fuck?It’s like a sucker punch to the gut. I blink. Then I blink again. I’m trying hard not to look shocked, but Heather sees it.

“Oh my God.” She slaps a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I’m gonna shut up now.”

“It’s fine, Heather,” I lie. “I’ll add that to the list of things Cannon and I need to discuss. Moving on.” I wave a hand. “I’m sorry for screaming at you in front of Jesse. That was pretty shitty on my part, and I feel like I should probably go downstairs and apologize to him. He probably thinks we’re all crazy and I don’t want to cause any problems between you.”

Heather sags against the sofa cushion, resting her head on top. “Jesse and I broke up.”

Guilt washes over me like a bucket of cold water. I reach for her hand. “I’m so sorry. I’ll go down there right now and tell him it was all a big misunderstanding.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “It wasn’t because of you. We went out for dinner and drinks last night and ran into his ex-girlfriend.”

My brows jerk up. “Go on.”

“We weren’t there five minutes before she came up to our table. She gave me the typical ex-girlfriend once-over and clearly wasn’t threatened.”

“I hate her already,” I interject.

Heather snorts. “Then she asked if she could talk to him outside.”

“Please tell me he didn’t—”

“He did.” She nods. “I don’t know what pissed me off more: that he interrupted our date to talk to his ex or that his entire demeanor changed after talking to her.”

“Did you confront him about it?”

“No. I didn’t want to be that girl. Clearly he was agitated after talking to her. I didn’t want to fight, so when I finished my drink, I told him I was ready to go home. He called for an Uber. We were two blocks away, and instead of walking back with me, he put me in a fucking Uber and said he was heading over to Inkubus.” She rolls her eyes.

I raise my brows. “Wow. That’s… rude. He didn’t come by later to explain?”

“Nope.” She sighs. “I didn’t know he was back until I came downstairs to check on you.”

“I don’t know what to say. Give him some time. Maybe there’s some painful history between them and talking to her stirred up emotions he wasn’t ready to deal with.”

“Guess I’ll never know,” she says with a sad smile. “Why was Victor here last night?”

Ugh.“For me, apparently.” My lip curls in disgust. “He was just hanging out there in the dark. Scared the shit out of me.”

Her expression turns incredulous. “He was just standing out there waiting for you?”

“Yeah.” I huff out a humorless laugh.

“You need to be careful, Makayla.”

I try not to think about how differently things might’ve gone with Victor if Cannon hadn’t shown up.

“I know, and I will.” I stand from the sofa. “I need to find something to wear for my date tonight. You wanna go shopping with me? I’ll buy you a latte.”

“You don’t have to threaten me with a good time.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

CANNON

I’d like to think I’m overestimating Victor, but I’m not willing to risk Makayla’s or Heather’s safety. My sister is aware of the situation. I filled her in earlier when she called to bitch me out for not telling Makayla about my past with Desiree. It’s not like I was hiding my past from Makayla. It’s just a lot to throw at her all at once. Not to mention that Victor is a potential threat. One thing I’ve learned about Makayla is she’s as brave as she is curious. I didn’t miss the shakiness in her voice when she told him off last night. She’s afraid of him. But that didn’t stop her from standing up for herself.

What will she do the next time he shows up?

---