Page 36 of Dark Obsession
"Yeah, but you guys are close." I dipped my finger into the butter and smeared it on my toast. "My mother would flip her shit if she saw this."
Grace smiled. "What happened last night? With that guy? Anything good?"
"Yeah." I shrugged. "We made out a little in the office. I think things would have gone farther if all of this hadn't happened, but I'm not complaining."
"No?" She lifted her eyebrows as confusion moved across her pretty face.
"No, not at all. I could fall desperately in love and lust with a guy like Nate. It's dangerous, and honestly not something I need on my plate right now."
"So that's it? Just like that?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Just like that. Besides, I'm going to figure out if Denise had anything to do with Darek's death."
"No. She wouldn't do that, Jenna. Come on. I know you don't like the girl, but-"
"But she's vile, Grace. You thought the cute boy in the library would be fun to flirt with and he's the sickest hitman in the whole fucking country." I tilted my head, almost feeling sorry for her. "You're not a great judge of character."
"Asshat." She reached out and snatched my toast from my fingers. "You don't have to be mean about it. I can stay away from Erik if you think that's best."
"I don't think." I let her get in a small bite before yanking it back. "I know it is. My brother died because he married a money-hungry whore. I'm going to find out what part she played in this whole thing."
"And then? You're going to do what with the evidence? Turn it into your father?"
"Nope. I'm going to kill her." I glanced toward the back forty and narrowed my eyes as I took in the beauty. Grace sat quietly for a minute, but I couldn't blame her. "You wanna help me?"
"No, but thank you for the offer." She stood up. "It's obvious you're in shock."
"No. I'm not at all in shock. She took something from my family, and I'm going to repay her for it."
"By taking her life?"
"No, by using my brother's money that she's expecting to get to pay a hitman to take her life." I glanced up at my best friend. "But don't tell anyone. It's too dangerous."
She stared at me a minute before smiling. "You're kidding. Right?"
I shoved the rest of the toast in my mouth and turned to watch the birds scatter across the yard. My silence must have gotten to her.
Grace gripped my shoulder tightly. "Hey. This isn't funny. Look at me."
I glanced up at her. "I'm headed over to the apartment to look through things. Come with me."
"No. We're not doing this. It's not what girls like us do."
"True." I stood up and gathered my stuff, feeling far calmer than I should have. "Girls like us just take what life is offering instead of shoving the same barbed cock back up its ass that it shoved up ours."
"You're angry."
"No, I'm not. I'm completely in control right now, and I'm going to figure out what happened to my brother. Not for me, but for my father. He can't get his hands dirty with this Grace, but I can." I turned and walked to the house, counting to three in my head. She jogged up beside me as I hit three, and it took all I had in me not to give her a knowing smile.
She'd never let me drown alone. Not ever.
"Fine, but we're not killing anyone."
"Right." I glanced over at her and smiled. "Erik's going to do that part for me."
