Chapter 11
H ayes settled in to wait.
He had no doubt that she’d come to him eventually. Mostly because he didn’t plan to leave until he’d spoken to her.
It wasn’t surprising that she didn’t come straight away. He’d have to teach her that she was to obey him immediately.
Wait.
Back that up.
All he wanted was to teach her a lesson about getting revenge on him. That her prank wouldn’t go unanswered.
He wasn’t actually sure what he could do in retaliation. All he’d come up with was making her sweat for a while about what he might do. It wasn’t his usual form of punishment.
With May, he’d always punished her as quickly as he could after her naughtiness. And the punishment would be relative to the crime.
Salt in his coffee wasn’t that bad. Putting herself in danger or lying to him would be.
If she was his, that is.
But she wasn’t. So she didn’t owe him anything.
Except an americano untainted by salt.
To his surprise, Silla and Mac worked together to get her over to him. He wasn’t sure if either of them realized just how loud they were. Especially Silla. Her voice was like a foghorn. He’d heard her earlier saying that she thought his actions the other night were romantic.
How she’d come to that conclusion, he had no idea.
He watched as Devi reluctantly walked over to him. Poor girl had no idea what she was walking into and she was clearly nervous.
Hayes thought back on the email he’d received just before from Liam.
He’d sent all of the information he’d found on the last few clients of Stein’s who had ended up in jail.
Liam had looked into their families and connections, searching for anyone who might have been angry enough to seek revenge on Stein.
None of the information had meant that much to him. And Liam had put notes against family members and friends who had a record or who lived in the state.
Which meant they had around twenty-five suspects.
Not a small list.
However, none of that interested him as much as the fact that he knew someone on the list.
The woman who was now standing on the other side of the table from him.
He knew Devi wasn’t sending the threats. That wasn’t the sort of person she was.
Although she did seem to like a spot of revenge.
Still, he couldn’t imagine her threatening anyone.
However, it was interesting that her brother was the last client of Stein’s to go to jail. Liam was going to dig deeper into the cases.
Perhaps Stein had really fucked one of them over.
With how jumpy he was, Hayes wouldn’t be surprised if he did have some idea of what was going on. Something that he was keeping from all of them.
Hayes considered asking her about her brother’s case. But then he’d have to explain how he knew. No doubt she’d get upset if she thought she was being investigated.
It wasn’t a smart idea.
“I don’t think that’s where I told you to stand,” he said without looking up.
“You didn’t tell me anything,” she said. “You pointed. Didn’t your mother ever tell you it was rude to point?”
“She said it was rude to point at someone. I didn’t point at you. I pointed at the floor. I crooked a finger at you.”
“Still rude to crook a finger.”
“I haven’t heard that one.” He glanced up at her. “I’d like to go home at some stage tonight. Come here.”
She huffed out a breath, sticking her hip out and putting her hand on it. And to his utter shock, he felt himself nearly smile.
What the hell was that?
His lips shouldn’t even remember how to smile anymore.
He made sure to keep his face impassive as he continued to just stare at her.
Then she stomped around in front of him. “Are you happy?”
“Hmm, am I happy? Let’s see. Yesterday my coffee was ruined because someone put salt in it. And tonight, I sat for ages without a drink because my server avoided and ignored me. And now it’s midnight and I would rather be home in my bed, but instead I’m here arguing with you.”
“Well, when you put it like that I guess you don’t have much to be happy about. Although I have to say you seem like the type of person who would like a good argument.”
That wasn’t exactly true.
He only argued with some people. Most people, he didn’t even talk to. He wasn’t sure what it was about Devi that intrigued him. He could try and tell himself that he was watching her because of her brother’s connection to Stein. But he’d been interested in her before he’d learned that.
It was annoying and confusing.
“Come here and stop trying to prick my temper,” he commanded. He’d had enough.
“I wasn’t doing that,” she muttered.
Still sassy.
But she walked over to where he sat. He leaned forward.
“Tell me why you put salt in my coffee.”
“I think that would be obvious.” She shifted from foot to foot, displaying her nervousness.
“Devi,” he warned.
“You were mean last Friday night. You didn’t speak to me very nicely. You made it sound like it was my fault that guy attacked me. I have the right to walk around without being attacked.”
That made him pause for a second. Had he done that?
