Declan + Coraline (2 page)

“Ms. Wilson.” He nodded to me as he looked over the car.

“Good evening, Mr. Pierre. They’re friends of ours,” I told him.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Of course. Enjoy your night, Ms. Wilson.”

“You too. Be safe.” I waved as we pulled out. It was only when we were far enough away that all of them broke out laughing…Imani included.

“What?”

“
Good evening, Mr. Pierre
.” They all mocked me.

“You have the strongest white girl voice I’ve ever heard,” Imani laughed.

“You sounded like you were about to serve him tea or some shit,” Derek shook his head at me.

“How should I sound?” I asked them all directly and no one had an answer. They just shrugged it off like it was nothing and I suddenly remembered why I hated going out with Imani and her friends. I always felt as though I wasn’t living up to who they wanted me to be or who they thought I should be.

By the time we reached the club I was more than ready to head home. As we neared the club, I noticed the line for the Ram wrapped around the corner. Otis and Derek just led us forward.

“Boss,” one of the bouncers said to Otis, as he stepped aside and let him pass.

“Boss?” Imani stopped and turned to him.

Otis shrugged his shoulders. “When I said I got you, what’d you think I meant?”

“You’re lying. Y’all own the Ram?” Imani gasped as she placed her hands over her mouth.

“Southbend hoodrats are looking pretty good now, huh?” Derek did a small turn and I laughed as we went in.

The whole place was pitch black with the exception of the red and blue strobe lights. The DJ stood in front of the dance floor, with a triple X behind him as he changed up his music.

“How could you keep me out for weeks, man?!” Imani punched both of their shoulders and they grinned.

“Don’t be mad. Come on, let’s dance!” Otis pulled her away.

“Hold up, I got some people to see to real quick,” Derek yelled over the music and into my ear.

“Of course, go ahead.”

He didn’t wait, and was already pushing his way through the crowd.

Coraline, the man repellent.

“What’s wrong with me?” I muttered to myself as I once again contemplated leaving.

Since I’d already gone through the trouble of getting dressed up, I decided to stick around for just one hour, and after that, I would leave.

Pushing my way through the crowd, I made it to the bar even though I had no idea what I was going to drink.

“Can I get a Bloody Mary?” I yelled to bartender. It was the only thing I could stand to sip on.

She nodded, and bobbed her head to the beat of the music as she mixed the drink. She did it with style too. She flipped the bottle over her shoulder and even spun it before she poured it into my glass.

“Thank you!” I yelled as I reached for it. One sip and I cringed at the alcohol.

I’m hopeless.

I tried to force myself to keep drinking, but I just couldn’t do it. The bartender must have noticed, because she came over, took the drink away from me, and switched it out for another drink.

“What is this?”

“It’s alright. Just try it,” she replied.

I took a small sip and laughed at myself. It was cranberry juice…and I liked it. Smiling, I lifted it up and toasted to her.

Glancing around the club, I was able to make out Derek as he stood at the far side of the club with a girl in his arms.

I guess he found his people.
I drank slowly.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the Callahans are in the building!” the DJ yelled, as the crowd cheered loudly.

I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see who they were, but the darkness and the mass crowd of bodies made it impossible. I remembered the Callahan name, but I wasn’t sure who they were or what they did. The men around them parted the crowd, as they made their way to the VIP section of the club.

“You having fun?” Imani came up to me, drawing my attention away from the Callahans. She grabbed my drink, took a sip, and frowned. “Seriously, Cora?”

“Don’t worry about me, Imani, just go! This place is amazing!” I screamed over the music.

“Well, duh!” She headed back into the pit of bodies.

At least one of us was going to have fun.

DECLAN

“You look lonely, sweetheart.” A blonde woman in a tight blue dress that stopped mid-thigh came up to us the moment we entered the club.

Recognizing Liam, two redheads walked up to him and he placed his arms around their shoulders, as they kissed his cheeks. I rolled my eyes at him and he grinned.

