Sapphire Universe (23 page)

“Connor what’s the matter?”  I
ask breathlessly against his chest.

“Nina!  You
’ve been gone almost two hours.  I was just on the phone with 911 and putting on my boots to go looking for you.”

I look at the clock and my eyes widen.  “Wow I had no idea.  It all happened so fast.  I’m sorry
. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“What do you mean?  What happened so fast?” 

“Some guy in a SUV almost hit Sam.  It was all my fault I didn’t have the leash on him, but he’s okay.”

“God I was so worried this last half hour.  I thought you’d slipped and hit your head or something.”

“I’m not that clumsy Connor!”  He just raises one eyebrow.  “Okay maybe I am.”

“Which is exactly why I was so worried.  I don’t want to see you strapped to a gurney ever again.  At least you’re wearing proper footwear this time.”  He looks down at my boots and his phone starts playing “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon. I shake my head at him.  Such a horn dog. 
Men!

“Hello?..  Hey Lola…  No she’s alive just came home…  Yup…  Anytime, just head over…  Okay see you in a few.”  I raise my eyebrows at him in question.  “Lola’s coming over.” 

“Yay!”  I clap and jump into Connor’s arms and wrap my legs around his waist excited to see my best girlfriend.

“You’re adorable.”  Connor sweeps the hair off my face and kisses me.  As usual one kiss is never enough and soon we’re rolling around on the floor with our mouths fused and our hands roaming. 
We must have been in that position for a while, because what feels like only a few minutes later, I hear a knock on the door and Lo’s voice.

“Hello!  Lovebirds!  Lola is here!”  I giggle at my friend and run to the door.  I fling it open and smile widely.

“What’s the password?” 

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious.”  Lo deadpans back.

“Very well, you may enter.”  Lo pushes past me and clicks her tongue when she walks inside.

“No broken bones?  I was sure you sli
pped and hit your head.”  I glare over at Connor and he’s grinning at my friend.  “I’m actually surprised Con Man kept it together that well when you were gone so long.  Lord knows I’ve been there before.”

“I know
, I know. I’m sorry I scared you guys.  Samson almost got ran over.”  Lola’s eyes widen and she bends down to pat Sam’s head.

“Oh goodness boy are you alright?”  She cuddles him for a minute and then stands up. “No wonder.  I bet that was scary.”  She says then catches me eying Connor as he stretches to get some glasses out of the cupboard in the kitchen “So, how’s the new house working out?”  She
asks with a knowing smirk.

“It’s great!  I think we are finally all settled in.” 

“And by settled in you mean screwing on every surface imaginable right?” 

“The kitc
hen table is next.”  Connor doesn’t miss a beat when he walks into the room with two glasses of Moscato.

“Where is your old man anyway?  If he’s going to be doling out houses I want in.”  Lo sips her wine and plops down into the couch.

“He left for Hawaii yesterday.  It was me and Nina’s Christmas present to him.  He will be sitting on a beach sipping piña colada’s till March.”

“Why don’t you have a brother or something?”  Lola sighs dramatically and sweeps her hand around the room.

I frown at her, wondering why she all of a sudden seems interested in having a relationship.  “What happened to Drake?” 

Lo shrugs.  “He’s a cowboy Nins.  They don’t stick around and they don’t do girlfriends.”

“You should write a Country song.”  I laugh at her and Connor chuckles right along with me..

“Yea it could go something like;
I once had a friend named Nina.  She stuck her nose in my love life so I beat the shit out of her.
”

“Hmmm, I think it needs some work.”  I say still laughing and Lo rolls her eyes at me.

“Whatever, enough about all this.  Tell me what’s crackin in the land of In Love and Living Together?” 

