Chapter 37 Let's Go Get Drunk
The next morning, David is in the kitchen again when I walk in. He hands me a coffee, tells me that I have 20 minutes to get ready for work.
Then he kisses me.
Slow, sensual, too overwhelming for 7am. The kind of kiss that makes me dizzy, and if I’d been any more awake, it is the kind of kiss that would have made me late for work.
He leaves the kitchen before my brain can tell my body to move, leaving me standing frozen to the spot, gripping my coffee mug tight, my veins thrumming with adrenaline.
It seems that my promise last night has kicked his ass into action.
I get dressed as quickly as I can, meeting David by the front door to head to the car together. Today there are more smiles, his hand on my lower back as he guides me through the doors, his hand on my knee as Theo drives.
I spend the entire day feeling giddy.
David comes into my office around lunch, closing the door behind him, striding over to my desk, capturing my face in his hands and capturing my lips before I can even say a ‘hello’ to him. I just sit in my chair, melting into his touch, until he pulls away.
“Good afternoon to you too, David.” I say, the smile creeping over my lips. “Having a good day?”
“Better now.” He smirks, kissing me again.
I am ready this time, straightening my back to push up into the kiss, my hand sliding around his forearm as he swipes his tongue over my bottom lip.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish.” I whisper in a brief moment of separated lips. He smiles, then slides his hands from my face and stands up straight, moving to lean back against my desk.
“I have something tomorrow night.”
“Another meeting?” I ask, and he nods. “Surely you’ve talked about Mob stuff enough by now?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, all these meetings every other night. Surely nothing new has happened. I know I haven’t been kidnapped again so what, you guys just talk about the weather?”
“You’re cute.” He laughs. “But it’s not like we do one thing. We have jobs, shipments, lines of enquiry, investigations. Only part of that is looking into how much information Trent Hayes passed onto his boss.”
“Wait, I thought you were finding out who his boss was?”
“No. We know who he was working with.”
“Then go knock the guy out!” I say, as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. “If you know who he was working for, go up to them, tell them to eff off, job done.”
“If only it were that easy. If we go after him unprepared, they'd retaliate, and something else could happen to you. We’re trying to take them down from the inside out.”
“That seems like it’s a lot more effort.” I scoff, pushing away from my desk, and heading over to the shelves to put away the folder I’d been working on. “I’ll do it if you like, with one of those machine guns you wouldn’t let me touch.”
“Now that’s something I’d love to see.” He chuckles, walking up behind me, grabbing my hips and spinning me round to face him. “I think you would be quite good in a fight.”
“I’m awesome in a fight. So maybe, instead of hiding me under the desk like in last night’s meeting, you’ll let me listen in to this one?”
“Oh Nora,” He says, in a slightly patronising tone as he reaches up to run his fingers over my cheek. “There was no meeting last night.”
The smirk drops from my face.
“What? But you–”
“Made it more exciting by telling you there was.” He grins, running his hands down my arms, catching my wrists, and pinning them above my head, against the shelves he has now pushed me against.
“Because it was, wasn’t it?” He whispers. “Thinking that the whole time, there were people around that had no idea that you were being such a little cock-slut for me.”
My body shivers, liking that nickname far too much. Or maybe it is just the way David says it.
“But... I...” I stammer, still frowning up at him as he holds me in place. “There was someone, the floorboards–”
“Harlan dropped off something for me, but he left straight after. It was just me and you in that room Nora, just me listening to those gorgeous little noises you make while you’re sucking me off…”
He trails off so that he can kiss me, harsher than how he kissed me at my desk, and the whimper I give him in response tells him everything he needs to know about how I am still ridiculously turned on by the whole situation.
He pulls away, letting go of my wrists, watching me breathe deeply to collect myself.
“So, tomorrow, I have an actual meeting.” He reiterates, with a smirk. “It’s important.”
“I’ll make myself scarce.” I huff. Then I have an idea. “Actually, I’m going out.”
“You can’t go–”
“I gave up seeing Selena last night for your fake meeting. I’m seeing her tomorrow.”
