But before we knew it, she was the one who to leave and help Lissy locate our manager. Apparently, the two men at the end of the bar had a problem with something. They wouldn’t say what, but they needed the manager. My pulse rose as I turned to find them standing, hawking me and Jesse in a way that flashed me back to the lobby bar, before Nate grabbed me and had the other men knock Jesse out.
Please. Not here . I didn’t need another bloody fiasco and certainly not at my place of work, in front of Rhode. If I wanted to keep Muse Room my little escape from the chaos, I’d need to keep my coworkers out of my mess. Making the snap decision, I turned to Jesse.
“Meet me at the side door. I’ll be out in one minute.”
chapter seven
“Stop looking. We lost them,” Jesse said as I peered out the cab’s rear windshield for the twentieth time.
“I don’t want to upset Abram, I just don’t want – ”
“Don’t worry,” Jesse said before telling the driver to go over the Manhattan Bridge.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my adrenaline slowing enough for me to realize that I wasn’t actually sure what the plan was – all I’d wanted was to get Jesse away from Abram’s men at Muse Room. Prying my attention off the traffic behind us, I looked at him, narrowing my eyes at the signature mischief in his smile. “Jesse. Where are we going.”
“Dinner.” He smirked and gave an innocent shrug. “Just some place my family goes to sometimes.”
Where we wound up was Bay Ridge, at a small corner bistro with two large windows up front and a burgundy awning. I was charmed but for some reason trying to find reasons not to be. “Pretty packed in there. Are we going to be able to sit down?”
Jesse laughed as he eyed me. “Yeah. I think we’ll manage.”
Considering the size of the crowd, I held onto my doubts. But it didn’t take long for me to figure out that everyone was there entirely for Jesse because the second we walked in, the roomful of chatter burst into a single, raucous cheer, prompting his head bowed, hand-on-chest display of being humbled despite the fact that he clearly knew this was waiting for him. It wasn’t long before I realized that this was Jesse’s homecoming – a welcome back party complete with uncles, cousins, nephews and multiple generations fighting over the outdated sound system, which jumped from Sinatra to Thin Lizzy to Nas and Biggie. It felt like a scene plucked straight from a movie as we parted the crowd, Jesse kissing his way through what seemed like a hundred friends and relatives before we reached the stately, white-haired man he was looking for. Uncle John, apparently. I didn’t realize that I’d let Jesse take my hand till Uncle John smiled with delight down at our entwined fingers. Instinctively, I twitched to jerk it away but Jesse held on tight and since I still harbored a weird need to be please all elderly people, I let him. I simply smiled along as he and Uncle John chatted, their volumes dipping in and out of low murmur and whispers. I stood there as several others approached, answering all their curious questions like a respectful girlfriend at her first family gathering. Most seemed to assume that was what I was, though I heard someone ask, at one point, “Is this the girl?” to which Uncle John replied, “Yes,” before turning to me to say, “And we’re very grateful for how she’s helped our Jesse during this difficult time. God knows he always needs a good woman behind him,” he winked at me. I just smiled. I wasn’t sure if we were all talking about the same thing – if they knew that I’d helped Jesse expose Stefan – and I certainly didn’t think it was appropriate to clarify, so I kept my mouth shut and played trophy wife till Jesse and I were finally able to sit alone for a second. I smirked at him.
“Just some place, huh.”
“Yeah. Just some place that both sides of my
Please. Not here . I didn’t need another bloody fiasco and certainly not at my place of work, in front of Rhode. If I wanted to keep Muse Room my little escape from the chaos, I’d need to keep my coworkers out of my mess. Making the snap decision, I turned to Jesse.
“Meet me at the side door. I’ll be out in one minute.”
chapter seven
“Stop looking. We lost them,” Jesse said as I peered out the cab’s rear windshield for the twentieth time.
“I don’t want to upset Abram, I just don’t want – ”
“Don’t worry,” Jesse said before telling the driver to go over the Manhattan Bridge.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my adrenaline slowing enough for me to realize that I wasn’t actually sure what the plan was – all I’d wanted was to get Jesse away from Abram’s men at Muse Room. Prying my attention off the traffic behind us, I looked at him, narrowing my eyes at the signature mischief in his smile. “Jesse. Where are we going.”
“Dinner.” He smirked and gave an innocent shrug. “Just some place my family goes to sometimes.”
Where we wound up was Bay Ridge, at a small corner bistro with two large windows up front and a burgundy awning. I was charmed but for some reason trying to find reasons not to be. “Pretty packed in there. Are we going to be able to sit down?”
Jesse laughed as he eyed me. “Yeah. I think we’ll manage.”
Considering the size of the crowd, I held onto my doubts. But it didn’t take long for me to figure out that everyone was there entirely for Jesse because the second we walked in, the roomful of chatter burst into a single, raucous cheer, prompting his head bowed, hand-on-chest display of being humbled despite the fact that he clearly knew this was waiting for him. It wasn’t long before I realized that this was Jesse’s homecoming – a welcome back party complete with uncles, cousins, nephews and multiple generations fighting over the outdated sound system, which jumped from Sinatra to Thin Lizzy to Nas and Biggie. It felt like a scene plucked straight from a movie as we parted the crowd, Jesse kissing his way through what seemed like a hundred friends and relatives before we reached the stately, white-haired man he was looking for. Uncle John, apparently. I didn’t realize that I’d let Jesse take my hand till Uncle John smiled with delight down at our entwined fingers. Instinctively, I twitched to jerk it away but Jesse held on tight and since I still harbored a weird need to be please all elderly people, I let him. I simply smiled along as he and Uncle John chatted, their volumes dipping in and out of low murmur and whispers. I stood there as several others approached, answering all their curious questions like a respectful girlfriend at her first family gathering. Most seemed to assume that was what I was, though I heard someone ask, at one point, “Is this the girl?” to which Uncle John replied, “Yes,” before turning to me to say, “And we’re very grateful for how she’s helped our Jesse during this difficult time. God knows he always needs a good woman behind him,” he winked at me. I just smiled. I wasn’t sure if we were all talking about the same thing – if they knew that I’d helped Jesse expose Stefan – and I certainly didn’t think it was appropriate to clarify, so I kept my mouth shut and played trophy wife till Jesse and I were finally able to sit alone for a second. I smirked at him.
“Just some place, huh.”
“Yeah. Just some place that both sides of my
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