One Night ✔️

Chapter Twelve

"Excuse me?" Joseph hissed in disbelief. The waiter set down the silver tray and took a step toward Joseph.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"The problem is that you're being obnoxious as hell. What makes you think a girl deserves or even wants to be talked to like that?" he retorted, his voice taut.

Sean looked Joseph up and down, and with a curt laugh, concluded he was no competition. "I doubt you're fucking her, so why don't you back off and let others have a chance. Kid."

My skin felt as if millions of bugs were embedded underneath it, and my eyes widened so largely that I thought they'd pop out of my head. Joseph rose from his seat and lunged across the bar for the collar of the man's shirt.

I cautiously jumped back, my heart hammering in my chest. He gripped the cotton between his fingers so tightly that his knuckles paled. The men's faces were inches apart.

"Watch. Your goddamn. Mouth," Joseph warned, each of his words laced with a venomous bite. I'd never seen him like this. I needed to do something, anything to subdue him. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to get hurt, especially because of me.

"Joey..." I called, reaching out to grab his arm. He was so focused on burning holes into the guy with his glare, that when he finally looked at me, he was shocked as if he'd forgotten I was standing next to him. Freeing the pathetic man from his grasp, Joseph took his hands and caressed both of my cheeks.

"Mariposa... I'm sorry."

His voice was soft speaking to me, and his hands were even softer holding me. Quite contrary to the death grip he had on Sean's shirt a few seconds ago. I leaned further into his touch, quietly forgiving him even though he had no reason to be sorry. He defended me.

His sorrowful eyes bore into mine and the music faded into a distant hum as I looked back at him, my hands locked around his wrists. I didn't care that we had several pairs of eyes glued to us following the scene that played out just a couple minutes before.

"Let's get you out of here, yeah?" he murmured, breaking the silence between us. I nodded, taking his extended hand as he led me out of the building from where we entered.

During the drive back, Joseph apologized profusely. He explained that he just couldn't stand idly by while "The Rat" talked about me like I was a piece of meat, which I totally understood. I didn't know what to do myself, and I appreciated him sticking up for me.

"Where are we going? I thought you were taking me home." I noticed he had taken the opposite route. With his eyes still on the road, he lifted a finger to his lips, hushing me. "I knew it. I knew you had been plotting to kill me eventually."

"Close your eyes," he told me.

I did as he said. We drove a little longer before I felt the car come to a stop. He told me to wait as he stepped out and opened my door for me. Gripping his hand tightly to ensure I didn't stumble, he led me through a door and I heard chimes sound off as it closed behind us. It was reminiscent of Giovanni's place.

He sat me down in what I assumed was our booth and told me to keep my eyes closed while he went off to grab something. Not too much later, I felt him slip into the open space next to me. It was then that he allowed me to open my eyes.

"Joseph?!" I squealed, opening my eyes to reveal a full size cheesecake laying on the table in front of me. "You know how much I love cheesecake, but I don't think I'll finish this on my own," I said, shaking my head.

"I won't force you to. This is just me saying sorry... again," he said with a frown.

"I told you —"