21. Renne
Renne
Declan walks out of the house and to the pool area, where Dina and I have spent pretty much the entire afternoon. “Hey, handsome,” Dina greets her man.
Declan sits beside her and grabs her by the throat. I watch her body relax as if she’s about to receive a massage instead of a kiss on the lips. Okay, so the Crossbow men have that effect on women, and I’m not the only girl who melts at the potential threat of being choked.
I never knew I was into this kind of thing, but now I am. I guess the exquisite taste for kinks comes with age.
“Did you guys finalize the arrangements for the rehearsal?” he asks.
Dina nods. “We’re going with this weekend.”
Declan frowns when he looks at me. “I thought you were working?”
For a moment, I consider telling Declan about how they basically fired me from my job and pushed me into a clinic position that’s in the same building as the theater, a project the Crossbows are funding. “I’m in between jobs.”
“You are?” Dina asks.
“Mmhm. I put in for a transfer a while back, and it got approved.”
Dina sits up. “Where are you going?”
“To the new clinic opening down by the theater.”
“Why didn’t you say anything until now? You’ll be down the street from us. I’m looking at the space for my hair salon. I guess this is my sign. We can go on lunch breaks together.”
“That’ll be fun.” I guess the job change isn’t as terrible as I thought it would be.
I don’t like how my boss handled it. I wouldn’t have caused them any problems at the hospital.
And why would my working in a clinic be any different?
Connor Crossbow isn’t going anywhere. They can’t avoid him.
Or me. I’ll still work for the hospital system. He still rules over Selnoa.
Pete. Pete did it. He asked my boss to get rid of me, and since they’re friends, she didn’t think twice about it.
I don’t know why I haven’t thought about that before.
Duh. It’s so obvious now. But, to be honest, I don’t want to work in a place where I’m not wanted. Hopefully, the clinic will be better.
“I’ll text the wedding planner about this weekend,” Dec says.
“I love that you handle things,” Dina says.
Hanna drops her milk bottle.
“Have you seen my brother today?” Declan asks.
I pick up the bottle and tuck it into the diaper bag’s side pocket. Patting Hanna’s back so she’ll burp more easily, I look up. They’re both staring at me. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Have you seen my brother today?” Declan asks.
“I thought you were asking Dina. Yes, I have. At the bus station. He dropped off Pete’s car and gave me the keys.”
“Pete the doctor’s car?” Dina asks.
I nod.
Declan frowns. “You’re driving that man’s car now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not even going to pretend I understand what’s going through Connor’s head, but when was the last time you saw him?” Declan asks.
I tell him.
“And did he tell you where he was going?”
I shake my head. “Is there something wrong?”
“I hope not.”
An uneasy chuckle escapes me. “That doesn’t sound convincing.”
“I don’t know where Connor is. He’s not answering his phone. I don’t like it when he doesn’t answer my calls or texts. He gets twenty-four hours before I send out a search crew.”
Dina chews her lip. “Did you check my apartment? Maybe he needed some time alone.”
“I’ll do that now.” Declan bids us goodbye, and the moment he leaves, Dina narrows her eyes at me. “Spill,” she says.
“What?”
“What’s going on with you and Connor?”
“Nothing. We…messed around a few times.”
“Oh my God, really?”
“Yeah. It’s not serious or anything. We’re just lonely, is all.”
“From what I understand, Connor doesn’t mess around. He’s very careful where he sticks his dick. He’s said this several times.”
“We haven’t had sex.”
“Declan seems to think Connor likes you.”
“He does?”
“Oh yeah. He wouldn’t have asked you about Connor’s whereabouts if he didn’t think you could tell him. They’re very close, those two.”
“I really don’t know where Con is, if that’s what you’re getting to. I would tell him if I did.”
Dina sighs. “Promise me you’ll be careful with Connor.”
“I’m afraid you know that even though I am careful, trouble finds me anyway.”
Dina laughs. “Touché.”
I’d love to tell her that there’s no way I can navigate being a witness to a mass murder and also be in a relationship with a man who wouldn’t hesitate to commit mass murder. I should contact my witness protection team and tell them about Connor. But if I do that, I’m afraid they’ll come after him.
My week off should be about figuring out the next steps in my life. Since the hospital wants me gone, perhaps they would approve a transfer into a different city before things with Connor heat up even more. But that means leaving Dina and heading out alone with Hanna.