Our men cleared a path through the crowd as the dancers all jumped and grinded on each other. Strobe lights lit up the dance floor, and as we made our way through, more than a few people stopped to either take pictures of us or try to get our attention while we made it towards the VIP booth. The girl on my arm posed, as she flicked her hair over her shoulder and grinned while the others looked on in envy.

Raising an eyebrow at her, I unlocked my hands from hers.

“Women like you disgust me,” I said to her, and her mouth dropped in shock as I left her standing in the middle of the dance to pose for whoever else she wanted to.

“Ass!” she yelled at me, and I waved once, not caring at all.

Our men stopped anyone else from following after us.

Liam was already ordering a round of drinks as the girls around him grabbed on to his shirt, and kissed his neck. Grabbing the bottle of Cristal, I poured myself a glass.

“You’re really hot.” The woman in Liam’s lap giggled. He nodded, clearly enjoying himself. But he knew…we both knew, that the women around us all wanted something. It was the way the world worked. They were willing to do anything for fame or money. At first it was fun. At first I was just like Liam, making out or fucking every woman who threw herself at me, but honestly I was tired of it…of them. The way they would pour their drinks on us just so they could get our attention, or pretend to trip so that we could catch them. It was all fake. I wanted something different, but did different really exist?

I don’t want to think about this.

“Liam,” I called his attention away from the woman in his lap.

He glanced up once and sighed. “Couldn’t let me have five minutes?”

“Didn’t know you were a five minute man
.”
I grinned.

“Fuck you,” he snapped.

“Your father would like you to handle this as soon as possible.” Eric replied as he handed a slip to Liam. He looked it over quickly before his eyes met mine.

“Sorry, ladies,” Liam said. “We have work to attend to. Go down and dance. We’ll join you soon, I promise.”

Liam’s green eyes focused on me and he finished his glass. “You know you could try to have some fun while you’re here. Instead of just brooding in the corner.”

“Not interested.”

“What wrong with you lately?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t sure either. “Liam, aren’t you bored?”

“Of Chicago? Where do you want to go? New York?”

“No, of all of this?” I pointed all around us.

“Are you insane? At twenty-five? This is the prime of my life! God knows what life will be like in…”

“In two years, after you get married? Yeah, I wonder what having an Italian wife will be like,” I finished for him.

“Just because you are in a piss-poor mood doesn’t mean you’re going to shit on my night, you ass. Besides, you know rules, you still have to find a wife before your thirtieth birthday—”

“That’s still three years away, and she doesn’t have to be an Italian.”

“You know what? I will handle this by myself. Before you end up as a casualty,” he snapped as he stood up.

I fought the urge to laugh. “Fine, don’t call on me to save your ass then!” I relaxed into the seat and grabbed a bottle.

Ignoring me, he and a few of our men went down the stairs towards the back of the club. We’d come here tonight for two reasons. First, because Liam wanted to party, and second, because the owner of this club, an Otis Emerson, hadn’t been paying his taxes to our family. We owned this city. It was an unspoken rule to all those downtown that a donation needed to be made in good faith before they could open any business.

Not only had this fool not done so, it was rumored that he’d spit on our family name in public. He was either an idiot or had a death wish. Either way, Liam would handle it. I planned to give him a few minutes before I went down to back him up.

“Eric, what are people saying about this place?” I asked as I looked around the club. The place was packed, and from the look of the line outside, the party was only just getting started.

“So far the reviews have been good, but you know how everyone gets excited about new places. Give it a month or two.”

I nodded and he took a step back behind me. I waited a good ten minutes before I stood up and moved down the stairs to follow after Liam. I was focused on making it through the club without being touched, but I’d only made it five feet through the crowd before a drink was poured down the front of my shirt.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” a woman said, already dabbing the front of my shirt with her napkin.

Honestly! Again?

Taking a deep breath, my nose flared as I smacked her hand away.

