“I don’t know why; I just… felt this overwhelming sense of guilt. Like somehow it was my fault that they’re missing. I was waiting for the gardaí to show up and haul me away,” she confesses with a shaky voice.
“Aww, bug.” I pop open the top button on my shirt to let some air in. “I would never let that happen.”
13
KATIE
Maria’s purple head follows me around the kitchen, gesticulating wildly as she tries to argue her point. I’m only half listening; she’s been ranting for the best part of an hour now. “I know he got you out of a bad situation, and I can’t argue about the driving you home thing, but everything after that has a blinking red light attached!”
I stop, half-turn, and raise an eyebrow at her. “Being nice to animals is a bad thing?”
She makes a sound, somewhere between a sigh and a growl. “You know damn well this isn’t about the piggies!”
I roll my eyes and continue loading the dishwasher.
“He shows up unannounced; he does not respect your boundaries.” Every one of her points is emphasised by a perfectly manicured finger flicking in the air: “His wallet just happened to get lodged between your couch cushions, and he didn’t seem to miss it? That sounds like a plant right there!”
“Ree, seriously, your paranoia is showing.”
She slams her hands onto her hips, eyes narrowing to slits. “You have a Zade Meadows on your hands and you’re all but bending over to let him insert that gun!”
It takes me several tries to get the pot to fit between the frying pan and plates, but I get there in the end. “No more dark romance for you.”
“I’m serious, Katie! He all but has his own warning sound!”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Stalker alert, ALERT!” She exclaims, pointing at me mockingly. She folds two fingers to her palm, mimicking a phone, and pretends to dial a number. “I want to know who I’m looking at.”
“Christ on a bike, Ree!” I exclaim, exasperated. “One minute, he’s Zade Matthews—”
“Meadows.”
“—And the next, he’s fucking Ghostface!” I slam the dishwasher door shut and turn to face her. “Okay, maybe Aiden is a red flag. Maybe he’s just hoping for a quick shag; he’ll be sadly disappointed. Besides,” I add with a smirk that I’m certain comes off as anything but friendly and reassuring. “I’ve seen the girls he goes out with, and I look nothing like them. Your short arse would be more his type!”
Her sassy arse just makes my point when she goes off on another one. All five-foot-two of her squares up to me. “He’s weird.”
“Yeah, well,” I grunt, lowering myself onto a chair at the kitchen table. “Meet his sister!”
“Please,” she sighs and lowers herself into the seat next to me. “Leave the gorgeous, but most likely deranged, man alone.”
“Excuse you? You make me sound like I’m hiding in hisbushes!”
“He’s younger than you. He’s got history with the gardaí. He’s—”
“Right behind you,” his cool voice interrupts, causing both our heads to snap around so fast that I’m sure I just gave myself whiplash. He leans against the doorway, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. “Did I hear my name being dragged through the mud?”
I’m out of my seat before I can even process what’s happening. I push right past him and look into my hallway; the front door is shut. “How the hell did you get in here?”
“The door was open,” he replies casually, his smirk widening.
“It was not!”
“Was so,” he counters. “You really need to be more careful; you know.” He turns and flicks the kettle on. “Anyone could have just walked right in here.”
“Zade!” Maria is out of her seat and all but shrieking. “Zade Meadows!”
“Aiden Quinn,” he retorts, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Nice to see you too, Maria.”
