Page 29 of Shai

My second mouthful turned to ash, the fork slipping from suddenly numb fingers to crash to the table. I took in Shai’s untouched plate before my gaze moved to his face, searching for the truth in his expression. Nausea bubbled inside me, the two mouthfuls of chili I’d swallowed sitting like a rock in my stomach. A potentially poisonous rock. “Did you…?”

Shai took a slow sip of his wine, his expression displaying nothing but a slight sense of curiosity as he lifted his chin. “Did I what?”

How did cyanide work? Was the fact that my heart was beating abnormally fast caused by something other than panic? Was breathing becoming more difficult? Or was I just letting paranoia get to me? “Did you have Gustav poison my food?”

Shai’s brow wrinkled slightly. He stared at me for a moment before erupting into laughter. “Of course not. You have serious trust issues, Elijah, to think that.”

I continued to stare at him as he made a big show out of lifting a forkful of chili to his mouth. He chewed slowly before swallowing, his gaze remaining on me the whole time. I pushed my plate away from me. I should have listened to the little voice inside of me reminding me not to let my guard down. I’d forgotten for a moment that everything was just a huge game to Shai, like life was one massive chessboard and the people on it nothing but game pieces to him. “You did that deliberately.”

He didn’t bother to respond to my accusation, eating slowly and

deliberately until there was nothing left on his plate. Once he’d finished, he sat back in his chair. “You’ve barely touched yours. Gustav won’t be happy.”

“Yeah? Well, I’ll just tell Gustav that you insinuated he’d added a

special ingredient.”

“Gustav wouldn’t do that.”

“He would if you asked him to.”

Our eyes locked, the spell only broken by the sound of the door

opening. Neither of us turned to look, Shai probably assuming just as I did that it was Gustav returning to take the plates. Therefore, it came as a surprise to both of us when the nightie-clad figure eased herself into a chair, her long white hair looking as if it hadn’t seen a hairbrush in at least a week.

Shai’s expression hardened in an instant. “Mother, I don’t remember

inviting you to join us. Your dinner was sent to your room.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “I wasn’t hungry, and I’m your mother. I

didn’t think I needed an invitation to seek some company with my one and only son.”

Her gaze strayed my way. “Elijah doesn’t mind, do you?” I opened my mouth to say I didn’t, but then thought better of it. Siding

with his mother against Shai wouldn’t do me any good, not when his body language—the tight set of his jaw and rigid shoulders—said that he didn’t want her there. I settled for a shrug, hoping that it was vague enough to remain neutral. I had no wish to get caught up in the animosity that seemed to flow freely between them.

Shai’s mother had barely been in her seat two minutes before she got

up, her path taking her to her son’s side. She threaded her fingers through his hair, stroking for a few seconds before trailing them down his cheek. “My darling boy, my little Egyptian God. I miss you when I don’t see you. You know you’re everything to me.” She leaned in to kiss him, Shai wrenching his head away before she could make contact, a muscle pulsing in his cheek.

I shifted uncomfortably, feeling like I was witnessing something I

wasn’t supposed to. Shai pushed his chair back, rising from his seat in one swift motion to put space between himself and his mother. “Taylor!”

The shout was so loud that it reverberated around the room, Taylor appearing in record time. The second he entered the room, Shai let loose with a barrage of instructions. “Tell Gustav that dessert won’t be required, hold any calls for the rest of the evening, and get her out of here before I’m tempted to do something I might regret.”

Taylor rounded the table, crooking his elbow and offering it to Shai’s mother in a strangely courteous gesture at odds with the behavior I’d seen from him so far. “Let’s take a walk, shall we?”

Her brow scrunched up. “But I want to talk to my son. He never talks to me anymore. I’ve done everything for that boy. Pushed him out of my body, fed him from my own breast, changed his nappies, gave him his first orgasm.”

I couldn’t help the strangled sound of shock that escaped from my lips. Fucking hell! Well, that went a long way to explaining Shai’s hostility toward her. I kept my gaze fixed on the wine glass, scared to lift my head and find out whether my reaction had snagged Shai’s attention. It was doubtful he would have wanted me to hear something like that. Who would? It was entirely possible that they were just the words of a woman slowly losing her grip on reality, but then I’d thought that about her claim to have fucked me while I was unconscious, only for Shai to confirm it. And for once I hadn’t gotten the impression that he was playing games.

I was aware of Taylor hustling Shai’s mother out of the room, only risking a glance at Shai once we were alone. He was leaning against the table, his arms locked into position and his fingers curled into fists. He reached for his wine glass, tipping his head back and draining almost a full glass in a series of swallows.

Silence engulfed us, so thick I could hear the sound of Shai breathing. I didn’t know what to do, or what to say. All I knew was that I wanted out of this room. Hell, I wanted out of the compound, but seeing as that wasn’t within my grasp, the room would have to do. I coughed to break the silence. “I think… I should go back to my room. Leave you alone.”

Shai’s fist hit the table so hard that the whole thing juddered. I winced, my heart kicking into overdrive. “No! The evening isn’t over. I won’t let her ruin it.”