“Give me my key back.” I hold out my hand, palm up, waiting.
She folds her arms, glaring. “No.”
“Maya,” I say, tone assertive.
“You give me a thousand, and I will give it back.” Her grin widens, smug and satisfied.
Rage spikes. I see red and slam the door hard enough to make the frame shake.
Rubbing a hand down my face, I pick up my phone and check Cressida’s tracker, glad when I see her back at her place.
Tomorrow night…
I’ll hunt.
TWENTY-SEVEN
CRESSIDA
I hatedays when I don’t have my son.
I’m bored, and I’d rather be doing things with him. So, instead, I do the everyday mundane things like cleaning the house, going grocery shopping, and hoping no one I know sees me because I’m wearing lounge pants with a shirt that has seen better days.
“I really don’t know what he sees in you.” I freeze while choosing a bag of popcorn.Surely, that comment wasn’t directed at me?I make my selection, then toss it into the cart, not giving the speaker another thought. But the voice continues, “Oh, so you’re pretending not to hear me. That’s nice. Real trashy of you.” She scoffs.
I turn toward the voice. Maya stands behind me, still as glass, her head tilted slightly to one side. She’s as pristine and put together as ever, but her eyes are bright and wild, locked on me with unnerving precision. She doesn’t blink. A slow smile curls her mouth, wrong somehow, like she’s savoring a thought she shouldn’t be having. How did having sex with Soren end up with me dealing with his crazy sister? I mean, a crazy ex is one thing, but this is a new level of weird.
“Can I help you?” I ask, confused about this confrontation.
“I see it, you know. You think because you’re fucking him that you have some type of claim to him?”
I can’t help the burst of laughter that leaves me. I wave a hand in front of my face to stop myself. “I’m sorry. But do you realize you sound like a villainous ex-girlfriend right now? I mean, I guess some people like to keep it in the family, but I didn’t think Soren was like that.”
“He’s not.We’renot. We’re all the other has. And I don’t want some bitch with shiny black hair fucking it up.”
“Well, first, thank you for the compliment. Second, who the hell is trying to fuck up your relationship with him? Is there more to this than you’re letting on?” I raise a brow, and my phone chooses that moment to ring.
Seeing that it’s Soren’s name on the screen, I ignore it and glance back at Maya. “Look, I’m going to make this easy for you. You can have your brother. Go and do bad things together because I never will again. Especially now that I see how crazy your family really is.”
Another shopper walks past, eyeing us in annoyance since we’re blocking almost the whole aisle, and I shoot her a smile as I reach behind me for another bag of popcorn. I’m going to need several bags of that tonight to get past all of this. Chocolate too, maybe!
Maya’s phone goes off with an absurdly loud ringtone.
I turn away, intending to continue my shopping, but she answers the call, and I hear Soren’s voice on the other end. She pulls her phone away from her ear and holds it out to me with a death glare.
“I’m not touching that.” I give her a little wave and then walk away.
Fuck, that family is crazy.
When I getout of the cab, arms full of grocery bags, I see Soren standing at my front door. I don’t acknowledge him as I approach, but he’s blocking me from entering. I juggle the bags, trying to get my keys from my purse, and without a word, he takes all the bags from me.
I huff in exasperation at the gesture.
“You’re ignoring me,” he states.
“I think it’s best that way,” I tell him as I unlock the door. I turn around to take the bags back from him and note he’s dressed in all black. But it’s not a suit; he’s wearing a leather jacket and black jeans.
“I disagree,” he says.
