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“No.”
“Did you force her?”
“She was in my care. I was the one in control.”
“Did you force yourself on her against her will?”
“No. Christ. I am not that beast.”
His expression softens infinitesimally. “I know that already. I just wasn’t sure you did.”
That surprises me, and I find I’m struck mute.
“A neighbor delivered the package. Douglas is smarter than to come to the house with the presence of the IVI guard. But he is determined.” He opens a drawer, takes a box out, and sets it on the desk.
I stand, open it, and look inside to find the baby doll chopped to pieces and the funeral invitation. My blood turns cold just like it did when she described the contents. “Christ. Did she see this?”
“No, the guard wouldn’t let her.”
“Let me take her home.” He raises an eyebrow, and I know it’s at the word home. I press on. “I can keep her safe. He won’t have access to her in my house.”
“Nor would he in mine. But she doesn’t want that, and I think it’s past time we respect her decisions for a change.”
“This is life or death, Santiago.”
Standing, he comes to put a hand on my shoulder. “Imprisoning her in your house or mine is a different sort of death. And neither you nor I want that for her.”
18
Judge
I’m on my way home when my phone chimes with a text. At a traffic light, I check it. It’s Solana sending some idiotic message I don’t understand.
Solana: Dun dun da dun…
Me: Can you forget my number?
Solana: I hear wedding bells.
Me: What?
Solana: Didn’t you hear? A certain eligible Sovereign Son has asked for Mercedes’s hand in marriage. He was very romantic about it too…
When I pull a U-turn in the middle of the intersection, cars honk their horns, sending traffic screeching around me. My cell phone drops to the floor as I press the gas pedal and race to the apothecary. I double park outside, fuming as I stalk into the shop. Solana is with a customer, and that crack Madame Dubois is filing her nails from her table, wearing a sly smile on her face.
“I’ll be right with you,” Solana says with a shit-eating grin. “Why don’t you look at our selection of mood-enhancing elixirs over there.”
I grit my teeth and consider shaking her when I hear Kali bark. Shit. I forgot about her, and I don’t need her pissing in my car.
“I will be right back!” I tell Solana and go back outside, the bell over the door irritating now. Opening the hatch, I lift Kali out. I should put her down in case she needs to piss, but instead, I grin and walk back inside the shop, forcing myself to smile at the customer leaving with her purchase, then set Kali down.
“Aw!” Solana’s face breaks into the biggest smile as she comes rushing to the puppy. “Oh my goodness, aren’t you the cutest thing ever! Georgie is going to love you!” She picks the puppy up, hugs her tight, and Kali licks her face, and it fucking pisses me off.
“What was your text about?”
She straightens, holding on to Kali. “Judge, you do not strike me as a puppy-loving kind of guy honestly. Don’t take that the wrong way.”
Does she hear the rattle in my chest? If so, she clearly has a poor sense of danger. Because she just smiles wider.
