"Are you sure this is going to work?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes. The watch is tracking my sister's heartbeat. She's going to text you if she gets a message. I changed her ringtone in your phone, blah, blah, blah." She hitched up her dress to step over the curb. "Trust me."

Rae nodded. "Okay."

"First, not to overstep, aren't you a little uncomfortable with your ex-boyfriend who has the keys to your house tracking your location?"

Rae sighed. "It's complicated. We're really more like...business partners."

"Ah," Sam said. "You're in denial."

"I wish I could explain, Sam. But—"

"There you are!" They glanced up to see Zack standing on the street waving them down.

Sam whistled lowly. "You know, when Zack said 'Italian,' I thought he meant, 'Olive Garden.'"

Rae examined the building. "This is definitely not Oliver Garden."

Sam chuckled. "Here's hoping they pay." Sam ran up to Zack and threw her arms around him.

Trevor stood off to the side and hugged Rae before taking a step back. "You look..." he paused for a second, "stunning." Rae smiled and glanced down at her dress. This time, she had chosen from her own closet.

"You don't look back yourself."

They made their way to the table. The restaurant was glittering glass, velvet curtains, and maroon wines. The waitress took their drink orders and Rae begin examining the menu. A lot of girls on dates chose small meals because they felt uncomfortable eating in front of their significant other. Rae had no problem eating. The prices, however, stared back at her and her tiny bank account menacingly.

"How did you guys meet?" Zack looked at Rae and Trevor.

Trevor chuckled. "Well, we had a class together. Abnormal human psychology. It was my first class, and I was a bit out of my league."

"You were not." Rae sipped her water and turned to Zack. "He passed the first exam with flying colors and the professor asked him if he would do tutoring."

"Okay, but I didn't know that he meant tutor others. I thought he was recommending I get a tutor. So, I looked up tutors for the class and connected with Rae."

"And he ended up tutoring me."

Trevor laughed. "I did not."

Rae smirked. "My grades got better."

"There's nothing better than an A."

Rae shook her head in amusement and then looked at Sam who was sipping her water and avoiding eye contact. "What?"

"Nothing." Sam set her water down. "I'm just trying to water down the sickening sweetness of that story."

Rae rolled her eyes. "And how did you meet?"

Zack laughed and Sam smacked his arm. "Do not say a word," she threatened. He raised his hands in mock defeat.

The waitress stopped by and set bread on the table. Rae grabbed a piece and then frowned. "What Italian restaurant buys Wonder Bread?"

"Raelyn."

Rae turned, but everyone was staring over her shoulder. She turned and saw Dominic standing there, dressed in an immaculate black suit. His hands were loosely folded, but she could see the tension in his shoulders.

"May I have a moment?"

Trevor grabbed her hand under the table. Rae nodded nonchalantly. "Sure. How can I help you?"

"In private, please."

Rae considered it for moment and finally relented. "Excuse me for...two minutes."

Dominic helped her out of the booth but didn't let go of her arm until they were in a back hallway. A waiter rushed past with a platter of food.

"What are you doing here?"

"Going on a date."

"A date?"

"Yes." Rae shook her arm free. "What's the problem?"

Dominic shook his head in shock. "What do you mean? We're bonded."

Rae shrugged. "For now. This is just a temporary thing. That doesn't mean I can't live my life. A bond doesn't mean anything romantic."

For the first time in Rae's memory, he looked flustered. "Why aren't you wearing your watch? What if something happened to you?"

"Then I would call the cops."

"You're out of our territory. I can't have people keep an eye on you here."

"Keep an..." Rae shook her head. "I don't care where I'm at. You don't need anyone to keep an eye on me. I'm fine. The biggest danger here is getting food poisoning from Wonder Bread."

He opened his mouth but stopped short. "Wonder Bread?"

A hand landed on Rae's shoulder, and she jumped.

"Sorry," Trevor said. "Didn't mean to scare you. Was just headed to the bathroom."

Dominic narrowed his eyes. "Second floor."

Trevor nodded and turned to Rae. "You okay?"

Rae nodded. "Yeah. Come get me once you're done though. We're just finishing up our conversation." As Trevor left, Dominic glanced at the bread being taken out of the kitchen. Wonder Bread. "Anything else you want to talk about?"

Dominic shook his head. "Yeah. Why are you being so reckless?"

"Reckless?" Rae gritted her teeth. "Dominic, I have a plan. I know what I want to do with my life and I'm not going to change directions because something happened. I'm staying on track whether you like it or not."

"Can't you adjust the plan and stay away from Capo territory?"

Rae rubbed her head. "I don't know about this, nor do I care. How did you know I was here?"

"I was in the area."

"Okay, well listen. You don't want to respect my time. I get it. You want to live your life free and loose. That's not me. I have a plan and you're not part of it, okay?"

Once the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Dominic's face fell. After all, he had rescued her and protected her in the past. She ignored her regret and strengthened her resolve.

"Listen, all the danger I've been in was because of you." The tension in her back began to rise. "I'm trying to graduate and with you hovering around me, I can't do my work. I'm setting boundaries and you need to stay on the other side."

Dominic's jaw tightened. "You're scared."

"I'm not a coward."

"I didn't say that. I said you're scared." He took a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions in check. "You've been dragged into something outside of your control and you can't handle that."

Anger burned inside Rae's chest. "Okay, jerk." She gritted her teeth. "I can handle this perfectly fine, thank you. I'm handling this right now."

Dominic glanced up at her. "Fine. But when something happens to you that you can't control, don't come crying to me."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Rae?" Trevor glanced at the two of them, glaring at each other.

"Perfect timing. Just like I planned." With that, Rae whirled and stomped off. Trevor paused and scanned Dominic before following Rae back to her seat.

The four of them sat in silence. Dominic was nowhere to be seen. Rae fumed, picking a piece of bread into small bites.

"Wow, planning on feeding the pigeons?" Sam asked.

Rae sighed and tried to get her heartbeat under control. She was in control. "You know those signs on the CTA stations?"

"The ones that say don't feed the birds?"

"Yeah." Rae forced herself to smile. "I love how instead of bread crumbs, they have pictures of mini pieces of bread." Everyone nodded uncomfortably. "So, what is everyone ordering?"

"I heard the lasagna is good," Sam said enthusiastically. She began to blabber about lasagna. Rae let out a breath of relief.

She felt a hand on her temple and turned to see Trevor gently brushing her hair behind her ear. "You okay?" Her skin seemed to buzz at his touch. The buzzing faded when he lifted his hand.

Rae nodded. "I'm fine. Just fine."