Page 9 of The Monster’s Weakness

When she wasn’t at work, she couldn’t stop thinking about Caleb and their chance meeting at a bar. She’d never been good with men, or strangers. She’d been a loner all her life. People didn’t seem to want her in their inner circle, and she didn’t mind. She’d gotten used to it. Her parents had told her to stop being a burden to people.

Texting Caleb didn’t make her feel like a burden. It was one of the best moments of her day. She liked to sit down with a hot chocolate or a bowl of noodles, text, and wait to hear back from him. It was rare for her to not hear back right away, and he was so funny. He warmed her heart.

Gemma had promised herself she would not text him while at work, but she couldn’t help pulling her cell phone out to bring up the texts.

Caleb: Good night. Sleep well, Princess.

That was his last text last night. It was nearly one in the morning, and she had no choice but to bring their texting to a stop, because she was so exhausted.

Princess. He’d started to call her that, and she smiled.

She was at work and knew she shouldn’t be doing this.

Gemma: Good morning. I hope you’re having a wonderful day. I’m at work and enjoying a pasta salad. What about you?

She sent the text and then scrunched up her nose. What was she doing? That was boring. Why would she talk about the food she was eating? This made no sense to her, and she didn’t have a clue what she was doing. This was embarrassing.

Caleb: Morning, Princess. A pasta salad? I’m enjoying sliced beef and onions on a roll. I found this street food truck, and it’s amazing. Tomorrow, why don’t you join me?

There it was, another Princess, and she looked to see him inviting her to eat tomorrow. Her heart started to race. They hadn’t seen each other since that day, and she didn’t expect him to want to see her. This had to be good, right?

She took a deep breath, and then got to typing.

Gemma: Sure, where?

This was breaking so many rules. Should she be doing this?

He gave the address, which wasn’t too far from where they currently were. Gemma put her bowl of pasta on her desk, got to her feet, and walked across toward the windows to look down onto the street. She could see the food truck he was talking about. There was always a long line. Was Caleb still there or had he eaten and gone?

Gemma put her hand on the window, and then pulled away. This was just plain stupid of her. They were just two people talking. There was nothing between them, other than some friendly texts. She was not going to read more into it than there was.

Stepping away from the window, she took her seat, picked up her pasta salad, and took a few more forkfuls. Just as she was about to finish up her lunch, her cell phone beeped.

Caleb: I’m looking forward to seeing you again.

This did not ease her yearning.

****

Caleb waited by the food truck. There was already a long line, but he was willing to wait for the steak and onions, and today, he might even have a couple of slices of cheese. He was not picky when it came to his food. When you grew up with nothing, you learned not to be fussy.

There was no sign of Gemma, but he knew everything about her and knew she was probably fighting the nerves. He pulled out his cell phone to make sure she hadn’t canceled on him. There was nothing new, just that she was on her way down.

Caleb looked around the street. There were a lot of people, businessmen and women, civilians, all going about their day.

He’d completed his last contract, and Bastian was still high on his list of worries. He refused to take that fucking contract, and instead had alerted Bastian, who already knew. For a man with a contract on his head, he seemed to be in a good mood, which made no sense. He’d been in touch with Evander, who was also aware of the contract.

Caleb didn’t like it. Bastian was a good guy, and a fine assassin. They all followed their own moral code, and Bastian had his back plenty of times. Whoever had put the hit out on Bastian had pissed him off, and now he wanted to find out who it was. The only problem was, no one seemed to have an answer. Everything was confidential and encrypted. It would only be a matter of time before someone finally took the job, and Bastian would have someone chasing after him. For now, Bastian was laying low.

Caleb turned in time to see Gemma walking toward him. She had her handbag attached to her side, and several people walked in front of her. A few nudged her and actually glared at her. Caleb clenched his hands into fists. Where was the fucking respect for a woman? He had a good mind to teach some of these assholes a lesson, and then they would think twice about the people they just barged into.

“Hey,” Gemma said, smiling at him.

Her cheeks were a little flushed.

“Excuse me, no, you don’t get to push into the line, get to the back of it,” said the man standing behind him in line.

Caleb turned to look at the man. “Who are you speaking to?”