Page 27 of Savage Grace

“My brother will kill you if he finds you near me,” I said as quietly as I could.

Secretly, for some psychotic reason that I should probably have sought therapy for, I hoped he wouldn’t be scared away that easily.

Thisparticular stalker I could get used to.

The corner of his mouth twitched and he scooted back an inch.

“How is our almighty Don Antoni?” he asked, fiddling with the spare soaking bowl as the nail tech finished a layer of polish.

I didn’t answer.

I just let him sit there in silence.

“Sir,” a voice from behind us chirped. “You’re going to have to leave if you’re not a customer.”

“I think I’m fine,” Ashe said, leaning back in his seat to shoot the manager a cocky smile.

“It’s okay, Kim,” I said over my shoulder. “He’s getting a clean and buff.”

Kim stared at him for a beat longer before looking towards me. I nodded to assure her that I was okay, and she returned the gesture before walking away, keeping her eyes locked on us.

Another woman came and sat in front of Ashe, motioning for him to give her his hands.

He shook his head.

“Don’t be a fucking baby,” I snapped. “Give her your hands.”

He stiffened, but obeyed, and the small, older lady began scrubbing at his fingernails, shaking her head at the state of them.

I watched him with a satisfied smirk while he watched the ordeal with a disgusted scowl on his face.

“Ow!” he snapped, pulling his hands away as the lady began trimming his cuticles.

“Big baby,” the woman muttered, snatching his hand back.

“Why the fuck do you do this?” Ashe hissed at me.

“It’s relaxing.”

“Getting your skin fucking chopped off?”

I rolled my eyes. “Big baby.”

Ashe was silent again for a little while, busy scowling at the lady who was now buffing his nails. He was still being worked on by the time mine were finished.

The coffin-shaped matte black was something different for me, but I couldn’t stop admiring them.

“So,” he said, voice tense like he was very uncomfortable. “Where’d your protection go?”

The older woman who had been assigned to Ashe was known for being a little rough, and I knew that Kim had probably done that on purpose. But the way that she filed, scraped, and buffed at his poor hands was almost enough to make even me cringe a little.

Still, he sat there and took it like a champ.

“Getting breakfast and coffee.”

“Oh, I thought he was a bodyguard, not an errand boy.”

“He can be both,” I shrugged.

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