Coffee & Criminals

27. Regret

I stayed in the bedroom for as long as I could bear it. The sun was already up by the time I even considered leaving the room. I wanted to stay there forever, huddled up under the covers and staring at the reflective gold designs on the marble floor that sparkled occasionally. The white bedsheets (I still hadn't fixed them onto the bare mattress correctly and instead decided to embrace my new identity as a human burrito) had the fragrance of laundry detergent and the barest hint of Wolfe's cologne. 

The bag of cherry Twizzlers that Wolfe brought in with him was lying on a pillow next to the one I was trying to smother my face in. So was all the medical supplies. I didn't touch any of it except for the pain medication. I had to swallow two of them with water from the bathroom sink because the numbness was beginning to wear off. That was the only time I left the bed. For the past half hour or so, I buried myself and wallowed in self pity, trying to come up with a plausible explanation to give my parents when I returned to Brooklyn. 

It's not like I could just tell them exactly what happened. 

Oh, yeah. Wolfe and I trespassed to the basement of a law firm and he showed me this really cool underground lair. And then I got shot by some lunatics in a white van trying to kill Wolfe, but he rammed them into the guardrail on a highway filled with traffic. And then I woke up in his penthouse in his clothes in his bed and he kissed me. Anyways, LOL, no big deal. How are you, Mom and Dad?  Yeah, no. Not gonna happen.

With a sigh, I clambered out of bed. I had to face him sooner or later. Unless he'd let me call an Uber to take me back to Brooklyn...

I didn't know what to think. I was at a loss of what to do anymore. I wasn't even going to try to explain anything to myself, because it was all so messed up and frustrating. What should I say? Should I acknowledge the kiss or just pretend it never happened? How the hell was I supposed to do that? Man, I really wished there was a manual that could explain the ins and outs of kissing globally notorious mafia bosses and what to do afterwards. Maybe there was. Maybe I could search Google...

I was getting pretty hungry and there were only so many rooms I could explore, so after a while, I decided to gather whatever was left of my dignity and go downstairs. This took about half an hour because I kept on panicking and running back into the bedroom as soon as I reached the top of the spiral staircase. Finally, I explained to myself how ridiculous I was being and slowly creeped down the stairs, making sure Wolfe wasn't there.

The staircase opened up to an enormous foyer area thing, with the same gold and marble floors as upstairs. There was a balcony on the second floor across from the staircase that led to a floor-to-ceiling length bookshelf. A door to my right led to what appeared to be a dining area and a door to my left led to some sort of living room. Where I stood had no significant piece of furniture except for a massive television screen playing a soccer game on mute and some chrome lamps carefully placed around the room. A big crystal chandelier hung above a table with a vase of white roses. Everything was very white and clean, opting for minimalism. The penthouse was beautiful, I could give him that. Must've cost a fortune. Although money was rarely a problem for Wolfe Sterling. I wondered if the rest of the Crowns had living quarters as luxurious as Wolfe did.

It was silent. Too silent. There was no hum of the refrigerator and no cars drove past, which creeped me out because I was used to the loud honking and roars of engines. There were no comforting sounds a home should have and it kinda freaked me out, although the sheer size of the room I was standing in was enough to make me uneasy. What did he need a place this big for? 

The marble floor was freezing under my bare feet. "Wolfe?" I called softly. I was afraid to speak louder than a whisper.

No answer.