Page 24 of Sweet
My brow raised. “Oh?”
The man nodded then cleared his throat, pulling a phone from his jacket pocket. He turned it to face me, revealing a poor quality photo of a woman. She was turned away, her unusual white hair standing out amongst the crowd.
“And who might this be?” I asked, trying to zoom into the picture.
“I’m not sure.”
I rolled my eyes, tossing the phone back to him. “Don’t waste my fucking time. Out.”
“But—”
“I saidout!” Such rage bubbled to the surface as I tried to immediately compose myself.
The man remained still. “Sir…she seems to know him.”
I froze. “What did you say?”
“From what we can gather, she knows him. The two have been spotted at The Red Eye on multiple occasions?—”
I groaned. “That could mean anything.I’vebeen into that run-down club with him before?—”
“Charlotte’s Web keeps losing him.”
I blinked. “What do you mean they keep losing him?”
“Every night, going back months, Felix has gone completely off-grid, and Charlotte’s Web doesn’t even know where he’s been. Word is, they’re clueless on how to handle the situation, fearing the outcome if they try to ground him.”
Oh…now thatisinteresting.
I scoffed, entertained by this new information. “Well, of course they won’t intervene…the Web can’t afford to piss off their deadliest player, especially at a time like this.” I wandered around the room thinking to myself before stopping in front of the fire. “Pull your men from the Web and its locations. I want all eyes on this. Onher.” I pointed to the image of the white-haired woman.
The man nodded again, then rushed from my sight to carry out my demands.
I returned to my leather chair and stared into the flames. “What are you up to, cousin?” The music continued as I began to sing along. “Ay-ay-ay-ay. Canta y no llores. Porque cantando se alegran. Cielito lindo, los corazones…”
CHAPTER SIX
DREAM
“Hmm…hmm. Hmmm!”I hummed along to the colorful music playing from my headphones. I bobbed my head and danced in my little black miniskirt, the oversized and holey pinstriped crop wiggling as I moved. Thankfully, I was comfortable wearing platform boots, making the walk home easy. “Now, stop!” I stopped as the beat halted, the climax building until the bass dropped. “So sick,” I whispered to myself, dancing down the sidewalk. The summer air was surprisingly cool and peaceful. It reminded me of him—my sunshine man.
My smile grew at the thought of him.
I wonder what soldier boy is doing right now.
I glanced at my phone, tapping from one playlist to another, purposely choosing my next song.
Let’s see if he likes this one, too.
I pressed the play button and as the music began, I tossed my hair over my shoulder, dancing the rest of the way home. The night was beautiful, and I was practically buzzing from my set at The Red Eye earlier in the night.
Maybe Felix can come to another performance. Oh! What if I can convince him to take a spin at my DJ booth!
I nearly jumped with excitement at the thought.
Oh! And he’d look so cute wearing his own pair of bunny ears!
With a pep in my step, I skipped up the stairs of the concrete stoop and stopped outside the front door of my apartment. “I wonder…” I twisted the doorknob and, to no surprise, found it unlocked. “Knew it.” My smile felt permanent, my cheeks aching as I stepped inside. Felix was sitting on the velvet couch, wearing a simple black T-shirt and dark wash jeans, his hair faintly brushed back with a few wavy strands hanging around the dark-framed glasses he had on. He had his bag next to him on the floor and seemed to be peacefully reading, wearing a single headphone as if he was too preoccupied to welcome me home…but I knew he was just pretending.
