Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Working with Raven will be about as easy as chewing fingernails to the cuticle. She’s pissy and hostile and fucking awful. That, plus all the extra noise in the coffee shop, is giving me a royal headache. I’m pretty sure stabbing kitchen knives through my eyes would be more pleasant than this.
If I didn’t hear the jealous tone in Axel’s voice, I would have walked straight out.
But I heard it. It was there. He doesn’t want me to work with his…
whatever the hell she is to him. For once, I finally have an opportunity to have something Ax wants.
And that is an opportunity that I can’t pass up.
Though I’m beginning to question why the hell he wants it.
“Chattel?” Raven asks, and I can hear the frustration in her voice. She spits the word out like it tastes bad in her mouth.
“It means—you know what? Let’s take a break.
” I pull the documents from her. We’ve spent hours going over the legal documents for this case, with Raven reading to me while I try to keep track of all the information.
The woman filing the divorce went through a bunch of shit, and we haven’t even gotten to the years’ worth of police reports.
“I don’t need a break.” I can barely see Raven’s blurry form on the other end of the booth. When I have my glasses on, I can see things that are close. But any farther than across the room, shit starts to get hazy. Without my glasses? I just see movements and color.
I know from dropping Raven off the other night that she’s hot.
Probably why Axel wants her. She has delicate features, plump red lips, and long silky black hair.
Today, she smells… unusual. Almost like she’s wearing men’s deodorant with a Fiji or tropical hint.
At first, it pissed me off, thinking she was using something Axel had given her.
But I’ve never smelled that smell on him, so I relaxed.
Raven’s voice is also low and raspy. She’d be walking sex on legs if she weren’t so damn aggressive.
“Well, I do.” I push up. My stomach growls. “Get lunch. We’ll start again after.”
I’ve been smelling all the baked goods in the shop, and people keep unwrapping what I’m guessing are sandwiches around us. The paper crinkles, and then the crust crunches when they bite into it.
My mouth is watering, and my head is pounding. Food usually helps.
I take a few minutes to order, expecting Raven to either follow suit or go out somewhere else, but she’s still in the booth when I get back.
“Did you get something?” I drop my chicken bacon ranch sandwich down on the table, but I misjudge the distance a bit, and it drops harder than I mean to.
“Oh, uh… yeah,” Raven says, her tone different.
My cheeks heat, and I rescue the sandwich, finding that the bread has fallen off the inside. I hate when people act differently because of my vision difference. I’m just as fucking capable.
I start eating so I don’t murder everyone in the store. I don’t even taste the first few bites, I’m eating so fast. As I eat, I don’t see her moving or eating anything.
“I can wait while you get something,” I say.
“Uh, not hungry.”
Something uncomfortable skitters across my skin. It’s lunchtime. Is she trying to be obstinate?
But I try to focus on my sandwich. What a woman eats or doesn’t eat isn’t any of my business.
“So this guy is a real piece of shit, huh?” I see and hear Raven messing with the papers.
“Yeah.”
“So, what do you do?” Her voice is less aggressive and more hesitant.
“What do you mean?” I glare in her direction. Can’t she see I’m trying to eat? I fucking hate people who talk shop on lunch break.
“Like, is this lady going to get the house? Half of his money?”
“That’s the plan,” I bite back. If she doesn’t get half of everything, then I’ve done a shitty job.
Raven is silent for a bit.
Once I finish eating, I feel a little better. Raven is also less hostile. She reads me the notes with less of a tone and even remembers details that I forget.
My phone goes off a few times in my pocket, but I ignore it. I know who it is. It’s Axel. And the knowledge that he’s pissed that Raven is with me, even for these few hours, brings me way more satisfaction than it should. It almost erases the throbbing headache behind my temples.