What a loaded question.
  I know that it’s time I filled my best friend in on everything, but I’m a little worried about sharing Connor’s secrets.  It’s not my story to tell after all.  I look over Connor, silently asking his permission and he nods.  Lo and I don’t keep secrets.  We know everything about each other and Connor knows this.  I move to the chair and sit before turning to my friend.  Lo immediately perks up from her relaxed position.  She has seen this look on my face before. “Nina?  What’s wrong?  Why are you looking at me like that.”  I take a deep breath and glance back at Connor nervously.  He comes to my side and rests his hands on my shoulder, lending his support.  Lo narrows her eyes at him.  “What the hell happened?  I told you that if you did anything…”

“Lo it’s not like that.”  I cut her of
f.  “Well, not exactly.”  I edit and she relaxes a bit again.

“Thank God you had me really worried there for a minute.”  She looks back at Connor
and nods.  “Your family jewels are safe.”  Connor’s hand flexes on my shoulder a little and it makes me smile.  “Well out with it, the suspense is killing me.”

I take a deep breath and prepare myself.  We haven’t really talked about this since Connor first confessed everything to me.  I know that telling Lola will make it feel more real and even though I’m not ready to give up my peace of mind, sh
e deserves to know after everything we have been through together.  I look my best friend in the whole world in the eye and just start talking. “You know how Connor worked for a Marketing firm in New York?”  I start and Lo nods.

“Yea he was the CEO’s Assistant right?”

“Yes.  Well, it turns out that Connor’s old boss is not only rich and powerful, he’s also a murderer.”  The room is silent as Lo absorbs that last part.  She narrows her eyes at Connor and then turns back to me before speaking quietly, but firmly.

“Go on.”

I inhale through my nose and meet her gaze straight on.  “Connor found some incriminating evidence that proves his boss was involved in one of his client’s deaths.  Blood on his clothes, a missing rug from Holden’s office and he watched the guy that was murdered walk into Holden’s office, but he never walked out.”  Connor’s hand tightens on my shoulder and I glance up at him before finishing.  “Connor reported this to the police and it turns out the victim’s body was found in an alley not far from Holden’s office from what was made to look like a mugging.  The police also found out that plane tickets were bought with the victim’s credit card.”

“The police confirmed that the tickets were purchased after time of death.  Holden is trying to make it look like the guy was running from his debts before he was killed in the mugging.”  Connor adds.  “If it weren’t for my testimony he may have been questioned
, but there is no doubt he would have never have been charged.  When he found out I spoke to the police, he fled.  They still haven’t found him and since he has so many connections, I had to go somewhere far away where he wouldn’t think to look for me.”

I close my eyes and fight back the tears that threaten to take over at his words.  I hate that he is in so much danger.  How can I protect him from someone so beyond my means?
I’ve make it through a lot of ugly things in one piece, but losing Connor?  I’m not so sure I could survive that.  I open my eyes and Lo is staring off into space and her features are frozen in indifference.  This is Lola scared.  I’m relieved that I don’t see any fear evident on her face, because that would have sent me over the edge.  If this could make Lo show fear, then I don’t stand a chance.

“Oh
, so nothing too exciting then?”  Lo says with no change in her expression whatsoever.  I hear Connor mutter “women” and Lo and I giggle a little before her expression finally turns from joking to serious.  “I swear Nina, you should write a freakin book.  Your life has more drama than a Leonardo DiCaprio movie.” 

“It will all be okay Lo, Connor is pretty sure Holden doesn’t know he is here. Nothing is going to happen.”  Lo knows me better than I know myself so I’m not surprised when the look she gives me says she doesn’t believe a word I say. 

“I take it back.”  She says looking at Connor.  “Take good care of her Con Man, or I will follow through with my promise.” 

Connor chokes on his wine grimacing and Lo and I just start laughing.  Connor shakes his head and grabs the front of his pants protectively.  “Women!”

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CHAPTER 13

“SHUT UP PEOPLE!”  Nick yells out and everyone immediately obeys him, when my much smaller “Quiet please” didn’t do a thing to drop the volume in the room.

