“I’m not hungry yet, but I need some coffee.” She went to her espresso machine and made herself a fresh cup of coffee before she sat across from me at the table. She must have washed her face before she came downstairs because her eyes were clean of mascara. “I have a headache.”
“Too much to drink?”
“No. I think I’m just tired. I don’t usually stay out that late.”
But she stayed up that late with me all the time.
She sipped her coffee in silence, her hair a slight mess from rolling around on her pillow.
But she’d never looked more beautiful to me.
I finished my plate then pushed the dish aside as I looked at her.
“So…?” she asked, referring to the conversation we never finished last night.
“Your dad didn’t appreciate how I handled the situation, and I explained to him that I, respectfully, didn’t give a shit.”
She released a loud sigh, and it seemed like she might chuckle.
“In the end, he knew I was right.”
“Public confrontations aren’t my father’s style.”
“Well, when someone starts shit with you, you have to finish it. If someone wants a problem, no problem.”
“I think my father hasn’t really had to deal with much of that in the past.”
“Well, everything’s about to change, and if he wants to survive, he’s got to accept it,” I said. “No motherfucker walks over to my table and says shit about my woman and gets away with it.” I still got pissed off every time I thought about it. How that scrawny little boy thought he could stroll over and poke a bear without getting a scratch.
“You don’t think my father suspects anything?”
I released a quick scoff.
“What?”
“He’s so fucking oblivious.”
“Why do you sound mad about that?”
“Because he said I care for you like a sister.” I felt a new wave of rage that was somehow worse than the last one. “A sister.”
She grabbed her mug by the handle and took a drink. “I still don’t understand why that makes you so angry.”
“It makes me angry because what I feel for you is a hell of a lot stronger than a sibling relationship. It’s stronger than family. I’m not protective of you as a brother. I’m protective of you as a king who’s devoted to his queen. So, yes, it pissed me the hell off because that’s not how I feel about you at all. I almost told him point-blank right on the damn spot.” But I didn’t because that was a guaranteed mistake. He said I cared for his family like my own, and then I drop the bombshell that I’ve been fucking his daughter behind his back. There was never a good time to tell him, only wrong times to tell him, but I was tired of waiting for the right moment. “I’ve got to handle Warren, and once that’s done, I’m just going to walk into his office and fucking tell him. I don’t care what mood he’s in—I’m fucking doing it.”
“What do you mean, handle Warren?”
I was surprised she didn’t issue any objections, but she was probably tired of this limbo period too. “I’ve got to kill him.”
“Why?”
“Because if I don’t kill him first, he’ll kill us.”
A paleness slowly took over her face. “You—you think that would happen?”
“After I publicly humiliated him? Absolutely.”
“But he provoked us first?—”
