Anything.
Her slip is momentary though and quick as a viper she draws herself up to her full height. Her deadly smile in place once more, “And he never did, either.”
I open my mouth but nothing comes out. I can’t agree or fight her. My heart screams it isn’t true, but the words won’t come. A woman like me doesn’t get a happily-ever-after. I don’t get the man and the dream home.The love story.
I know that, but I still can’t say it. So I do the only thing my body will let me. I run. Turn and sprint right into the waiting bathroom behind me, slam the door shut and snap the lock in place.
I won’t let her see me cry. I won’t.
I fall to the floor, tripping over the pink silk skirt of my dress and muffle my sob with a fist. And it is only when I am sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to my chest, alone and shaking, that I whisper, “I know.”
CHAPTERTWO
LAW
The night after I leave the club I don’t sleep. I plan, though. Charlaine comes to my office like I ask. She comes in looking pissed and I know she’s mad about the house call, so at least we are all in agreement that shit is fucked.
“What do you know about them?” She asks as she sets up her laptop and starts to type away. “Where the fuck is the ethernet around this place?”
“Here,” I slap a cord down in front of her and nod at the wall behind where she sits to where she can plug in. “And who are we talking about, Zeus?”
Charlaine’s eyebrows shoot up. “Zeus? Christ on a cracker. He name himself that or like, is that his government name?”
I rub a hand across my jaw and think about it. “Honestly, I don’t know. He’s never bothered me, so I didn’t see the need to look into the club more past who he did business with and if the money was clean enough for me to be able to relax there.”
“Relax?” She grins, eyes on the screen in front of her. “You mean fuck, don’t you?” she asks as she types. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“At times, with precautions.”
She stops typing and looks up at me. “Kinky.”
“Very.”
“All right, Law, what the fuck is going on with this Zeus?”
“He took my girl.” I hold up a hand when she tilts her head to the side. “It’s not what you think. I’m not bringing you because my pride is hurt, or whatever limp dick shit you’re thinking. She’s not safe. Not with him. I need to get her back.”
She nods and crosses her arms. “If it’s not limp dick shit then how’d he get her?”
“Her bitch of a mother.”
Charlaine snaps her fingers. “All right, I’m back on board. You had me on the ropes there with this one, but I have a shitty mom. Fuck moms. What did hers do?”
“She sold her. Convinced Honey that I was in on it.”
“Suddenly, my mommy issues don’t seem that big.” She looks down at her computer and blows out a sigh. “Okay, so we have the club and a name. I’ll start there. What am I looking for?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. But this is going to help with finding out who Zeus really is.” I pick up the partial ownership deed from my desk and take it to her. “This should have enough of his info on it to get started,” I tell her. It’s the only reason I’d taken it. Zeus is like smoke. A man like that knows how to stay hidden and if I want to find him, I need a starting point. The deed is that.
I try not to think about the way Honey’s face crumpled when I’d taken it. Like she’d taken a hit to the stomach. Whatever had been in her eyes that gave me hope of talking her into walking out with me had died when I took that fucking paper. But in that moment, it was the quickest way I could see to get info on Zeus, so I’d rolled with it. I let her see what she wanted.
She doesn't think I love her. She believes her lying mother and fucking Zeus. Two strangers overme. I scrub a hand over my face. The damage Honey carries around with her goes deeper than I thought. Maybe even as deep as the darkness I have inside of me. She’s shown me there are other ways to live.
I tried to do that for her, but I haven’t done enough. Not if they were able to convince her it wasn’t real. I look down at the deed I hold and want to rip the damn thing in half. It isn’t worth losing Honey, and yet it is the thing that has pulled her right out of my arms. My fingers flex and the paper starts to bend when Charlaine takes the document from me and chuckles as she reads it.
“Yeah, well his name is on this fucking thing. Zeus Vlahos. All right, let’s see what I can find on him and his little enterprise known as the Cairn, which you are,” she considers the document and clicks her tongue, “the proud owner of 33 percent of. I bet it’s worth a pretty penny.”
My jaw clenches and I turn to stare out at the city. “It cost me the woman I love, so yeah, I think that’s a lot of fucking pennies.”
