Page 64 of Vow of Vengeance
"Well, you're the one who made me come here. I wasn't going to take the chance he got away."
"I don't think he's getting away." Wes says. "I think you just cracked his skull like eggs for a fucking omelet."
I snort, stepping over Khan's body and looking around for the source of theproblemWes mentioned.
It doesn't take me long to find it.
I sweep my head to the left, and my eyes connect with hers.
A fucking problem, indeed.
twenty-seven
Soren
Violetiswildlyentertaining.And an exceptional chef.
"Listen," I tell her, leaning back in my chair. I feel just the faintest bit nauseous from how much I just ate, and yet, I'm so comfortable I think I could fall asleep here at the table. "There are plenty of rooms here. You can go pick one, two, three. Just stay here and be my chef because that was undoubtedly the best thing I've ever tasted."
Violet laughs loudly, unashamed of the way her voice bounces around the apartment. "I'll cook for you anytime. Wes gets sick of all the mess. He does dishes for me, his little contribution, and I do a lot of cooking for my sister and her kids... whether she likes it or not."
"Why wouldn't she like it?" I venture, wondering if that's too personal a thing to ask. I mean, how could anyone not appreciate her cooking? If everything else she makes is half as delectable as her lasagna, then I'd probably double my weight by the end of the year with her cooking meals for me.
Maybe that's the problem.
"Her housekeeper gets a little jealous." Violet laughs, her lips twisting as she tries and fails to contain her smirk.
"Because your food is better?"
"Because she feels useless if I take on the cooking." Violet laughs. "I don't know why. Trust me, her hands are full cleaning up messes and wrangling children all day."
"You have a lot of nieces and nephews?"
"Yeah," Violet snorts. "You could say that." When she senses me questioning it, she shrugs. "Thirteen."
"Thirteen?" I nearly choke on the word, or the air, or the strange bit of resentment that just sprung up inside of me for a stranger I don't even know. "Surely, they're not all your sister's kids? Do you have other siblings?"
"No." Violet laughs. "Just Claire and her little rugby team. But the way her husband can't keep his hands off of her, they'll have a hockey team by the end of her twenties."
I stare at her, gob smacked.
That ridiculous jealousy rears its head again as I remember how hard I had to try to conceive with Vin, how hard I worked just to lose it in the end. It's pathetic to be bothered by someone else's life when it doesn't have any bearing on mine. And yet, I can't help consider the harshness of how cruel life can be.
Maybe the reason I had to work so hard to conceive the first time was because I wasn't meant to. Maybe it was fate's way of protecting me from the way everything was going to shake out, from the loss and the inevitable revelation that my child's father was a fucking monster.
"Sorry." Violet says suddenly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'm just... jealous, I suppose." She bites her lip, and I blink, wondering what she's jealous of. "I can't have kids."
"Oh." I suddenly feel extra stupid for my short-lived jealousy. "Have you been trying long?"
Something about my question makes her laugh. "Yeah." She nods. "You could say that."
Violet doesn't look terribly old... barely older than me. Everyone always tried to calm my disappointments by reminding me I was young, that there was plenty of time to try. It was Vin's favorite excuse.
But I don't feel like most people my age have tried too hard to have children. I was desperate for a companion, a reason to live. In hindsight, my motivations were wrong. I know that now. And while I will grieve for the life that was lost for the rest of my time on this Earth, maybe there's a reason I didn't have a child sooner.
"I understand." I sigh. "I tried for a while with my ex." I'm not sure why I'm telling her this, other than the fact that I like her. Maybe it's because I've been so isolated for so long, missing Marissa, and I need to talk, to feel some sort of connection to someone other than Declan. "I was obsessive with ovulation strips and timing intimacy." I shake my head.
"I don't have a uterus." Violet says it so coolly that I stare at her, wondering if I misunderstood what I think I heard. She cringes, takes a gulp of her wine, and shakes her own head now, too. "I am so sorry. That was an overshare that no one asked for."
