Page 92 of Hate to Love You
The man’s face pales, and he looks back at me, stunned.
“Um, I think he’s here to take our order, Roman,” Abby says sarcastically. “You know, for food?”
“Yeah, except I’m not waited on by the help,” I snap, appraising the man up and down. “I’m waited on by Alberto.”
“Oh, um, yes,” the man says nervously, smacking his forehead with his hand. “I knew that and should’ve started with that.”
What the…
“Alberto…shit…I mean, Mr. Caruso wasn’t feeling good, and he went home for the day,” he says, stumbling over his words before swallowing hard. “My name is Trevor, and I’m the head waiter here so I’ll be waiting on you today.”
Something isn’t right.
“No, you won’t,” I snap, irritably. “We’re leaving.”
“What?” Abby scoffs, waving at the young man. “Roman, that’s rude as hell. I’m sure Trevor here is an excellent waiter and will—”
“I said we’re leaving!” I snap at her, smacking my hand on the table and kicking my chair back at the same time. “Let’s go. Now.”
“Oh, my fucking God,” Abby gasps, snatching her purse from the chair. “I cannot believe this!”
Brushing past “Trevor,” I follow after Abby as she starts storming for the door and I immediately dial Cal.
“We have a problem,” I growl into the phone. “It’s Al.”
But as soon as we step out onto the street corner, Abby is immediately in my chest.
“That was so fucking rude, Roman!” She snaps at me angrily. “I know that you’re a big powerful CEO and you think you can do whatever you want, but it does not give you the right to shit on the little people who are just trying to make ends meet!”
“Abby, I—”
“That man was just trying to do his job, and you acted like a total asshole to him!” She continues, shoving her finger into my chest. “God, I’m so embarrassed to even be seen with someone who could be that—”
“Observant,” I snap back at her, making her jump. “I wasn’t being a dick, I was being cautious, Abby.”
“What?”
I glance around quickly, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. My heart is beating loudly in my chest, and yet I’m not entirely sure why. It’s as if there is an energetic crescendo happening around us and I want us to be out of here as quickly as possible.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Roman?” She demands, confused.
Cal arrives on the scene with the car, and I immediately open the door.
“Get in,” I bark at her, my eyes still scanning the street around us.
“What? No!” She says, crossing her arms. “You still haven’t answered my question and—”
“I said get in the fucking car!” I snap, grabbing her arm and shoving her ass through the open door of the car and onto the seat. “I’ll explain inside.”
Stunned, but shocked enough by my forcefulness to at least be obedient, she pulls her legs inside and yanks the door closed.
Quickly I walk around the back of the car and hop into the opposite side.
“Cal, we need to take Abby home,” I say quickly as he pulls away from the curb.
“What?”
“Yes, Boss,” Cal nods from the driver’s seat.