Getaway Car [HS]

Chapter Twenty-Nine

She doesn't see him for over a week.

In his absence, there haven't been any gifts left on the coffee table to remind her that he's still there, even if she doesn't physically see him. All that's there are the two missed phone calls she left that haven't been returned and his bag filled with weapons hidden away on the top shelf of his closet. That ruled out him having to work for Leo without her, so, she couldn't help but wonder, where was he? Who had called him away from her and why had he listened? The only living person she knows to have that amount of sway over his actions is their boss.

It's sheer dumb luck that the devil himself hasn't called her, screaming and asking where the hitman is and why he hasn't answered him in days. It's either that or he already knows where he is and is allowing his time away.

The lingerie he gifted her was ripped off the night he left and shunned to the bottom drawer of the dresser to keep any reminder of his abandonment away. How had she been foolish enough to believe he'd actually change? They enjoyed mere days of harmony and happiness before he inevitably led them back to ruin, refusing to speak to her or explain anything when he rode off into the night.

For the week and two days he has spent away, she has packed her schedule to the brim and kept busy. The thought of moping around his penthouse like a lovelorn schoolgirl was too pathetic for her to allow herself the downtime. In its place, she did everything she could think of.

First, she moved the envelope of money hidden in the air vent at her old apartment under the mattress in his bedroom. Were he home, he wouldn't go near the bed anyway. All he does is change his clothes and use the adjoining bathroom the few times he ventures into the room she now calls her own. She'd been meaning to place it somewhere she could keep an eye on it since moving into his apartment, but she was too distracted with him to prioritize it.

Second, she planned lunches, dinners, and movie nights with Alanis every night her dear friend had an opening. It ended up being two nights out of the nine he has left her for, but she was grateful for her company nonetheless. Although, she made certain not to clue her in on the fact that she started having sex with him again. As per their agreement after joining Garrett's team, no one could know what went on between them, and no matter how frustrated she was with Harry, she wouldn't break her word.

Third, she finally found time to do mundane acts of self-care such as going to the gym to exercise, getting her nails redone, and getting a haircut for the first time in over a year. All, of course, paid for by the money she stole from him. Although he'll never know, it brought a grin to her face to know she was getting back at him for his radio silence in the small way she knew how. The sheet of shining black hair that used to reach her lower back was chopped a few inches beneath her collarbone.

The fourth and final addition to her week-long break from Harry was nightly joyrides around the race track with the Cobra. Since he left it there for her to drive home and she had yet to chip away at her full anger for him, she took it upon herself to drive it there at sunset and ride until the urge to sleep made her weary down to her very bones. If the staff there had an issue with her presence, they didn't make it known. She soon began operating under the assumption that Garrett paid them well enough that either she or Harry could come over whenever they pleased. So long as they came after their closing hours.

Somehow, she still found herself idle during the late mornings and nights, and that is how she found herself baking an absurd amount every day. Cheesecake, apple pie, chocolate-chip croissants, pumpkin scones, Canelés de Bordeaux—anything and everything she could imagine. All of it she walked down to gift to any neighbors lingering on the ground floor, as well as the kind, old doorman who smiled at her whenever she came back to the building. By the fourth day of non-stop confectionaries, he told her his wife and children had begun to expect her delicious treats whenever he comes home from work. To this, she giggled and promised him she'd continue the tradition at least a few times a week once the frenzy calmed down.