Page 31 of Provocation
‘Anyway,’ Shade interrupts with amusement lurking in his expression, ‘we aren’t leaving you here alone, especially with Black hanging around, so get that crazy idea out of your head right now.’
‘Okay, okay,’ I say, raising my hands up in front of me.
If I’m honest with myself, although I am of course striving to be a modern, independent woman, the thought of having to traverse the club again by myself doesn’t fill me with excitement. Even without the random detective pulling me into a room alone with him, the smells, bodies, flashing lights and sudden sounds are too much tonight. I’m already tired from being in the lab all day, so I don’t have the energy to keep it all from taking over my head.
I glance at the clock. I’d love to curl up on the couch right now and take a nap, but I need to get back downstairs.
Mav sees where I’m looking and frowns. ‘You don’t need to do this alone,’ he tells me. ‘I understand that you want to keep your leverage, but I can check on the lab if you want to nap for an hour.’
I nod gratefully, sinking down and resting my head back.
‘Before I forget, I need Dicalcium Phosphate, Silicone Dioxide and Magnesium Stearate to assist in the flow mix. I’ll start with fifty percent active ingredients to excipients for the first batch, okay?’
Mav begins to nod. ‘Sounds good. We can easily tweak levels if the consistency isn’t right for the press.’
Blake raises a brow at us. ‘Would you like to share your findings with the rest of the class?’
‘We’ll be ready for the tablet press soon,’ Mav replies absently, typing the list into his phone. ‘If the mix isn’t the right consistency, with the right binders, the pills will just break apart or fuck up the machine.’
‘They’ve got it handled,’ Shade says to Blake. ‘Worry about finding more on the Bandervilles and what’s going on with the house cams this weekend.’
Blake gives Shade a salute. ‘Okay, boss,’ he mutters a little sulkily. ‘What are you going to do?’
Shade’s lips thin as he looks at me. ‘I’m going to grab the ingredients for the press, put in a complaint about Black harassing Daisy and then I’m going to learn more about that fire he was talking about.’
‘You are?’ I ask. ‘But it was years ago. There won’t be anything to find, will there?’
‘You were in Pennsylvania back then, right?’
‘Yeah, in Allentown. That’s where his lab was,’ I say. ‘But why bother?’
Shade stares at me for several seconds. ‘Because maybe it’s not an isolated incident. You always thought it was an accident, but if it wasn’t then that means that both your parents were murdered, Daisy. Why? Do they have anything to do with each other?’
He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. ‘You could be in danger.’
I give him a wan smile. ‘I’m making drugs, marrying an abusive piece of shit, and I have a megalomaniac guardian controlling my life. You think I’m not already in danger?’
‘Fair enough,’ he allows, ‘but don’t you want to unravel this?’
I sigh, suddenly feeling ten times more exhausted. ‘The stalker is already making me play detective in my mom’s death. I don’t think I have it in me right now to deal with that along with school, matrimony, Envy, detectives threatening me, and all the rest of regular day-to-day life,’ I say honestly.
Shade bends over me and kisses me ‘That’s why I’m doing it,’ he says quietly. ‘You’re not a one-woman show, Daisy. We can help you, if you’ll let us.’
The weight on my shoulders lifts a little and I find my eyes doing the same, searching his face. He’s right. All three of them are here. I don’t have to do everything alone. I can ask for help. I have them. I have Lu. They all care about me. They’re mine.
‘All right,’ I say, running my hand along his rough jaw.
He turns into my touch and kisses my hand and then he’s gone.
Mav gets up and goes with him, leaving me with Blake, who goes to sit at the desk. He opens a laptop, puts his feet up on the black mahogany, and eyes me over the top of his screen.
‘Rest, gorgeous. We have it under control and, don’t worry, that detective won’t be getting anywhere near you again.’
I put my feet up on the couch and yawn, closing my eyes and allowing my head to sink down to the armrest.
Life since I got here hasn’t been what I thought it’d be at all. It’s more than I ever dreamed it could be, and yet there are so many dangers that I never even realized existed when I was a kid. I hear Blake tapping away on his keyboard. The incessant sound relaxes me, helping me to drift into a semi-conscious state.
I hear the door a few times, but I stay where I am. Someone puts a blanket over me, and I snuggle into it deeply.
