Chapter 14
Stella
I’m downstairs, Theo texted.
Panicking that he might be pissing off my employees, I scooped my purse from the coffee table and rushed toward the front door.
My heels were waiting for me beside it, and while I tugged them on, I shot a glance back into the living room toward Amos, whom I’d just put back in his cage. “Don’t answer the door while I’m gone.”
“Come on in!” he cawed.
If Mom didn’t get me robbed, he would.
“I’ll be back soon,” I told him.
“Treat, Snack Bitch?”
“Later, I promise.”
Slipping out the door, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and headed downstairs. The sound of feminine laughter hit my ears. Hopefully Elayne and Shaunté had been giving Theo hell and were now cackling over the destruction of his fragile man-ego.
I passed the last tattoo booth and stepped into the lobby, stopping short at the sight of the three of them clustered close, conspiratorial looks on their faces as they laughed together.
Theo leaned against the front desk, speaking in a low voice, and I suddenly wished I’d made him buy an uglier suit.
Because he looked incredible. Like he’d just stepped out of an advertisement for expensive cologne.
He must have gotten it tailored because it hit him in all the right places, and the navy blue color brought out his eyes in a way I hadn’t anticipated.
Something low in my abdomen clenched at the sight of him, and if not for the audience, I would have turned into the old man from Family Guy and punched myself in the crotch, but instead of yelling, “Wake up, damn it!” I’d be screaming, “I warned you what would happen if you started acting slutty again!”
Theo caught sight of me and straightened, his expression sobering as his gaze raked over my body from head to toe. “You look amazing,” he said, sounding like he genuinely meant it, but there was a lingering gleam of malice in his eyes I didn’t trust.
The women turned toward me, their expressions almost . . . sympathetic?
“Oh, wow, Stel,” Shaunté said.
“Damn,” Elayne added. “Look at the smoke show.”
I fought back a frown. What the hell was this? Where were the sarcastic jabs from Elayne I’d come to expect? The insult sandwich Shaunté was known for?
“Thank you?” I frowned, stepping forward to join them.
They shared a look, expressions shifting into what might have been pity.
“Don’t worry about the shop while you’re gone,” Shaunté said. “We’ll hold down the fort.”
“Yeah,” Elayne said. “You do too much. You deserve to have a night off with your boyfriend. We can close.”
Okay. What the fuck was going on here? Why were they suddenly being so nice?
My gaze shifted to Theo, who was smiling like the Cheshire Cat, and I knew, I knew, he’d said something to them.
Probably something either embarrassing or fabricated.
I’d look like a lunatic if I started interrogating them, and since that might play right into his hand, I decided the only way forward was to pretend like I hadn’t noticed anything.
“There’s no need for you to close,” I said. “I should be back by then.”
“Unless I convince her to stay at my place,” Theo tacked on, his voice low and full of innuendo.
My stomach swooped. While I wasn’t fully committed to giving him the list of names Runa and I had drafted—I wanted assurances the targets would only be hurt financially—one thing I was sure about was that the less I fought Theo, the easier my time with him would be.
Which meant I needed to start acting like he really was my boyfriend. At least in front of other people.
I sauntered over and plastered myself to his side, one hand around his back, the other braced on his hip as I stared up at him in false devotion. His arm wrapped around me automatically, and the way his eyes darkened as they stared into mine was not fit for the public.
“In that case,” I told the girls, “you’re closing.”
Theo and I held each other’s gazes while the pair laughed and made lewd jokes.
I kept my mind carefully blank as I met his impossible stare, ignoring the heat rolling off his big body, the feel of muscle and bone beneath my palms. He gave good smolder, but I wasn’t fooled.
I could see a calculating gleam that said he didn’t trust my act.
Before he could read into it, I turned back to the girls. “Don’t turn the music up too loud. Amos needs his beauty sleep.”
“We won’t,” Shaunté assured me.
“Ladies,” Theo said, his hand completely enveloping mine. “Have a good night.”
“You, too,” they chorused, glancing between the two of us like proud aunties sending a niece off to prom.
Theo’s grip tightened as he led me out the door. The second we were out of sight of the shop windows, he practically threw my hand back at me.
“Who’s Amos?”
“My African grey parrot.”
“That explains the smell.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to shut the fuck up, but miraculously, I managed to keep my response measured. “Amos doesn’t smell bad. He smells like laundry.”
