Then I tilt my head slightly so I can see her face again.
“Tell me,” I say slowly, “you didn’t do what I told you not to do.”
Her mouth twitches.
Not quite a smile.
More like the ghost of one.
Fresh tears gather in her eyes and spill over before she can stop them.
“I was just trying to help,” she says quietly, her voice a little shaky. “I wanted him to know he was messing with the wrong person.”
A low sound rumbles in my chest before I can stop it.
“I told you I was handling it,” I growl, fighting to keep my voice low and controlled even though everything in me wants to tear something apart.
“I know,” she says quickly, wiping at her eyes with the heel of her hand. “I know you did, but everyone keeps acting like I’m supposed to just sit around and wait while some guy wrecks the bar and threatens Wayne.”
“You weren’t supposed to walk into his office,” I snap.
Her shoulders hunch slightly.
“Well… when you say it like that.”
I stare at her.
“You went to him.”
She winces a little.
“Technically.”
“Rae.”
“I might have asked where he was,” she admits, her voice quieter now. “And then I might have… driven there.”
I close my eyes for a second and drag a slow breath through my nose.
“You drove,” I repeat slowly, “to the guy running an extortion racket… and walked into his office alone.”
“When you say it like that it sounds bad.”
“Itisbad.”
She shifts slightly in my lap, clearly uncomfortable with the way I’m looking at her.
“I just wanted to scare him a little,” she mutters.
“You scared him?” I ask flatly.
Her lips press together.
“I broke something.”
“Of course you did.”
“He offered me a job,” she adds suddenly.
