Page 49 of Kings Fear No One
“You smell of beer.”
“And you smell like fucking flowers. What’s your point?”
Her brows scrunch closer, a little line appearing in between. A quirk of hers I’ve noticed and grown used to. It forms whenever she’s thinking.
She’s trying to figure out how to take me.
“Sit down,” I order. “You said there’s dinner? I’ll warm it up.”
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”
“If you sit down and stop trying to flee in the middle of the fucking night.”
“Hasn’t anybody ever told you you’re not supposed to swear at a lady?”
“I don’t follow those rules. Just like I don’t follow the rule that says a hysterical woman should go rushing off into the dark because she didn’t get enough attention.”
She drops to the sofa like a wilted flower, her expression glum, her eyes no less sad and watery.
A kernel of guilt chips away at me. I turn my back and focus on heating up the pasta she’s left out on the stove. Minutes later, I’m walking two large plates into the living room. Hers I set down on the coffee table. Mine stays with me as I claim the loveseat.
More silence stretches on between us.
Teysha picks at the pasta she’s prepared. I’m a fast eater, and I drank on an empty stomach. She’s barely had a fettuccine noodle by the time I’ve downed mine like a fucking Hoover vacuum. The pitiful, hunched way she’s sitting and picking at her food says enough.
I set down my empty plate and realize I’ve got to put aside the bitter mood. At least for now if she’s going to stop being so damn upset.
“I got into a fight,” I admit. “Since you want to know all about it. Me and Mace.”
Her eyes widen. “You and Mason? But why?”
“Why not?”
“For starters, he’s your brother.”
“Which means it’s not the first time. Probably won’t be the last.” I slide fingers through my hair that’s grown long up top and then figure I’ve come this far, might as well keep going. Just for the time being ’til we get this arrangement dissolved. “We found Xavier. We were interrogating him.”
She’s clearly startled by the news, so much so, she doesn’t even answer.
It’s as complicated for her as it is for me. Yet our responses couldn’t be more different.
“We’ve learned about another compound we believe belongs to the Saints. We think it’s where the Leader—Abraham is his name—is hiding out.”
“Abraham,” she repeats in a whisper. Disbelief’s frozen on her face, like she’s time-traveling to the past in her head.
“Hey, look at me,” I say, reaching over to palm her knee. I wait ‘til her big brown eyes flick to me. “I’m going to get him. I’m going to make him pay for everything he did to you, alright?”
I get up and start to walk away but only make it a couple steps.
“Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I…” she murmurs softly, then pauses for a sigh. “Can I please… your bed…”
Fuck. This girl doesn’t give up.
“Tonight,” I say. “Just tonight.”
