Page 8 of Falcon's Prey

“Am I not allowed to have things that makemehappy?” I said.

He didn’t need to know about the charities I gave to. That was none of his concern.

Placing the head of the bong to my lips, I lit the bowl and took a hit.

The thick smoke instantly relaxed me. I threw my head back, closed my eyes, then released the smoke into the starless night. I liked sitting outside, amidst all these buildings.

“Great, now that you’re high, can you go back to bed?” Ren got up.

I untucked my feet from my Indian-style seated position, and Ren looked at my bare legs.

“You’re not wearing socks or even shoes.”

“Neither are you,” I said.

He took a step toward me.

“What are you doing?” I put a hand up to stop him.

“Listen up, darling. I’m here to protect you, and if that means that I have to fucking carry your ass inside because you were too stupid to wear shoes, then that’s me earning my money.”

The weed must have gotten me high fast, because I burst out laughing. Maybe what he said wasn’t hilarious, but I found it funny.

“Fuck, you’re high,” he muttered.

“I’m fine,” I said and pushed past him. “We are not doing the whole Whitney Houston thing right now.”

Ren was hot on my heels. I felt his presence behind me like a shadow.

“Trust me, darling, if it weren’t for the fact that I was getting paid to be here, I would never bother with the likes of you.”

Ouch. That hurt. It picked at a wound that I’d had for a long time, but hell if I’d let him know.

“Don’t worry, bodyguard,” I spat. “You’ll be out of a job soon enough.”

I took a step to walk away, but Ren was there, grabbing my arm and forcing me to turn around to face him. He looked like a bull ready to strike. His face was easy to read. I didn’t know if he did have a poker face, or maybe he ran on anger, but I could understand him. Perhaps his emotions mirrored my own.

The mint from his breath hit my nostrils, and it smelled intoxicating.

“You trying to come up with a way to get me fired?” he asked, his face getting closer to mine.

“Either that or I might get killed,” I replied, not giving much thought to my words.

Ren swallowed, and he looked at my face, his blue eyes blazing with fire. He dropped his hold on me and walked away.

“Asshole!” I yelled after him.

I sat on the sofa with everything dark around me, lost in sweet oblivion. It was around five in the morning when I got a text.

I miss you. I need you.

Not wanting to deal with the emotions it made me feel, I grabbed my velvet box, took out a vial, and snorted part of my problems away.

* * *

“What the fuck?!”I shrieked, the splash of cold water waking me up.

Ren was beside me with a bottle of water in his hand. “Sorry, making sure you didn’t die on me.”