“Good. Now, get her out of here and feed her something. I’ll mobilize the troops.” Claudia got to her feet and stepped closer to Yasmine, bending down to give her a hug. Her mouth was right next to Yasmine’s ear, and she whispered, low enough that Zeus would definitely not be able to hear a single word, “Forced proximity, right?”
Despite herself, Yasmine had to stifle a giggle. Reading romance books for the book club had definitely broadened Claudia’s horizons—and made her even more dangerously manipulative, if that was possible.
“Thank you,” she said, loudly enough Zeus would be able to hear because the gratitude was also directed at him.
A little muscle popped in his jaw as he nodded his head.
“You should go pack a bag. Do you want a ride, or do you want to drive yourself?” As soon as he asked the question, he looked like he regretted giving her an option. Even though Yasmine did not at all want to drive herself, she was about to say that she could, but Claudia spoke up first.
“You should give her a ride,” Claudia said firmly. “That way, if Twatwaffle James comes back, he’ll see her car here, and if he’s a threat, he might even try to come inside. Then I can take care of him.” The glee in her voice was a little unnerving. “But even if he doesn’t, she’s in no condition to drive. Look at her. She’s still shaking.”
Yasmine looked at her hands in front of her on the kitchen table. They really were still trembling. She pressed them together, trying to get them to stop.
“Right.” Zeus’ voice was gruff. “Well, pack a bag. I need to get home to feed and walk Tiger, then check on Sarah.”
“I can help with both of those things.” It would probably help her feel more normal and give her something other than her own predicament to focus on. Because this was her house and, eventually, she was going to need to come back here, but right now, she really didn’t want to.
“Great.” Zeus pulled out his phone and looked down at it.
Her heart sank inside her chest again. This wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe she should stay with Claudia. But when she looked at the other woman, Claudia shook her head.
“You and I are going to have a talk later, Yasmine,” Claudia said. “You’ve been keeping things from me, and I don’t just mean whatever is going on between the two of you.”
Right, then. Maybe going with Zeus was safer.
Zeus
The ride home was silent as Yasmine stared out the window. Her fingers were still silently tapping the same rhythm she’d done on the kitchen table, but now she was doing it on her pant-covered thigh. Zeus could see it out of the corner of his eye, even though he couldn’t hear it.
Part of him wanted to reach over and hold her hand. Comfort her. Tell her it was all right. Except that it wasn’t. So, he just gripped the steering wheel tighter to keep himself from reaching for her. He’d been manipulated by Claudia, and he knew it. There was more than one reason she was called Scary. At the same time, he was pretty sure that if he’d headed home on his own, he wouldn’t have been able to stop thinking about Yasmine.
Not just thinking about her but worrying if she was safe.
When they reached his house, he parked and got out of the car, heading to the trunk to get her bag before she’d even gotten out of the car. When he came around the passenger side, she was standing there meekly, hugging herself.
Shit.
She’d been through it tonight, and he was being an asshole. Even if he was pissed, and maybe hurt, and not entirely sure how much he could trust her, she was in a shitty spot. Finding out that someone had broken into her house and trashed it… well, he knew what it was like to have his stuff trashed. Even if the person had lived in the same home as him, rather than needing to break into it.
It was a violation that was difficult to get over. Especially when it had just happened. She probably hadn’t even really processed it yet.
Taking a deep breath, Zeus rolled his shoulders back. He didn’t have to be an asshole just because he was pissed.
Even if ‘asshole’ was his default setting.
“Come on,” he said gruffly, waving his free hand. “Let’s get you inside. Tiger will be happy to see you.”
Reminding her about Tiger was the right thing to say. She relaxed, the tension loosening from her arms, and some of the stress eased from her expression.
“I’ll be happy to see him, too.” She certainly sounded sincere.
Zeus nodded and waved his hand again to have her lead the way up to his house. He turned his head both ways, looking up and down his street. He hadn’t seen any indication they’d been followed on the way here, but that didn’t mean anything. But there was no movement other than his neighbors who lived on the corner, out for their evening walk with their toddler in his stroller. The kid was happily eating a lollipop and kicking his feet as his dad pushed him along, his mom walking with one hand atop the dad’s, so they could still hold hands.
The very normality made him feel a little better. No cars turned onto the street. There was no other movement.
He relaxed, but only a little.
He still had to face Yasmine. Talk to her. Hear her out. Though he wasn’t sure it would change anything.
