It shattered at the waiter’s feet. Mortified, I scrambled out of my seat.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry—”
“Leave it,” Declan began, but I ignored him.
The waiter bent down at the same time Declan crouched in front of me. He reached out to stop me from collecting the glass and his breath hissed in when a sharp shard sliced his palm.
“Declan,” I gasped.
“Sir,” the waiter said. “Did you cut yourself?”
Declan gave a tight smile. “No. I’m fine.”
“But—” I started.
He shook his head. “It’s fine,” he insisted, catching my gaze and giving me a purposeful look. One that warned me to keep my mouth shut.
“We’ll take care of this,” the waiter assured me.
Declan caught my elbow and lifted me to my feet even as I started to protest again. His fingers squeezed my arm.
My heart pounding, I refrained from saying anything until the waiter had left in search of a broom.
“You cut your hand,” I said through clenched teeth.
“It’s nothing.”
“Then show me.” I reached for him, startled when he snatched his hand away, keeping it in a tight fist.
Anger coursed through me. I was done with whatever game we were playing.
“Show me,” I insisted, “or I will swear to that waiter, and then the manager, that you cut yourself. I saw the blood.”
He cursed under his breath. “Whatever you think you saw—”
“What I know I saw,” I told him.
“Don’t do this.”
“I’ll make a scene,” I warned him.
His jaw clenched and then he lifted his hand. He opened his fist to reveal his palm, a smooth unmarred surface save for a small smear of dried blood.
Like he hadn’t been touched at all.
I looked up, my mouth open in shock. I’d thought so many things. Sure, I’d joked about how fast he was, and joked about him having superhero powers, but this…
“You cut yourself,” I told him, more to convince myself than him.
“I can explain.”
Which just confirmed it. He’d cut himself, and in a matter of moments, it had healed. And I’d caught it on camera.
Chapter 14
It was like the whole world shrank around us, holding me and Declan in a bubble, shutting us off from everything but each other.
When Declan spoke, I barely registered the words. “We need to talk about this.”
I blinked slowly, too many thoughts racing through my head. Declan was different like I’d suspected. But this…this was more. This was far greater than I’d guessed. Maybe that was why he hadn’t talked to the police. Maybe that was why he was so secretive. But that didn’t negate the possibility that he’d had something to do with my father getting hurt.
Oh, shit. Maybe my father had figured out his secret.
“I need to go,” I said, my voice wavering with nerves.
Declan reached out, his movements impossibly slow now. Like he was making an extra effort to appear completely normal.
“No,” I said, backing up. My phone rang in my purse and I pulled it out, already knowing I needed to call an Uber or someone to pick me up.
It was Xander. With Declan still watching me, I answered.
“I saw it,” Xander said, sounding breathless. “You’re there at Russo’s with Dark and I saw what just happened.”
I glanced down to the bumblebee camera and then back up at Declan, who still stood too close, his jaw clenched.
“I’m coming to get you right now,” Xander said.
“Hurry,” I whispered and hung up the phone.
Declan held up both hands like he was afraid to startle a wild animal. “I know this is confusing—”
“It isn’t,” I said, lifting my chin. “I know exactly what I saw. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
I turned abruptly, walking as fast as my heels would carry me. Declan appeared at my elbow.
“We need to talk about this. Samantha—”
“Stop,” I said, trying to shut him out with as few words as possible. “I’m leaving. I need—I need to go.”
“Dammit, will you just stop for a minute?”
I burst through the front door, not caring who was looking at me anymore. I needed to get out of here.
Xander, where are you?
“Samantha,” Declan started, something between anger and desperation flashing in his eyes. “I’ll get the car.”
“I’m not going with you.”
“We’ll talk and then I’ll take you home. You can’t—”
I pressed my hands against my cheeks, urgency hitting me. “Stop, please. Just leave me alone.”
His gaze searched my features, then softened. But he didn’t have the chance to say or do anything else before I heard a voice behind me.
A car had pulled up to the valet station. Xander opened the back door and beckoned me.
Relieved but full of conflict, I raced to the car and got in, shutting the door behind me.
“Go,” Xander instructed the driver.
I looked out of the window, swallowing when I saw Declan still standing on the sidewalk, staring after us.
“What the hell?” Xander asked.
“Just…wait until we get home.”
He did as I requested and instructed the driver to take us to our apartment. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the seat, replaying what had happened tonight in my mind.
The kiss, the cut on his hand, and the miraculous way it had healed in just seconds. It didn’t seem real. The whole evening was like a page out of a story or a scene in a movie. It couldn’t be real, and it couldn’t be my life.
But when I opened my eyes, I was still in an Uber with Xander, still reeling over what had happened, and still 100 % certain of what I’d seen back in the restaurant.
Xander looked like he was about to explode. He managed to make it until we reached the building and got out on the sidewalk.
