Tethered (A BirthRight Novel) (22 page)

He tightens his grip, burying his face in my neck again. “Well, I just might have to take you up on that.”

“Well, don’t be writin’ checks your body can’t cash, Mr. Payne,” I reply with a playful pat on his butt.

He releases his hold, pulling his head back to look me in the eyes. “You’d better be careful what you wish for, Miss Chloe.”

I raise my eyebrows and laugh. “Bring it on.”

“Lord, help me! Sometimes you make it
impossible
for me to not rip your clothes off.” He shakes his head, reaching down for my hand. “Are we ready then?”

“Ready when you are, Mr. Fireman,” I say with an enthusiastic tone.

He walks me to his glistening Edge, opening the door like a true gentleman. “So are you hungry?”

“Are you kidding? I’m
always
hungry.”

“Perfect. We’ll eat first.”

“Will you tell me where we’re going?”

“Of
course
I won’t.”

“Okay, have it your way.” I cross my arms over my chest, looking out the window.

“Oh, come on now. Don’t pout. But I’ll tell you this much. We’re going to the city—and you’ll be
very
happy at the end of the evening.”

“I can’t wait.” I lean over the console, getting closer to him as he drives.

Once he realizes what I’m doing, he switches hands on the steering wheel, reaching down to hold my hand.

I don’t know what it is about Hunter, but when I’m with him, I often feel like I’m in an old movie—like
Gone with the Wind
.

The way we speak to one another.

The respectful way he treats me.

I love it. It would be cheesy coming from most guys. But from Hunter, it’s sexy.

We spend most of the hour-long drive listening to my favorite Pop music on
Sirius Hits 1
. Every now and then, a song comes on I like and I sing along—just like I do in the shower. He doesn’t say a word, so it must not hurt his ears
too
much. Either that, or he’s just being kind.

Yeah, that’s it. I’m pretty sure I’m tone deaf.

Once we turn onto Eighty-Sixth and First Avenue, my gut tells me I’ve been here before.

He drives slow, scanning the area for an open spot. To my surprise, he finds street parking right away. Does perfection
ever
end with this guy? Gees!

He yanks the keys from the ignition. “So, does anything look familiar?”

I glance to my right—then to my left—and I know it does. It’s not the same though. “Sort of.” I shrug.

“I’m sure it will come to you.”

I reach for the handle.

“Don’t you dare,” He says, “I’ll be right there.”

In about two seconds, he makes it to my side and opens the door, then offers his hand for assistance.

“Thank you. I’m not used to such treatment. I guess California boys are bit too laid back.”

“Then I guess that makes it easier for me to impress you.”

He reaches for my hand—locks the doors—then waits while I check out the neighborhood.

“Here, maybe this will help.” He begins leading me across the street.

As I look at the various storefronts, I recognize a familiar liquor store and Mexican Restaurant. “Wait a minute.
Now
I know where we are. Isn’t this where my favorite restaurant used to be?”

“As a matter a fact, it
is
. I did a little research and it just so happens, the guy who owned
Andiamo
, also owns this place. He did a little redecorating and changed the name to
Sotto Cinque
. They say the food is just as good, but it’s a hundred times more romantic.” He squeezes my hand.

My stomach flutters. “Seriously? This is so amazing. They used to make an Ahi Tuna dish I
loved
. And don’t even get me started on the Baked Clams Oreganata.” My stomach growls just thinking about it.

He holds out his elbow for me. “Shall we?”

“Yes, we shall.” I do a little hop in place before we walk through the ebony double-doors the hosts are holding open for us.

Oh my god, he’s so right about the decorating. Before, there where obnoxious abstract swirls in every color of the rainbow. Literally. It put me in the mind of a horribly decorated Mexican restaurant in a way.

Now, however, it’s welcoming and soothing the second you walk in. There’s a long bar just inside the door to the right with a ceiling high liquor wall, backlit with five-by-five panes of staggered stained glass in coral and gold. It takes up the entire length of the bar.

The restaurant itself is quite narrow, super long, and dimly lit with wall sconces and candles on each table, adding to the exquisite, romantic atmosphere.

The walls are the shade of warm honey, complemented by mahogany trim, tables and chairs. Accent pieces at every table welcome you—from the merlot tablecloths—to the abstract-patterned throw pillows in gold, muted green, chocolate and burnt red.

It’s exquisite. The most
perfect
place for a first date.

As the host escorts us to our table, I can’t help but think how sweet Hunter is, going to all this trouble to bring me here. No guy has ever done something even remotely close.

I look around the restaurant and find myself getting a bit emotional. I lower my head so he can’t see my eyes fill up. When did I become such a sap?

