Cerberus stops us at a table near the back. It was a round booth. Only a few of those were in the restaurant. Mostly, they were booths that were seated across from each other, and then tables and chairs. He motions for me to sit and follows, sitting close to me.
“How is it you have a table here?” I blurt out without thinking.
“I own the place. This table is never to be used unless it’s a packed night and they absolutely need it. The only other ones allowed to sit here without waiting belong to the club.”
“Wait a minute,” I balk. “You own Mad Pigs?”
“Yep.” He nods and leans back.
A waitress rushes over and asks what we’d both like to drink and sets down a plate of freshly baked cheddar rolls. The bread here alone was amazing.
“I don’t understand,” I ask as soon as the waitress has our drink orders. How was he able to open a restaurant and be a part of the club?
“Took everything I had saved up.” He shrugs. “Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after you left. She went through the treatment. In remission now, but I wanted to give her something that shealways wanted. The restaurant is mine, but it’s also hers. Her legacy, I guess you can say.”
I didn’t like that his mom had gone through all that. She’s a sweet woman. What Cerberus did, opening a restaurant for her, doesn’t surprise me. He loves his mom.
“How is your mom doing?” I ask, earning a heated, smoldering look from him.
Our drinks are served, and our orders are placed before he answers.
“She’s good. Loves being here when she can. She’s out of town right now, though. Went on a cruise with the old man.”
I knew both his parents were together. I used to love being around his family. As much as I love my uncles and appreciate them being there to raise me growing up, I miss having that family dynamic of parents.
My mom and dad were awesome. I loved them more than anything in the world. They were my world until that world came crashing down on me. I lost them both in one single night. It destroyed a part of me I don’t know how to get back. I don’t think I ever could if I wanted to.
“That’s good. I’m happy for them,” I tell him, and reach for one of the biscuits.
I break off a piece and pop it in my mouth whilewatching Cerberus. My mind whirling with this new information.
Suddenly, Cerberus reaches out, curls his fingers along my neck, and sinks them into my hair. He leans in and far too gently, whispers, “Back then, you didn’t give me the chance to explain things.”
“I think hearing you and Azrael talking about how you were only with me to get in with the club explained everything quite well.”
Cerberus’s eyes flash with annoyance, and his grip tightens in my hair. “If you remember correctly, I tried talking to you after that. You didn’t give me the chance to explain myself. You should’ve, because you didn’t get the full story.”
“Were you with me to use me?” I ask without thinking.
The look in Cerberus’s eyes doesn’t change, but he does answer my question with gritted teeth, “Yeah, it started out that way, Ember.”
I slowly nod, knowing it was the truth.
Cerberus tugs me in closer and dips his head until we’re nose to nose. “Those reasons lasted all of an hour while we were on our first date. After cones and you blathering on about the moviePride and Prejudice, it wasn’t.”
The fact he remembers exactly what I’d beentalking to him about on our first date hits a part of me I didn’t expect.
“How could it change that quickly for you?” I didn’t understand him.
“Because I found I liked sitting there watching you talk about some fuckin’ movie that I had no desire to watch. What I did want to do was to sit there and eat a cone with you,” he says, drawing away marginally. “And so, you know, after you left, I didn’t go for the club. As much as I wanted, I didn’t. I wasn’t going to do that to you. Reaper approached me. He’s the one who had me prospect and join.”
I jerk back at this tidbit. I didn’t know this, and it doesn’t just surprise me, it shocks the hell out of me. Though Cerberus was a year and a half older than me, with his birthday being when it was and his parents holding him back a year, he was in the same year as me for school. My uncle had a stipulation when it came to joining the club. You couldn’t join while in school, nor directly after. You had to wait six months. Hang around, let the club get to know you.
“If your uncle hadn’t come to me, I wouldn’t have gone in. Wasn’t gonna hurt you.”
My heart flutters and skips. Butterflies swarm in my stomach. Do I dare to hope for anything with this man? Could I? After everything that happened to me?
Cerberus lets me go and straightens. The arm closest to me stretches along the back of the booth. I’m well aware of his arm as I take a sip of my drink and go for another bite of my roll. My mind racing the entire time.
