“None of your damned busin?—”
“Her next-door neighbor, Luc,” Katie piped in. “She’s got the hots for him.”
Raphael stilled. “Luc? He lives in your building?”
His surprise seemed as strange as the phrasing of his question. Nadia shared a glance with Katie before looking back at him. “You know him?”
“Tall, dark, with blue eyes? Snappy dresser and a vicious temper?” Turned out Raphael shared Luc’s preference for answering a question with a question.
“I don’t know about the temper, but the rest sounds right.” Nadia actually did remember how outraged he’d been in the alley, but she’d be damned if she’d tell this guy about Luc’s business, not until she had an idea if he was friend or foe. She sipped her wine to wet her parched throat. The building tension suffocated in its intensity.
“Yeah. I know him. He doesn’t let anyone close. I’d move on if I were you.”
And there was her answer. Not a friend.
Katie snorted at his catty response, earning a kick from Nadia under the table.
She didn’t know who this Raphael really was or what he wanted from her, but she was beginning to believe his motives weren’t purely about getting laid. The guy had an agenda, and she intended to figure it out.
“How do you know him?” Nadia demanded.
“We once worked together. It was long ago, but I haven’t seen him in years.”
“You make it sound like you’re both old men.” Katie laughed. “What are you, thirty-five? Thirty-seven at most?”
Raphael slowly rotated to face her. He studied her for such a long time, it became uncomfortable. Nadia’s thoughts returned to the strange sense of intent she’d experienced at the library, and her instincts were once again screaming, “Run!”
She cleared her throat and pushed her glass away.
“We need to be going. Nice seeing you again, Raphael. I hope Laura was able to help you locate what you were looking for.”
His cat-that-ate-the-canary smile unnerved her. “Oh, I definitely found what I was looking for.”
“Great!” she chirped, then winced at the overly cheerful tone.
This man freaked her right the fuck out, and she wished Luc were here. He’d send Raphael on his way with a glare and a growl. Never in her life had she felt defenseless. It was bizarre how safe and untouchable she seemed whenever Luc was close.
A frown tugged at Raphael’s brows. “I never got your name, little librarian.”
“Gee, would you look at the time?” She made a point to check her phone. “We really have to get going.”
Katie’s brow knitted. “What’s your hurry, Tart? We don’t have anywhere to be.”
Being thrown under the bus by her clueless friend felt excruciating. Nadia was certain she heard an echoing thump, thump as the wheels ran her over.
And because they’d lost all subtlety, she glared. “What the fuck, Katie? Since when do you fail to pick up what I’m putting down?”
Raphael’s laughter pissed her off, but her bestie’s giggle upset her more. Katie had never not had her back. Coupled with the act of ignoring Nadia’s desire to leave so she could stay with a guy they’d only just met, her friend had unsettled her. Her careless shrug spiked Nadia’s temper further.
Thunder rumbled outside, and not for the first time, she wondered about the frequency of freak storms in Grimwich. The weather app had predicted sunshine all week.
Raphael stilled.
He shot a glance at the windows, then shifted his wary gaze toward the door as if expecting the Devil himself to charge through. When nothing or no one entered, he slowly turned to stare at her, mouth agape and expression stunned.
Unease settled in Nadia’s spine. Needing to escape his unwanted attention, she jumped off her stool and muttered an excuse about using the bathroom.
Katie followed her.