“Are you okay?” Hunter asks, sounding somewhat surprised.

Of course, he’d
have
to notice. Why wouldn’t he? “I’m sorry. I couldn’t be better. I guess I just got a bit sentimental. You’re always taking me by surprise with how thoughtful you are. I’m just not used to it.”

He grins. “Well, you’d better
get
used to it, baby...cuz dat’s just da way I roll.” He tilts his head to the side, sending me a wink as I giggle at his thick
, lame
, Italian accent.

“Thank you, Hunter. For making me laugh
and
for going to all this trouble. I mentioned this place to you
one time
in passing, and you remembered it enough to look into it.”

He reaches across the table for my hand. “It was my pleasure, Miss Chloe. You make it so easy to do nice things for you. Besides, it wasn’t a completely unselfish gesture, you know. I love your smile so much I’d do just about anything to see it.”

“Is that right? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you
like
me or something.” I place my free hand on top of his and squeeze.

“Or
something
,” he replies, slumping down in his chair.

His eyes darken, raising his left cheek in a half smile while licking his lips provocatively. There’s
no way
those thoughts are G-rated!

A surge of warmth rushes through me.

Just as my face heats up, the waiter appears to go over the specials and take our drink order.

Perfect
timing!

Our evening is full of heartfelt conversations about our childhood, past relationships, and our dreams. Of course, I shy away from any details of my parents, and he never pushes.

I can’t get over how easy it is for us to open up to one another. In fact, I almost slipped a few times about what’s going on in my
Wiccan
life. Not good.

The food is even more amazing than I remember; Ahi Tuna and sticky rice drizzled with a horseradish and dill Beur
re Blanc sauce. My taste buds have
never
been so happy. And the triple layer mocha cake is to die for.

I leave the restaurant so stuffed, I doubt there’s even room for a tic-tac.

Once we’re back in his car, he turns to face me. “Dinner was only
part
of the surprise. Wait till you see where I’m taking you
next
.”

Seriously? Not that it’s even possible to top dinner, but I’m excited to see what he has up his sleeve.

What could it be? “Give me a hint.”

“Nope.”

“Pretty please?”

“Nice try.”

I pout, only triggering a low chuckle from him.

Hunter steps on the street and lifts his arm to hail a cab—and just as quickly, we’re on our way.

A few minutes later, the cab stops beside Bryant Park and we get out. I look around to see what’s close. He snickers, watching me break my neck trying to find a clue.

He wraps his arm around me. “This way, Miss Chloe.”

We stroll up the sidewalk, turning through an open gate leading into the park. With wide eyes, I look at Hunter and ask, “The Park at
night
?” Really? Is there a movie?”

He squeezes my shoulders. “
You’ll
see.”

We walk up the few steps leading into a stone building and he stops in front of a large sign that reads, “
Directors Night Poetry – A Summer Tribute to the Greatest Poets of all Time
.”

My heart skips a beat.

I can’t believe this. How could he have outdone himself?

My jaw falls open as I turn to face him. “Are you
kidding
me? This is the greatest surprise
ever
. Thank you so much, Hunter.”

I stand up on my tiptoes, brushing my lips across his for a brief, but tender moment.

“You are
more
than welcome.”

He leads the way, opening the door to the
Reading Room
.

We walk inside, taking a seat near the back. We’re a little late but it doesn’t even matter. As we sit listening to the captivating words of Yeats, it’s impossible to not be swept up in the romantic frenzy they inspire.

I slide my chair closer to Hunter, his warmth seeping onto my bare leg. He puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me snug against his side.             

If I were to die right here under the protective shelter of his arm, I could not think of a happier way to go—or a happier moment.

This magnificent guy has captured me implicitly. There’s no hope of returning from this unknown place I’ve now traveled. To hell with the
future
guy. I’m not letting Hunter go for
anything.

For the first time in my life, I believe more than anything I’m falling for this unexpected, perfect man.

Falling. Me?

I lean my head against his shoulder, basking in the comfort of his closeness.
This
is my new favorite place, and I never want to leave.

I close my eyes to enjoy this rare moment of true happiness, when something
beyond
unwanted happens: a vision!

I’m thrown off balance as everything turns to darkness.

But something’s not right.

My body feels different somehow.

I lift my hand that’s holding something, but it’s not
my
hand. It’s manly. Calloused.

I’m somehow in someone else’s body—looking through their eyes—feeling what they feel.

I’m walking through the grass towards Gram’s house.

I go to the front door and knock—but no one answers.

I look behind me towards the cars in the driveway. I know they must be home. Perhaps they’re out back.

I walk around the house, stopping to peer through a window to see if anyone’s moving around.