“Do not touch me!” I snapped, glaring up at her. However, the second I got a good look at her, I froze. Her long, dark, hair curled and cascaded right past her smooth, dark shoulders. The red dress she wore hugged her curves perfectly, and stopped mid-thigh, showing off her long, smooth legs.

Diner girl!
Holy shit. I wanted to smile at her.
But
was she really just like the rest of them?

Eric went to grab her, but I held up my hand to stop him.

“I’m so sorry!” she repeated, as she looked up at me, her brown eyes wide. She wasn’t scared, she was nervous and embarrassed. “I’ll pay for the dry cleaning. No, I’ll buy you a new one. I’m so sorry…”

“Cranberry juice?” I licked my rest of juice off my hand.

She frowned, as she dropped her head and brushed her hair behind ears. “I don’t drink. I’m sorry again, Mr….?”

“You don’t know who I am?” She had to be lying. “Is this part of your act?”

“My act?”

I nodded. “Pouring your drink on me to get my attention?”

She took a deep breath and gripped her purse as if she was holding herself back from hitting me. Now that would’ve been amusing.

“I’m sorry about your shirt. Please replace it on me.” She signed a blank check and handed it to me.

She couldn’t be serious.

However, she walked around me and disappeared into the crowd.

What the hell just happened?

“What happened to you?” Liam came up and I noticed that he was wearing a different shirt. He looked me up and down.

I looked back at the check
.

Miss Coraline Elizabeth Wilson.

Wilson International Bank.

317 Raven Hill Heights.

Run Declan, she’s getting away…again!!!

“Declan!” he yelled as I ran after her.

She was it. She was what I’d been looking for. I couldn’t let her get away.

CORALINE

I shivered at the feeling of the night air on my skin. I hated leaving Imani, but she’d said that she was staying over at Otis’ anyway, which made me wonder what exactly she had expected me to do.

“Hey! Wait!”

Turning, I came face to face with the same green eyed, brown haired man as before. The stain on his black shirt was still slightly noticeable. Even in my heels he still had at least a good two or three inches on me. The corners of his pink lips perked up into a small smirk as he looked me over just like he did in the club.

“Are you naïve or stupid, Ms. Wilson?”

“What’s your problem?” I turned to him. “I said I was sorry about your damn shirt and I promised to pay for another one. What more do you want?”

He held up the check I had given him.

“Right now, I know your full name, your account number, and your address. For all you know, you could have just earned yourself a new stalker,
Coraline
.”

I hadn’t even thought about that until he’d said it.

“Well then, I’m at a disadvantage considering that you still haven’t told me your name.” I tried to stand up straighter.

“It’s Declan,” he grinned as he took a step forward. “Declan Callahan. How can you live in this city and not know that?”

“There are over two million people who live in Chicago,
Declan.
Do we all need to know who you are? Are you that vain or are you just a narcissist?”

He snickered, as his eyebrow rose. “Is there really a difference between being vain or narcissistic?”

“Is there really a difference between being naïve or stupid?” I countered.

“Touché,” he said. “I suppose I owe you an apology then.”

“Giving you that check was dumb idea,” I muttered as I turned away from him. “So why don’t we just forget this ever happened.”

“Fine. But only if you go out with me for coffee.”

“Now?”

He nodded. “I’ll even take it as payment for the shirt.”

He handed me back the blank check, and when I reached for it, he pulled it back. “Are you accepting my offer?”

“Fine. One cup of coffee.”

“Good. There is a diner just down the street from here,” he replied as he took my hand and led me away from the club.

The further we got from everyone, the more nervous I became. I gripped my purse tighter.

“Scared?” he asked when we stopped at the traffic lights.

“Not even a little bit,” I lied. Taking a few calculated risks was all part of living, right?

“You’re cute when you try to lie.”

“Great. Cute was just the look I was going for,” I muttered.

“You again” an older woman said as she looked at me from behind the counter when we entered the diner.

“What?”

“Seems like luck is on my side tonight, Beatrice.” He winked at her as he led me to a booth. “Two coffees, and please make them as large as possible.”

“What did she mean by ‘you again?’ ”