“Thanks Nick.”  I look over at Connor’s best friend and still can’t believe how wrong I was in how I pictured him.  When he arrived with a very annoyed Toni a half hour ago
, it took a minute to pick my jaw up off the floor.  He isn’t Connor, but he is still ridiculously attractive.  He’s bulkier than Connor and not as tall and has a darker olive complexion and golden brown eyes and light brown hair that's been cut into messy spikes.  He’s just as blunt in person as he was on the phone and must have driven Toni nuts on the way to the bar I rented out, because she is seething.

“When the fuck
is he going to be here?  My muscles are starting to atrophy.”  Nick grunts to me in a whisper.

“He and Drake should show up any minute.”  Lo and I had told Connor that we wanted a girls only night so Drake suggested taking him to the bar for drinks
, so we could have the house to ourselves.  All part of the plan, of course.  Connor seemed a little hurt at first, but recovered quickly and agreed to the man date. 

“I just got a text from Drake.  They are in the parking lot.”  Lo whispers to me.

“Okay quiet everyone they’re here.”  I say one last time and the room silences.  The lights are off and we were all gathered on the dance floor.  Other than Lo, Nick, Toni and I, there were some people from work and a couple of Nina’s and Drake’s friends and I asked Toni to invite some people as well.  I had gotten to know quite a few of them within the last hour or so and some of them were pretty cool.  It’s obvious a couple of Toni’s girlfriends are jealous that I landed Connor, but I didn’t let that bother me.  He is quite a catch after all.

A couple of minutes later
, we hear the front door open and Connor say “Are you sure this place is open?” from the doorway and when Drake switches on the light we all jump out and yell “SURPRISE!”  Connor looks shocked for a second and then his eyes fall on me and his face splits into a huge grin.  He only has eyes for me as he makes his way to the stage and takes me into his arms and spins me around in circle.  His reaction makes all the stress from the last week worth it.

“Girls night huh Princess?”  He says grinning and gives me a barely appropriate kiss with our audience.  “I love it baby.  I love you.”  He murmurs against my mouth
. I barely get out my “I love you too” before Nick speaks, breaking up our private moment.

“Damn Connor, think you can wait a few minutes before you need to get a room.  I didn’t fly all the way out here to see you make a fool of yourself with your girl.”  Connor freezes at his best friend’s voice and I smile widely. 

“Tonight.”  That one word whispered in Connor’s deep voice makes me shiver with anticipation.  “You’re mine later, so don’t drink too much.”  Connor’s eyes promise me wicked things and with one last kiss he sets me on the floor to greet Nick.

“Well hell has frozen over after all.  Nicholas Patera has left the city for a small country town.  However will he survive such a primitive place?”

“Shut the hell up Connor.  I’m perfectly capable of surviving in the country.  I just prefer the city.  And this isn’t exactly no man’s land.  It’s just…small.”  The two men start laughing.

“Come on Nina.” Connor turns toward me and I walk back to his side and he puts an arm around me.  “I’m sure you’ve met my girlfriend.”  He says and Nick nods.

“She is exactly as you described her Connor.”  Nick says cryptically and I look at Connor trying to decode that statement along with the looks passing between the two men.  “Well done man, I’m happy for you.  Now, let’s get a drink or is this not a party?”  Nick asks raising his eyebrows.

“Tequila!”  I holler
and the men laugh.

“Keeps you on your toes huh?”  Nick says to Connor as we make our way to the bar.

“You have no idea.”  Connor mutters, but kisses my hair.

We have a few shots and listen to Connor and Nick tell stories.  Lola and Drake cuddle up on the other side of the bar from us and I like seeing them together like that.  They look so happy.  At one point I think I see some very heated looks between Nick and Toni, but I’m happily buzzed and Toni has been making it pretty obvious that Nick bothers the shit out of her.

Nick has taken up role as bartender and is actually incredibly talented, just like Connor said.  He flips the bottles and recites little facts about the liquor as he pours and the women at the party are looking at him like he’s on the drink menu.  The men seem to just be impressed and interested in all the information he offers but Toni just glares at him seemingly unimpressed, barely speaking the entire party except to wish Connor a happy birthday.