As I pull my head away from the glass, I catch my reflection and gasp.

Peter Russo’s dark, haunting eyes stare back at me.

What the....

His heart clenches over his evil deeds from twenty-one years ago. The lies and deceit make him shudder with guilt. At the time, he thought he was doing the right thing. But now—seeing how much damage the lies have caused—is more than he can handle.

All he wants in this world is to see the faces of his grandchildren—and to apologize to Morgan for what he’d done. He wants to repent for sins he’d committed, and he knows this will be the first step towards redemption.

His thoughts continue to whirl through my head.

As he walks around the side of the house, he notices a light coming from a room near the back.

When he makes it to the window of the sunroom, he stops—watching my family and me gathered around a body lying on a table.

His heart feels like it’s bursting from his chest.

He’s confused.

Panic swells inside him as he watches.

He wonders if he’s been right all along about the Witches doing human sacrifice.

He stands there watching—frozen—but he can’t help but stare at his handsome grandsons. He’s seeing them for the first time, and his heart threatens to stop.

He can see his son etched in their features. His wife was right.

The guilt for keeping his family apart wells up in his chest. Torturously.

Without warning, his guilt turns into fear as he sees things fly through the air inside the house.

He can’t hear what they’re saying, but he can see the frightened eyes on his grandchildren.

Lightning strikes somewhere in the distance, making him leap.

As he turns his head to look behind him, a sudden downpour begins with more force than he thought possible.

As he tries shielding his face with his hands, a blinding flash of light explodes in front of him.

He blinks repeatedly, stunned by what he’s seeing.

He’s surrounded by blurry, glowing images of people.

They aren’t solid like normal people, but they’re visible enough to tell if they’re man or woman.

He scans the area around him, realizing he can’t even count how many there are.

A flash of realization crashes into his subconscious. They’re demons!

His fear is replaced by the same hatred he felt all those years ago, when he’d written those letters to his son and Morgan.

He’s more convinced than ever the family he’d come to see, are devil worshipers unleashing hell-on-earth.

He takes a deep breath—crosses himself—and runs back to his house screaming at the top of his lungs, “I knew it...I always knew it! They’re over there right now worshiping the devil and performing ritual sacrifice.”

His heart pounds so fast, and so hard.

Fear courses through his veins for himself—and for his family.

Then in a flash, the vision changes.

Swirls of light dance around him.

Where is he?

The sun shines down around him as he stands outside Starbucks.

His stomach is in knots, and he’s still upset from what he’d seen the night before. He takes a deep breath, prepared to take action.

“Mr. Russo.” A familiar male voice from behind draws his attention.

He spins around to greet the man.

“Agent Payne. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice. I finally saw the Witches in action last night. I saw them conjure demons in their back yard.” He waves his hands in the air like a madman. “Things were flying through the air, and they were surrounded by thousands of demons, just waiting for them to sacrifice the helpless person who was lying there. We have to stop them. We have to do something before they hurt my grandchildren.”

Hunter looks down, rubbing his forehead with his right hand. “Slow down, Mr. Russo, please. How did you see these ‘demons’ exactly?”

“Well, I walked over to the Crawford house because I wanted to see my grandchildren, and I wanted to apologize to Morgan for something I did a long time ago. I wanted to put the past behind us. They didn’t answer the front door, so I walked behind the house. When I got back there, I could see them through the windows, standing in a circle as they conjured demons that appeared out of thin air. I was horrified.” Mr. Russo paces in circles on the sidewalk.

“Do you have any
proof,
Mr. Russo? As I’ve told you before, you need solid evidence. I must say though, I’ve spent a lot of time with these people, and I don’t believe they are what you
think
they are. They’re good people who would never do anyone any type of harm. Were you drinking last night, Mr. Russo?” He shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Of course not. I
know
what I saw.” He says in a condescending tone.

“Well I’m sorry, Mr. Russo, but without evidence, I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do. In fact, I’ll be closing this case. I don’t feel there’s any sort of foul play or potential danger to anyone involved here. They’ve never hurt you...or anyone else. Maybe you should just leave them alone.”

Mr. Russo’s jaw drops. “So you won’t help me at all? The FBI won’t do anything?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Russo, but we’ve spent enough time looking into these people, and we don’t feel there’s anything here to pursue. My boss was already skeptical about taking on this case, but because of your family’s friendship with the Governor, we did him a favor.”

Mr. Russo’s anger escalates to the point it’s almost rage. I see red through his eyes.

“Fine! If the FBI won’t do anything, I’ll find someone who will!” He shakes a fist in Hunter’s face.

Then in another flash, Mr. Russo’s in a candlelit room.

He’s talking to his brother, Father Gabriel.

