“You slip away for thirty minutes and niggas start auditioning for funerals,” he observed.
Kemp tried to recover his pride. “Ain’t nobody scared of y’all.”
“Okay.”
My husband looked genuinely bored as he spoke, but it was scarier than yelling would’ve been.
Kemp glanced at me one last time. “Just remember what I said.”
“I probably won’t,” I replied. “And if you walk up on me like this again, I’m gon’ forget my growth and let Hyacinth beat your ass in public.”
“Gladly,” Hyacinth confirmed, flashing those knuckles again.
Then I wiggled my fingers at him in an unbothered little wave.
Kemp stared at all of us another second before backing away. He left the store without his curling rods.
The second he disappeared, I turned toward Targen.
“Ishealive?” I hissed.
His expression changed instantly, but there was no confusion. He knew exactly who I meant, which was all the confirmation I needed. My blood ran cold.
“Comrade Misha and I gon’ escort these other two beauties back to the farm so I can find out what Amazon link Hy used for this beautiful piece of work on her hand,” Juvie offered suddenly.
Say what you want about the kid being silly; he knew how to read the room.
“Sounds good. I’ll give you my dark web password, but I’m driving back to the farm,” Hy said as she and Em strolled off, an arguing Juvie and long-suffering Mikhail behind them.
Before I could go off on him, my husband grabbed my hand and rushed me out of the store.
“Theory—” he began when we finally stood by a black-on-black SUV.
“You let me think Chauncey was dead.”
He opened my door, lifted me into the truck. I glared at him through the windshield as he walked around, got in, and started it.
“No, I didn’t,” he said finally.
“Here you go with this lying by omission. You didn’t correct it either! You let me think my family was in danger because Russian bad guys handled Chauncey and other Russian bad guys noticed. Ain’t that why we married?!”
The words came out louder than I intended. Silence fell immediately.
I saw my husband’s jaw tense, saw the flash of hurt that crossed his face, but I was too angry to stop now.
“You told me these people were dangerous enough to force me into this marriage,” I continued. “Dangerous enough to pull me into all this. Dangerous enough that I needed the Sidorov name and protection…”
I leaned closer.
“But somehow, Chauncey still breathing?”
“You are always protected. Always.”
“That’s not the point!”
My voice broke slightly. I hated that. My husband looked defeated. I hated that even worse.
“Targen… Do you know how terrifying it was for me to find out from that asshole in the middle of hair clips and flexi-rods that the man who almost killed me is still alive?” I admitted shakily. “It reminded me that part of why I’m here is out of fear, first of him, then of some faceless gangsters.”
