Page 18 of Tempest’s Torment

She moves along the buckets, studying them for a moment before reaching for a handful of stems. She doesn't rush or speak to fill the silence; she simply works, turning flowers in her hand, swapping one stem for another until she's happy with the balance.

My attention drifts to the front windows, scanning the street. Aside from a delivery truck double-parked across the street, there’s nothing worth remembering, no one hanging around watching or acting strange.

"What do you think?" she says as she holds up the arrangement.

It's a huge bouquet of pinks, purples, and creams.

"She'll like that."

She wraps the bouquet in brown paper and ties it off with a ribbon before setting it on the counter. "That'll be sixty-eight dollars."

I hand over the cash, and she counts out my change and places it beside the bouquet instead of into my hand—just like the groceries and the tin of tomatoes.

I pick up the flowers. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

I head for the door, the bell above it chiming as I step back onto the sidewalk.

Walking into the clubhouse, I see that a lot of the guys are gone. Ghost's in the main room with Savage and Rogue, the three of them spread around the table with a stack of paperwork between them. Ghost glances up as I walk in, takes one look at me, and pushes the papers aside.

"What happened?"

My brows furrow. What the hell? "What?"

"You look pissed the fuck off, what happened?"

I set the flowers on the end of the bar and Hades appears from somewhere in the back of the clubhouse, and picks up the bouquet, studies it for a second, then looks at me.

I raise a brow. "They good?"

"She'll love them." He claps me once on the shoulder before disappearing again.

I pull out a chair, Rogue closes his laptop, and Savage leans back, waiting.

"Lorenzo was right," I say

Ghost crosses his arms over his chest. "Tell me."

I lean forward, resting my forearms on the table. "I watched her build a bouquet and she never came around the counter, she kept it between us the whole time."

I think back to the apartment steps. "Yesterday, she dropped her groceries. I reached for the same can she did and the second my hand got close; she froze." I take a deep breath. "I backed off." I shrug. "And she relaxed."

My brothers are silent and I look between them. "Maybe it's nothing." Even as I say it, I know I don't believe it.

"It isn't," Ghost says.

I rub a hand across my jaw. "She watches the street while she works."

Rogue's brows knit together. "Checking who's outside?"

"She did the same outside our building," I continue. "Checks before she leaves, she keeps people in front of her and doesn't let anyone get too close."

Ghost leans back in his chair. "Lorenzo tell you anything else?"

"No."

Ghost is quiet, his fingers pressing against his lips. "But he trusts Omen."