“Like I give a fuck what she did to Tate,” he retorts. “Yeah, she’s playing me, but I can play too. No matter what you might think, I’m not some helpless weakling.”
“I don’t think you’re weak!” I argue. “Christ, Asch. But you’re the one who acts like he’sbetterthan me. You don’t want to be some violent, murderous…”
“Trafficker?” Asch supplies.
I don’t feel guilty about that.
I don’t.
It’s the way of the world. If not us, somebody else would be doing it. And most of those people are asking for it, anyway.
Dad’s always saying that.
So why the fuck does my stomach roil now?
“Looks like I was right,” I snarl. “You can’t handle the business.”
“Thanks for making that decision for me, Bouchard,” Asch replies. “Your family’s good about doing that, huh?”
“Only because you like taking orders.” I let go of the door and step back. Asch gives me a furious look before he slams the door in my face.
Fuck him.
How the hell can he be pissed off at me, after what he did to me, and still fuck Pandora?
I clench my fists and go back downstairs, trying to figure out what I’m going to say to Ezio.
Turns out, there’s no need for that. Ezio’s no longer in the dining room. Neither is River. I hadn’t heard him come upstairs, though. I go to the kitchen, but the only things there are dirty dishes in the sink.
So much for Asch having loaded the dishwasher.
“River?” I call out.
Another door slams, but this one’s down here. I go to the front door. River’s shoes and coat are missing.
Can nobody around here close a door quietly?
I pull out my phone to text River.
Blaze
You took a page out of Asch’s book, huh.
River
What’s that supposed to mean?
Blaze
The door slamming? What crawled up your ass?
River doesn’t answer.
I stuff my phone away and go to grab my tablet.
Fuck all of them. I don’t need them anyway.
16