It means I would leave the only family I’ve found that’s been in my corner when I was homeless, left to fend for myself.
It’s not like my protection unit helped out when I was down in the hospital.
Once the contacts in the unit heard I’d survived Declan’s mayhem, that was all the information they needed.
My poor baby girl is stuck with such a mess for a mom. “It’s getting late.”
“It’s not even eight.”
“Oh wow. Is it really?” I yawn. “Why the heck am I so tired?”
“If I had to guess, it’s stress. Thinking too hard about getting yourself out of whatever problems you’ve acquired over your life.”
Dina understands. Her marriage was not ideal. I met her ex-husband, who threatened to kill me while I was still pregnant. That says everything about the kind of man he was. Declan made Dina a widow. We rejoiced.
I place Hanna in her new stroller. She napped late today, which is why she’s wide awake now. Those blue eyes like sky beacons look up at me, expecting me to stroll with her.
Dina hovers over the baby. “I bet she loves strolling.” Dina grabs the handles and pushes Hanna while I pick up our towels and dump them into the basket before I go into the house.
“Bye, Dec,” I say as he goes down the steps.
“Actually,” he says and stands in front of his wife, effectively blocking the way. “I’m wondering if you could stay the night.”
Dina’s eyebrows shoot up. “Well, this is new.”
Declan’s eyebrows draw down.
Dina slides next to me and intertwines our fingers.
“Oh, I get it now.” I giggle.
Dec’s eyes widen. “That is not what I meant, perv.”
Dina winks. “I’m teasing you.” She tucks her hair behind her ear. “But you can’t just ask my bestie to stay the night without explanation.”
“I can’t get ahold of my brother.”
Dina and I wait for more, but Declan seems to have finished explaining.
“Babe, that makes sense only to you. You have to be more specific.”
“I don’t know where my brother is. Or who has him, if anyone, and I can’t let you go home because I have a feeling you could be used to blackmail him.”
I gasp. “Oh no. You think Connor is in trouble.”
“Jesus.” Dina moves over to stand with Declan and grabs his hand, leaning her head on his arm. “Of course she can stay.” She’s staring at me like she’s asking me not to refuse him. Dina can ask me for anything. She’s the big sister I never had.
“Of course, Declan. I’ll stay.”
“Call Chi-chi,” Declan says to Dina while leveling me with a cold stare. My insides twist into a knot. Declan is very scary when he wants to be. “Could you be used as leverage to blackmail my brother?”
“I don’t think so.”
His gaze slides to Hanna.
I step in front of her, suddenly not giving a shit about the dehumanizing look in his eyes.
“I disagree. I think my brother is… courting you, for lack of a more modern word.”
Heat travels up my face. “When you put it that way, he might be.”
“Has he kissed you yet?”
“This feels like an interrogation, and it’s uncomfortable for me,” I whisper.
“Too bad.”
“Declan, please,” Dina says. “I can talk to her about this.”
“Has he?” Declan pushes.
I shake my head.
“Do you like him? Do you guys get along?”
“Yes and yes.”
“Final question.” A small smile softens his terrifying demeanor. “You think you can handle him?”
“Absolutely not.” I doubt anyone can. “He seems to operate on a different frequency from most of us.”
Declan points a long, elegant forefinger at me. “You are a dangerous woman, Ekatia. Very dangerous. If you need anything, tell the staff.” He holds out his palm. “Your keys and the phone.”
Dina pinches the bridge of her nose. “Dec, that’s not necessary.”
Declan’s hand is still out, eyes hardening with each passing moment that I’m not giving him what he wants. I dig into my purse and drop the car key and the phone into his palm.
“Apartment key too.”
“It’s not like she can get to it,” Dina says, stepping away from him and standing with me. She crosses her arms.
“Apartment. Key.”
I drop the entire key chain into his hand and point at the small one. “That’s the mail key.” I point at the next one. “My locker at the hospital. The building key is this one. And finally, the key to my apartment. Anything else? My firstborn?”
Declan slides the bundle of keys into his pocket. “Not right now.”
“Are you done?” Dina asks him.
Declan’s jaw hardens. “I have to secure all weaknesses.”
“Is that what I am to you?” she asks. “A weakness?”
“No, that’s not—”
Dina spins on her heel and walks away. In the kitchen, she pops open a bottle of Chardonnay.
Declan stands there, looking like a wet Doberman.
“Hoes before bros.” I join her in the kitchen.
Declan exits the house.