He fell quiet as we climbed into his car. It was surprisingly nice. Clean. Even smelled good. I buckled myself in and waited for him to start the engine, but he just sat there, staring at me.
“What are you doing, Stella?”
“Waiting for you to drive, so I can give you directions.”
He gestured toward me. “No, I mean this Stepford wife routine.”
I forced myself to smile. “I’m behaving, like you told me to. Showing you what a good little blackmailee I can be.”
“You’re up to something.”
“I’m not,” I spoke through my teeth. Christ, this man was exhausting.
“If you do anything to risk this, I’ll tack another quarter million on, and then you’ll never get rid of me.” His expression turned ominous. “We might even have to get engaged.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “I promise I won’t be a problem.”
Somehow, it was the wrong thing to say. In a flash, Theo was in my space, his hand on my chin, his grip just shy of painful as he stared into my eyes. “Don’t think for a fucking second I’m falling for this act. What are you planning?”
“Literally nothing.”
“I swear to God, Stella,” he seethed, clearly not believing me, “if you fuck with my business, I will burn your entire life down around you. I’m talking scorched-earth, salt the ground, there will be nothing left when I am done level of retribution.”
“Casual.”
“Fuck!” he yelled, releasing me. “This isn’t funny!”
“Yeah, I get that,” I told him, leaning as far away in my seat as I could. “But it’s either crack a joke or start crying, and my mascara isn’t waterproof. I was just trying to make it easier between us, but you’re such a monumental asshole that it’s obviously impossible!”
The car’s engine roared to life, and then we were tearing out of the parking space into the night. I grabbed the door handle as we raced past shops and pedestrians. One wrong move, and . . . oh, god.
“Slow down,” I said, fighting back a wave of panicked nausea. Scenes from the night of the accident flashed through my mind.
Theo ignored me, the streets whizzing past as he broke the speed limit and closed in on the sound barrier.
Up ahead, a light turned yellow, but instead of braking, he put the gas pedal to the floor, and we passed through the intersection right as it turned red.
I curled in on myself, bracing for an impact that, thankfully, never came.
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, and my voice came out broken. “Please.”
He glanced over at me and swore, but he eased his foot off the gas, and the car slowed to a survivable speed.
Silence descended upon us. I had no idea what to say to him because so far, nothing seemed right.
No matter how I acted, it blew up in my face.
Or more like, he did. I don’t think I’d ever met anyone so full of anger, and it made me wonder what made him like this.
Was it learned? Or had he been born spitting venom?
“Where am I going?” he finally said.
“Get on the highway and head north,” I answered. Of course he wasn’t going to apologize for threatening and then scaring me. God, I hated him.
He glanced my way. “You seem like you’ve made a regrettably full recovery after slamming your skull into the hood of that car last week. I’m guessing your head is fine?”
I shrugged. “I’ve never had any complaints.”
“Goddamn it, Stella,” he snapped.
“What?” I yelled back, my temper frayed. “Arguing with you hasn’t worked, and neither has being nice. If you’re going to be an asshole all the time, I might as well crack jokes to entertain myself.”
He didn’t reply, just worked the manual transmission through the gears as we made our way east toward the nearest on-ramp. The quiet lengthened until it grew awkward. At least for me. I wanted to say something to break the silence, call a truce between us, but I didn’t know how.
A glance over revealed him studying the road ahead, jaw clenched like he was still on edge. Waves of light and darkness played across his features as we passed under streetlights, a fitting analogy for his volatility. There had to be some way to get on his good side. If he even had one.
I heard a crinkling sound from the back as he took a turn and glanced toward it. There were several boxes of food stacked on the floor behind us. I saw crackers, protein bars, and mixed nuts.
“I think you forgot to unload some of your groceries,” I said, sitting forward again.
“No, I didn’t.” He shot me an ugly look. “Not all of us grew up with the same easy access to food like you did, and that can leave a mark on a person. I always have something on hand, just in case.”
His words made me want to sink through the floor and let the traffic claim me.
Theo had food insecurity. My brain didn’t know what to do with that information.
Was he an asshole? Big time. But that didn’t keep me from feeling bad for him. No child should have to grow up like that. This country had so much fucking wealth that the absolute least we could do was make sure no one went hungry.