Just then a shriek came from the tea room. Both Anthony and Claudia dashed out of the office to see what had happened.
The door was wide open and a furious Ruxandra stood on the stoop. She was trying to step inside, but her foot kept bouncing off an invisible barrier. She had just raised her fist, as if she was about to smash through it.
Bloody hell. Anthony strode out the door, grabbed Ruxandra’s arm, and dragged her a few feet down the sidewalk.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m trying to enter a public restaurant,” she spat.
Anthony crossed his arms. “And why do you think you can’t?”
“I don’t know, but I imagine you and your whore have something to do with it.” She pointed through the window at a shocked-looking Claudia. “What is she? A witch?”
Anthony dragged Ruxandra to the nearest side street and rounded the corner with her.
When they were out of sight of the evening crowd, he growled. “Why did you come? You promised you’d stay away.”
Ruxandra folded her arms and turned up her nose. “I found a loophole.”
“A what?”
“A loophole. You made me promise to stay away from your tea room. But as I see it, any restaurant that invites the public in is a public place. And I didn’t promise the public I’d stay away.”
“Unless the public signed the deed, it’s not the public’s tea room. It’s my tea room…and as I recall, you promised to stay away from my tea room.”
“Are you sure it doesn’t belong to you and your little whore?”
Anthony had to use every fiber of his inner strength to keep from grabbing her around the neck and ripping her head off. Through gritted teeth he said, “Do. Not. Call. Her. That.”
She whipped her hair over her shoulder. “Why not? You pay her, don’t you?”
“I pay her to manage my business.”
“And you set her up in a nice apartment in a building where, you admitted, your name is on the deed. What do you call her now?”
“A renter.” Shit. How did she know about that? Suddenly he was glad Claudia had insisted on paying rent, but dammit, Ruxandra knows where she lives.
Rounding the corner, Kurt stopped and opened his eyes in surprise. “Ruxandra. I didn’t expect to see you here.” He took a step back and eyed her appreciatively. “Wow. You look…stunning!”
She smiled and touched her hair a couple times. “Why, thank you, Kurt.” Then she turned her angry gaze on Anthony again. “See? Other men appreciate my beauty.”
Kurt laid a hand on her arm. “Oh, Ruxandra. You’re so much more than mere beauty.”
Careful, Kurt. Don’t lay it on too thick, or she’ll see right through our ploy.
But Ruxandra seemed to be eating up the compliments. “Really? What else do you like about me?”
“Well, for one thing, you’re loyal. To a Marine, that means everything.” He lifted his sleeve and exposed his tattoo. “See? Semper Fi.”
“Semper what?”
“Fi. Short for fidelis. It means always faithful.”
She narrowed her gaze on Anthony. “I wish everyone felt that ‘fi’ was important.”
“And I wish everyone kept their promises.” Anthony and Ruxandra stared each other down. At last, Anthony cleared his throat. “Well, I should be getting back to the shop.”
Ruxandra’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. “Not so fast. You haven’t told me how you performed that little trick with the door.”
He yanked his sleeve out of her grasp. “And I don’t intend to. Consider it a warning. Stay away.” As he stormed off to make sure Claudia got home okay, he heard Kurt ask Ruxandra to a movie.
“Oh, go to hell,” she said.
Crap. So much for that plan.
Claudia paced across the office floor, wondering what, if anything, she could do about a jealous ex-girlfriend interfering with her new relationship. She stopped in the middle of the floor, sighed, and whispered the Serenity Prayer.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change—Ruxandra; courage to change the things I can—um…” She hated to admit it, but about the only thing she had control over was dating or breaking up with Anthony. “And the wisdom to know the difference.” She slumped into the small chair beside the desk.
Giving him up was the last thing she wanted to do. They had already pushed their feelings aside and sacrificed five years of their lives. To surrender would hand Ruxandra the victory she wanted.
Claudia leaned over and dropped her head into her hands. After allowing herself a moment of self-pity, she straightened and said aloud, “I think it’s time to call my sponsor.”
She dialed Gaye’s number and waited through two rings. She was just about to chicken out when her sponsor answered.
“Claudia?”
“Hi, Gaye. How did you know it was me?”
“Caller ID showed your number.”
“You know my phone number?”
“I have a good memory for numbers.”
Claudia snorted. “I don’t have a good memory for anything these days. I feel like my mind has turned to mush.”
Gaye laughed. “That’s normal too. Hang in there. It’ll get better, I promise.”
“I hope so. I have a situation, and I can’t figure out how to handle it. Do you have a minute to talk?”
“I have as many minutes as you need.”
“Good.” Claudia already felt a little better. Less alone with her problem, at any rate. “I told you about my boyfriend, Anthony, right?”
“Uh-oh.”
Claudia’s spine stiffened. “Uh-oh? I haven’t even told you what’s bothering me yet.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s his jealous ex-girlfriend.”
Gaye groaned.
At that moment, Anthony entered the office, looking sad and defeated.
“Uh…I should go. Anthony’s here, and I should be talking about this with him, anyway.”
Anthony’s brows lifted.
“Fine. Just remember, your sobriety comes first. If anything threatens that, it’s gotta go.”
Claudia smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m glad you called. Try me again later when you can talk.”
“I will.” Claudia hung up and faced Anthony. “Well?”
Anthony crossed his arms. “I don’t know what to tell you. Ruxandra promised to stay away, but obviously I can’t trust her to keep her word.”
As hard as it was for Claudia to bring up the only logical solution, she had to. “Maybe we should stop seeing each other.”
“No!” he roared.
Claudia took a step back. She had never seen Anthony lose his cool. Not once.
“I will not let a spoiled brat run my life. She’ll get over it. Meanwhile, I’ll need to keep you close at all times so I can protect you.”
Claudia set a hand on her hip. “At all times? What am I? Your prisoner? I have a life too. I need to go to meetings and—”
Anthony held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean during the day. Just the evenings. She won’t bother you during the day.”
Claudia scrutinized him. “Anthony, I’ve never asked you what you do all day. I figured it was none of my business…until now.”
Anthony shifted from foot to foot and avoided eye contact.
“What is it? Are you reading to the blind? Shopping for new suits? Or does it have something to do with Ruxandra?”
His gaze snapped to hers. “It has nothing to do with Ruxandra.”
“Then you should be able to tell me about it.”