“Okay fine, Marcus will–”
“Nope.” I shake my head, stepping forward. “I’m going to meet Selena in town, and we are going out.”
I fold my arms, holding his gaze with a firm glare, which he reciprocates for a few seconds. Then he sighs.
“If you’re going out, then you’re taking Marcus with you.”
“I just said–”
“That’s my compromise, Nora. Don’t push it.” He growls, taking a step closer.
“But Mr. Reid, you love when I push it.” I muse, making his glare soften a little.
“Marcus is going with you.” He repeats. Then he raises his hand, brushing my hair behind my ear. “I’m not letting you disappear on me before we’ve even had our chance.”
“Well, maybe if you finish your meeting early, you can meet us there. Then we can get started on our chance before anything else happens.”
I smile slightly, and see his lip twitch, as though he wants to smile back. But behind his eyes, there is something lingering, something that tells me that he is worried.
I let out a sigh.
“Fine. I’ll take Marcus.” I mutter.
Then he finally smiles. He leans closer, pressing a light kiss to my forehead.
“Thank you.” He replies.
And then he leaves my office.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I call Selena once I finish for the day, and she is all too happy for a night out. She asks Nico to manage the Red Room cameras, calling in extra security for more eyes on the floor. When I ask if she is alright relinquishing control for the evening, she reminds me how long it has been since I last saw her.
In her words, it is ‘urgent, and criminal’.
I laughed when she’d said that, the irony not lost on me.
With a promise of catching her up on everything when we see each other, I am so exhilarated at the thought of going out, drinking, dancing with Selena just like the old times, that I don’t even care when David bids me goodnight with nothing more than a kiss to my temple.
The next evening, I (and Marcus) am knocking on Selena’s door, shouting her name through the wood.
“GET OFF YOUR ASS YOU LITTLE SHIT!” I yell, making Marcus shake his head from beside me.
The door swings open suddenly to reveal my best friend wearing a killer outfit, and glare on her face.
“You think after ghosting me for weeks that you can speak to me like that?!” She scoffs, grabbing her bag and leaving her apartment, shutting the door behind her.
“Yeah, cause I know you missed me.” I grin, throwing my arms around her as she hugs me back.
“Wow, Selena you look…” Marcus mutters from beside the two of us, and I start separating to look round at him.
“Think someone’s a bit love-struck.” I whisper to her, making her blush, her cheeks reddening to almost match the colour of her hair.
I watch Selena walk up to Marcus, reaching up to place a kiss on his cheek, causing his face to flush, and then she throws a wink to me.
“Come on, let’s go get drunk.” Selena smiles.
I, Selena and Marcus end up going to a local bar for our ‘catch up’ drinks, with me filling Selena on (almost) everything from the last few weeks, with Marcus chiming in every now and then to add his own version to my stories. Selena laughs much harder at Marcus’s comments than she does mine.
But I don’t call her out on it. Her and Marcus seem to be developing a cute little dynamic, even if they aren’t diving into their flirting, it is cute to watch.
The next place we end up in is a dark club, with strips of LED lighting around the ceiling, dark marble bar tops, numerous booths and a DJ stage. It isn’t somewhere we have been before, but Marcus recommended it.
The thump of the music vibrates through my body the instant that I step into the place, with Selena tugging on Marcus’s arm to pull him to the bar. I smile as I follow them, taking the shots that appear in front of me, and then picking up the drink Selena has already ordered for me.
Making my way to the middle of the dancefloor, Marcus is pretty stoic as Selena and I dance around him, switching between singing along to the songs, dancing together, and dancing with him. Or rather, trying to dance with him as he stands there laughing at us both.
Either way, I am having a lot of fun.
Realising that my drink has emptied, I shout in Selena’s ear that I’m heading to the bar, and head over to put my order in with the bartender. Waiting for the drink to be made, I feel a presence slide in beside me, and breathe in, ready to reject whomever it is.
“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?” I hear them say. The frown disappears from my eyebrows as I recognise the voice.
Slowly, I turn to them, eyes widening as my theory is proved correct.
“David?”