Page 14 of My Heartless Soul

“Bring out the cow we received this morning.”

Vassar’s eyes snap up, and he drags his gaze over my pristine black Prada suit with tiny crystals over it and my black Louboutin heels and lifts up an eyebrow, looking at me from underneath his eyes.

Yes, I always wear this type of setup, but whenever I step in to work alongside them, I change into my black jacket, black apron, black slacks, and black Crocs. Yes, you guessed it, the only clothing I own is black. No matter what it is.

At least my hair is up in a high ponytail already.

“We didn’t dissect it yet.”

“Do I look stupid to you? You think I don’t know as much?” I narrow my eyes at him. “I swear to God, you don’t want to test me today. Bring. Me. The. Fucking. Cow.”

“Do I ever?” I hear him mumble under his breath.

“Did you say something?”

He clicks his tongue, and I see how his jaws clench, but then he simply takes a deep breath and says, “No, Chef.”

“But you did. Why don’t you speak up like a big boy and tell the class what it is you really wanted to say to your chef.” I can already feel my anger releasing from my bones, making me a thousand pounds lighter as it always does around Vassar, but today…today it’s a whole other high because he is a second from snapping.

Just a second from showing me his real face, something I’ve worked so hard to see these past five years. Maybe he will even cry like all the rest of my employees have at one point or another while working for me. But he is mute. Not uttering a single word swimming in his head. And what words would those be, I can tell by the fury in his brown eyes.

“Come on, Levidis. Spill it,” I say slowly, taunting him.

Every single person in this kitchen is frozen in time and space, watching our face-off, and they all almost blow out a breath when Vassar speaks up calmly.

“I will bring you the cow in a second,” he simply says with a clenched jaw and storms off into the walk-in fridge.

“Pussy,” I quietly say to myself, and sigh in disappointment. But at least he helped me to work off some tension. The one that comes right back a second later, all the lightness disappears from my body when I hear the most annoying, nasal voice calling out my name.

“Kira, sweetheart,” the clinger who is making my life impossibly difficult right now is inside my restaurant, my domain, my safe haven. I was wondering when the idiot would make himself seen, but I’ve been lucky to avoid this for a whole week. It seems like my luck has run out, and so has his. Since mycow is still not here, the urge to cut into something is as strong as ever.

“Steven,” I spit his name out with as much venom as I can muster. “You have some fucking nerve showing up right now.”

“What do you mean? I am here to see my girlfriend.” He grins with his cocky mouth as he steps up closer to wrap his sausages around my body, quickly swiping Vassar’s knife off the prep table by my side and lifting it up, halting him in his steps.

“Try that again, and this blade will go right through that stupid heart of yours.”

“Kira, come on, we both know you missed me. I am sorry I was away for so long. I had games out of town, but now I am back, and we can go straight to the fun part of reunions.” He steps up again, but my knife hasn’t moved a millimeter away from his chest. “Sweetheart, drop the act. There are cameras watching. You wouldn’t want them to film you killing your boyfriend now, would you?”

Oh, this stupid, fucking pig!!! Of course, he brought the cameras with him. He wants a good show? I’ll give him a good show.

I am just about to slice that ridiculous tie off when my Sous-chef, along with another cook, steps up, carrying half the cow that we got this morning, and slams it on the prep table behind me.

“There you go, Che—” Vassar stops talking when he lifts up his eyes and sees the standoff. “What in the world—”

But this time, I cut him off because, for the first time in over a decade, I’m about to do something totally stupid. Something that I will most likely regret and something that I will never hear the end of, but…

“Love, you wanted to meet the asshole spreading lies about your girlfriend?”

Chapter seven

Vassar

Song: Imagine Dragons – Sharks

The words she just uttered in that fake, saccharine voice are ringing loud and clear in my head.

“Love, you wanted to meet the asshole spreading lies about your girlfriend?”

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