Page 78 of Craving Chaos
Jesus Christ.
I’m so fucking furious that I’m not sure I trust myself. “Can’t fuckin’ take you anywhere,” I spit at him. I don’t care if he wants to make an ass of himself getting drunk at a wedding, but spiking a teenage girl’s drink is next fucking level wrong.
“You mean you don’t ever want me to have any fun.”
My hand is around his throat in half a second, lifting him nearly off the ground with the force of my fury. “What have I told you about disrespecting me?”
He grabs at my wrist, wheezing as he tries to talk. “Just … a little … fun.”
“No,” I snarl at him. “You’re embarrassing our entire family, and now we’re leaving.” I drop him, though I’m nowhere near done with him. “Lina, Oran, I’ll make sure this is handled appropriately. You have my apologies,” I say to the bride and her groom, who has since joined our little party.
Oran reaches his hand around Lina for me to shake. “We’re glad you could make it.”
I give a nod in appreciation of his understanding and usher Sante toward the door before I beat the shit out of him in front of everyone. He stumbles to keep up with me once we’re outside. I’ve had enough bullshit for one night. It’s time to drop Sante with Gino until I can deal with him later and go find Shae. I’ve gone far too long without a little chaos in my life. I’m done waiting.
CHAPTER 46
SHAE
“How have you been?” I ask Mari once we’re both seated with our coffees.
“Not great, honestly.”
“Yeah, it’s been a rough couple of months for me, too. I think the whole kidnapping thing got to me more than I realized.” I read from my mental script, playing the part of distraught victim.
When thinking about how to handle this meeting, I decided to try deception first. Mari was eager to see me when I got back from Canada. She was genuinely upset when I broke up with her. Either she’s one hell of an actress with balls of steel or things aren’t what they seem. Going in soft and seeing what I can learn felt like the best tactic. If I’m getting nowhere using that angle, I’ll pivot.
“I can’t imagine. It had to have been terrifying.”
“Oddly enough, I wasn’t as worried at first as I was later. The men whose robbery we interrupted were clearly just as surprised by us as we were by them. I kept thinking they’d take what they came for and leave us behind. Even when we were at that airplane hangar in Canada, I didn’t see how killing us served any purpose. The fear really kicked in when our plane crashed. That next week was pretty awful.”
She reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “I was so worried when you disappeared.”
“My cousin said you came looking for me at the gym.”
“I was desperate to know what had happened. You’re not the type to ignore people, so I knew something was wrong.”
“You were right to worry.” I inject a touch of frailty into my smile. “I was in a lot of trouble. I think it didn’t fully set in until I got home, and then it all felt like too much. I’ve needed some time to process everything.”
“That’s understandable. How has your family been since you got back? They keeping a close eye on you?”
Mari may not have known about the criminal element of my family while we were together, but I’d complained to her about my cousins treating me with kid gloves and not letting me be a part of their boys' club.
“They’ve actually been pretty great. No hovering or locking me away in a cage.” I pause to redirect things. “About them, I’m a little surprised you were willing to meet up now that you know the truth about what I do and have seen how dangerous it can be. I figured that would probably scare you off.”
Her gaze drops to the coffee cup in her hands. “It’s not ideal, but I know you, and you’re not a monster. You protect people, not hurt them.”
“I handle security, but that doesn’t make me a saint. I hurt people if I have to,” I say softly.
“Only when you have to—that’s a big caveat,” she urges. “You’re a good person, Shae. I know you are. And I’m willing to wait for you to sort things out if it means having a chance with you.”
I can’t find a single suspicious thread to pull in any of her responses. I debate confronting her directly with questions about her name and the lack of an online identity but decide to try one more avenue.
“That’s very generous of you. I appreciate how understanding you’ve been, even getting together on short notice. I’d like to keep talking, but I actually have a family wedding to get to.”
“Ah, I wondered if there was a special occasion. You look stunning.”
“Thank you.” I stand from my chair, and she follows suit. “No big date or anything like that, in case you were wondering.” I give her a wink.