I turn and look at her. “Like what? You hardly date. What could he possibly be mad about?”
It’s really starting to concern me that I’ve never met this guy. And it concerns me even more that when she talks about him, all the life seems to drain out of her face.
“He came by my apartment the other night and I wasn’t there. When I got back, he was waiting, and he…” she trails off. “Well. He was mad. He went off about how I should always be there when he needs me. Not at a bar getting tipsy and flirting with the bartenders.”
“Is that what you were doing?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
Electra snorts a little. “Of course not. I never go out anymore. I was at the pharmacy getting Midol. But he didn’t care.”
I turn towards my friend. “Electra, I really don’t think this guy is good for you.”
“He’s not always bad,” she says with a smile. It’s such a one-eighty from the way she was talking about him just moments ago, I can practically see the red flag whipping above our heads. “His job just makes him a little crazy sometimes.”
“Crazy like he hurts you?”
She doesn’t say yes. But she also doesn’t say no. For a moment, she doesn’t say anything at all.
“Electra…” I whisper. “Ransome is a powerful man. If you need help making Sean leave you alone…”
“I’m afraid of him,” she admits erratically. “I told him about the shower and he didn’t love the idea of me being here and helping you, and he got mad, and I have a feeling when I go home tonight he’s going to show up and try to tell me I can’t come tomorrow and?—”
“Then don’t go,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. “Ransome probably won’t be here tonight. You don’t have to go home. Just stay here. It’s a gated community. He can’t get in. And even if he could, this place has more security than the white house,” I joke. But I’m not really kidding. “Just stay the night. It’ll be fun. Like a sleepover.”
Electra nods and wipes her eyes, doing her best to smile. “Okay.”
“We can order food. Anything you want. And watch Twilight.”
“God, I forgot how many times we watched Twilight…” She laughs, and while I can tell she’s still on edge, she’s warming up.
“Gotta love that baseball scene,” I say, and that makes us both giggle.
We order Mexican food from a nearby place. In the meantime, I grab the Neapolitan ice cream out of the freezer. Lucky for me, she likes the vanilla.
And while we sit on the couch arguing over whether we are team Edward or team Jacob, I can’t help but feel very unsettled. This whole Sean thing has gotten out of hand. More than out of hand. I don’t care who he is or who he thinks he is.
Once I tell Ransome about him, he’s going to go away for good.
44
RANSOME
“Is this really necessary?” Amara asks as she squeezes between two security guards to come yell at me.
Ever since the baby shower started, I’ve been perched in front of the foyer between the living room, which has been desecrated by a disgusting amount of baby-themed decor, and the front door, which is bolted and secured by another guard. There are five total, and that’s just on the immediate property.
Amara thinks it’s overkill. She doesn’t even know about the guys I have on standby.
“I’m just trying to keep you safe,” I tell her as I take a sip of whiskey.
“There’s barely any room to move around,” she hisses through a smile to hide our argument from the guests. I’d love to take all that spice into the bedroom and teach it a lesson, but seeing as how she’s the life of the party, people are bound to notice if she goes missing.
“If you’re feeling claustrophobic, any one of these people can be asked to leave. Anyone but the security,” I tell her.
Amara glares up at me, but I just give her a little smirk. She shakes her head and makes her way back to her friends, turning her smile back on again.
“She’s not wrong,” Maverick says. “There are a lot of people here.”
“I’m kind of surprised you let her invite so many people,” Baron says around a sip of his beer.