He thought back over everything he’d said to her the other night. He’d been . . . upset. And perhaps he hadn’t been guarding his words as closely as he should have.
And maybe he had made it sound like he’d thought it was her fault. However, that wasn’t his intention.
Hayes leaned forward. “Listen to me and listen carefully.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“It was not in any way your fault and I apologize if I made you feel that way. I was . . . not happy and perhaps I didn’t stop to think about what I was saying and how I was saying it.”
“Wow. I didn’t think you would know how to apologize.”
He gave her a firm look. “But?”
She groaned, interrupting him. “Why is there always a but? There should be no but! Let’s just stop with you apologizing for being a jerk and move on, okay?”
“Not okay. And I didn’t apologize for being a jerk. I apologized for not choosing the right words and making you feel like I thought it was your fault that you were attacked. I didn’t think that at all. But?”
Once more she groaned.
This girl.
He’d never met anyone in more need of a good, hard spanking.
And then a good hard fucking.
No. Reverse that thought.
That wasn’t ever happening.
“But,” he said firmly. “The fact is that the world is a shitty place and a woman alone at night isn’t necessarily safe. You have got to do what you can to keep yourself safe. Which you did not.”
She frowned at him before groaning. “I don’t like this.”
“What? Being scolded?”
“No. Well, yes. I don’t think anyone likes being scolded, do they? But I was actually talking about you being right.”
Oh, this brat.
Once more he felt his lips twitch. But he put a stop to that. He had nothing to smile about.
I don’t know, baby. I think she’s pretty funny.
Fuck. He tried to ignore that voice. It didn’t feel right that she was speaking to him now.
Not while he was sitting here scolding another woman, admiring her, thinking about putting her over his knee.
Hearing her voice brought him crashing back to reality.
May was his wife. The love of his life. If he believed in things like soul mates, she was it.
And he had no business wanting this girl.
But he fought the urge to push Devi away. To say something nasty that meant she’d never come near him again.
He could do it.
With anyone else, he might have.
But he couldn’t do that to Devi. She didn’t deserve it. Despite her bravado, there was something vulnerable about her. Something fragile that he felt the urge to protect.
And he thought it might break something inside him to hurt her.
Maybe that last piece of humanity he had left.
He’d already been enough of a dick to her. He’d just had to apologize for that. He didn’t need to compound the wrong by adding to it.
“Well, you won’t like being around me then,” he said. “I’m always right.”
She made a scoffing noise. He had no idea why. That was simply the truth.
He was always right.
Sure, sometimes he should watch how he worded things, but he’d never claimed to be diplomatic. However, that didn’t make him wrong.
“Wait . . . you weren’t joking, were you?” she said, gaping at him. “You really think that you’re always right.”
“Don’t think it. Know it.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Lord help me. Is that why you have such big muscles? So you can support your giant head?”
Yep, I like her.
He closed down that voice. He knew it wasn’t really May. So that meant it had to be him projecting her voice into his head.
Which also meant that he’d finally lost it and was completely insane.
Good to know.
He was shocked he’d lasted this long.
Sometimes, he wasn’t sure what kept him going. But he couldn’t seem to give up on life just yet.
Maybe the universe had something in store for him yet.
Perhaps it was this girl.
No. Nope. There was only one woman for him. And he just had to get to the end of this life to be with her.
“Feeling sassy tonight, huh? You wouldn’t be if you could see what’s inside my head.”
“What’s inside your head?” she asked. “Is it how to be mean to poor servers who are just trying to make a living?”
“Poor servers who are just trying to make a living?” he asked incredulously. “Are you really saying that I’m being mean to you?”
“Well, yeah. I thought that was obvious.”
“Again, we can circle back to my ruined americano. That I paid for. I don’t remember ordering a dash of salt.”
“Yeah, it was more than a dash,” she muttered. “I am sorry about that. I’ll pay for your next americano.”
Pay for his next americano? He didn’t think so. He didn’t give a shit about the ruined coffee and she didn’t seem like she had much money.
Plus, that wasn’t what he wanted.
“Hmm. I don’t think so. That’s getting off too easily.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “Getting off too easily? Exactly what do you think would be suitable reparation?”
“Reparation? I was thinking more punishment.”
“Punishment?” she squeaked.
“Yeah, if my wife had done what you did, she’d find herself getting her bottom reddened.”
Her mouth opened and closed. “You have a wife?”