Tampons. Bleeding on myself. Sonny's place.
Dex leaned forward over the desk, his elbows coming down hard on the surface. I could see the movement of his tongue sweeping over his teeth beneath his closed mouth. And then his jaw locked. "You went to Son's?" His lips peeled back to revealaline of straight white teeth. "By yourself?"
I'd crapped all over that explanation, hadn't I? It wasn't like I could backtrack, dang it. "Yes," I tried to tell him as securely as I could.
He blinked, shifting his eyes to Luther's looming frame just to his side before returning to me. He blinked again, reaching up with one hand to run his thumb and index finger down the sides of his mouth. The pause was pregnant and heavy.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the member I didn't recognize shaking his head.
"You dumb little shit."
Uhh, what?
The muscles in Dex's biceps popped as he gritted his teeth, talking to me. Me! A dumb little shit?
"You know your pa owes the Reapers twenty?"
Why, yes, yes, I did but I couldn't tell him that and regardless, it didn't seem like he wanted an answer because he kept talking.
"What the fuck do you think they'll do to you, Ritz?" I think he may have gnashed his teeth. "They beat the shit out of Son back before they decided to up the debt. What the fuck do you think they'll do if they get you?" he asked in a louder voice than I'd ever heard him use. His features were too tight, too pissed off. "Huh? You can't be that fuckin' stupid, can you?"
Holy crap.
Something nasty knotted in my chest and all of a sudden, I couldn't bear to look at him.
"Iris!" he yelled at me. Yelled! "This isn't a fuckin' joke. You can't run around town doin' whatever the hell you want. Nobody has time to babysit you all day, do you understand me?"
Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
It took me a second to realize that I was blinking a lot. Blinking while I looked up at the ceiling instead of my boss' face.
"Iris," he grunted, his tone still holding the slightly hysterical note that relayed the extent of his anger. "Do. You. Understand?"
I didn't have it in me to answer him with words, so I had to settle for a nod. A nod I directed at the ceiling, while I had to tell myself that I wouldn't cry in front of him—them.
I mean, I get that he had a point. And I completely understood that he was watching out for me. But seriously? Was this the way he was going to go aboutit?
Just like my mess of an explanation came out of my mouth, so did the small amount of pride I still managed to have after getting yelled at.
It also might have also been just a little childish but I was too hurt and humiliated to care. "I didn't think it mattered after I got left alone all night and day, Charlie." By Charlie I really meant Dick.
He opened his mouth just a fraction before closing it. His dark blue eyes narrowed. "Get back to the damn shop," he snapped.
This jerk was going to get punched in the nuts. If I wasn't stuck staying with him, he'd get punched in the nuts and I'd put dish detergent into his food. Dex had a point. Of that there wasn't a doubt, but making a point didn't mean you have to be a complete asswipe.
Plus, hadn't Sonny told me that Dex needed someone to tell him when he was being a dick? Sure, I'd done worse but that wasn't the point. He didn't know that, and he never would if this was any indication of how he handled stuff.
So fuck him. I sucked in a deep breath to ward off the tears that were right there and forced a smile on my face. It was ugly and unnatural but at that point, I didn't care. The guy was a man of his word. He'd put up with me until Sonny got back.
I think.
Smiling that creepy smile, I curtsied, staring straight into those dark eyes. "Whatever you want, your majesty."
Luther snickered just barely.
But Dex? Dex just stared right back.
"You gonna let her talk to you like that, man?" the Widow I didn't recognize asked.