There’s a loud boom, then flames burst all around them.

Paralyzed by fear, Mr. Russo falls to the ground.

The flames close in around him, eager to devour his flesh.

Excruciating pain consumes him.

There’s another flash—and the vision stops.

My breathing labors as my eyes spring open.

I look around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

Someone’s squeezing me, lightly shaking my arm.

Then it hits me. I’m with Hunter at the Poetry reading.

Wait a minute. Hunter? The man I’m falling for? The man I just saw in my vision being addressed as “Agent Payne”?

I don’t understand. Was it real? This can’t be happening.

“Chloe? Are you okay? You’re scaring me. Please tell me you’re okay?”

I glance up at him, unsure.

But then I know. It’s real. It was
all
real. Or at least, it
will
be.

He pulls me to my feet so we can leave the room. We walk to a wooden bench and he helps me sit back down.

“What just happened in there? You were shaking. I almost thought you were having a seizure or something.”

I don’t know what to do, or say. I can’t even look at him.

I’m so consumed with fear and anger by what I just saw.

But I have to say something. “I don’t feel so well. Can you please take me home?” I ask, still unable to look at him.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you want. As long as you’re okay.” The panic in his voice confuses me even more. It sounds so genuine.

“I’m fine. I just need to lie down.”

I don’t know what’s real anymore. I was having the best night of my life, but then it was interrupted by a vision that told me the man I’ve trusted, has been lying to me from the very first second.

My heart pounds, tiny explosions erupting inside my chest.

How can this be? How could I have fallen for someone who’s pretending to be someone else? And who’s pretending to care about me,
just
to get close to my family.

He’s
investigating
my family?
My
family? This is so insane.

They
adore
Hunter. My god, how can I tell them about this?

Before I know what’s happening, we’re in a cab heading back towards the parking garage.

He tries to put his arm around me, but his touch only agitates me.

I shove him away, forcing him off balance.

“Chloe,
please
tell me what’s wrong. You’re really freaking me out.”

I turn my head to look at him, disbelief from his words striking me like a baseball bat. “Are you
kidding
me?” I reply with a dry, sarcastic tone.

“Okay, what are you upset about? One minute, you’re pawing me to death from excitement. The next you look like you’re going to be sick. And now you’re angry with
me
? Please help me understand what I could have
possibly
done in the last fifteen minutes to deserve this?” The irritation in his voice sends chills up my spine.

The cab stops to let us out. Hunter pays the fair and we stand on the sidewalk for a minute before walking in the garage.

“You
seriously
don’t know what you did?” Are you kidding me?

“We were having a fantastic night. So, no. I have
no
clue.” He puts his hands in his pockets, glaring at me as he waits for an answer.

I don’t know what to say. Do I just
blurt
it out?

It’s apparent he knows my family’s ‘
secret
’, so I might as well just let him know what I saw. I’m sure he already knows I’m a Seer anyway. “Well,
Agent Payne
, I just don’t know what to tell you.” The tone in my voice—mixed with the one word that makes it clear I’m on to
his
secret—hits home.

His mouth falls open.

With his face pale white like he’s been shot in the chest, he tears his hands from his pockets then places them on top of his head. As he looks to the sky, he lets out a painful scream, dropping clenched fists to his sides.

He trembles for a minute, staring off into the distance. I’m sure he’s trying to come up with a good story since he knows I just busted him.

“You weren’t supposed to find out this way, Chloe. This wasn’t part of the plan.”

What? “The plan? So tell me, Agent Payne, what
was
the plan? Get me into bed
then
tell me you’ve been investigating my family?” Bile rises in my stomach at the thought.

“Of course not. That isn’t what I meant. I was
planning
to tell you...I swear. I was just waiting for the right time.”

“How could there
ever
be a right time to tell the girl you’ve been
pretending
to date, that you’ve been using her as a way to infiltrate her family?” Tears drown my eyes, no matter how hard I fight to hold them back.

“Look, I’ll tell you everything. But not here. This isn’t the place to have this conversation. Can we just get in my car?”

“Good idea. Take me home
now
.”

Hunter hangs his head, humiliation—or guilt—get the better of him. He pauses like he wants to say something, but shakes it off and starts walking towards the garage.

The entire drive back to Lindenhurst is in silence. I stare out the window, unsure if I want to break something—cry—or run back to California.

Thank god there isn’t much traffic.

When he pulls in the driveway, he puts the car in park but leaves it running. He turns to me. “Can I please explain things to you?”

He wants to talk now? After being silent the entire way back? Not a chance.

After considering his request for few seconds, I reply. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. It’s late. We’re both tired. And I’m
way
too angry to listen to anything you have to say.”