by Marika Ray
I nodded once, my heart taking a beating with her simple statement. “You always say that. You’ve got the tough-girl act down so well you can’t even put it aside and ask for help when you really need it. This is more than about you, Amelia. This is about the whole town now.”
Amelia lifted her arms and put her hands on my chest, giving me a huge shove. It didn’t do much, but I took a step back anyway, astounded she’d tried to push me.
“I don’t need your help!” she shouted again.
I shouted back, probably for the first time ever. I wasn’t a shouter by nature. I talked calmly or used my fists. But dammit, she made me so angry.
“I will keep you safe, whether you want me to or not, come hell or high water!”
Amelia’s eyes went round, and the air froze around us. Her swallow was audible in the quiet room. After a long minute of us just staring at each other and breathing heavy, she glanced out the window, a furrow between her brows.
I couldn’t take this anymore. I never could handle Amelia and me being out of sorts. She yelled, I talked quietly, gave her space, and then we made up. Shouting at each other? That was just dumb.
“What are you doing?” I asked, exasperated.
Amelia still didn’t look away from the window. “Looking for the high water since Hell’s already here.”
That mouth of hers drove me absolutely crazy. Here we were in our first official fight as a couple and she was cracking jokes. She took a page out of my book. Using comedy to simmer the other person down.
I put a hand on her shoulder, stepping up behind her and pulling her close.
“We’ll get through this,” I whispered in her hair. “Together.”
20
Amelia
I’ve been angry a time or twenty in my life. I’ve even felt so angry that my vision turned a bit red around the edges and I’ve delivered a verbal blistering the other person wasn’t soon to forget. Mad and Amelia got along like chocolate and peanut butter. We were good by ourselves, but divinely inspired when mixed together.
Yesterday, though, I reached a new level of emotion: blind rage.
I saw Daire’s face and the bottom of my world dropped out. I heard his words about building a new hotel in town and the very essence of me grew to proportions not contained by the flimsy roof of Coffee. I grew so big and powerful in my rage I knew I could slay mere men and dragons with a simple glance. Justice would be mine or I’d die trying. I would bring revenge raining down on Daire’s unfairly gorgeous head before I left this earth and went to the real hell waiting for me beyond the curtain. It would become my new motivation for getting up in the morning. I’d change my name to Spite and live my life in its service. I’d burn shit down before Daire got away with snatching my dream out from under me. Hell, I’d already vandalized the town welcome sign. You really think I’d blink an eye at throwing some gasoline around and accidentally lighting a match? Watch it all burn, motherfucker.
And then Titus had gotten in my business and taken the punch I would have gladly shouldered if only to enrage me further and fan the flames of my revenge plan. Titus was going to protect me?
Oh, sweet child of my youth. What a lovely thing to do, but absolutely no need. I could take care of myself. I’d proven over and over that I could do just fine on my own. Did sleeping with me mean I suddenly needed help from a man? I’d been handed some shit by males in my lifetime. I wasn’t going to take help from one now, no matter how much I loved him. This was my fight. Period.
Titus left last night with an unspoken and flimsy truce stretched between us. He wasn’t happy with me and I wasn’t happy with him. So there. We were even. He might have plans for swooping in on his white horse and protecting my honor, but he really shouldn’t. Because I had plans that didn’t include any honor, that’s for damn sure. Daire played dirty, but so did I. Don’t let the shiny badge on my daddy’s chest blind you from the truth about his daughter.
I put on my costume of war—black pants, black button-up shirt, stilettos that could kill a man with a jab to the chest, and a high ponytail—and hit the lobby of the hotel. I printed out a fresh copy of the dates a particularly loud guest of ours had visited the hotel. Then I printed out a document with the dates of all the new businesses that had gone into Auburn Hill the last few years. And then the coup de grâce.
A picture of the used condom from the last time that woman had come to visit and tore apart the hotel room.
I grimaced just looking at it. What kind of animal doesn’t dispose of their used condom appropriately? Putting that picture at the back of the stack, I stuck it all in a manila folder and headed out the door.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, Crystal. Hold down the fort.”
Crystal stood tall behind the front desk and saluted me. Far as I know, neither one of us had been in the military. My tone must have held some of my rage.
Keeping with the military theme, I marched right over to City Hall and blew right past the mayor’s secretary. She was a nice lady and I couldn’t let my burning inferno of rage singe her too. This was between me and the mayor.
“…have to do it as soon as possible—”
The heavy wood door banged against the opposite wall as I entered with a self-righteous flourish, startling Mayor Bennett. He whispered goodbye into the phone and put it down, jumping to his feet, eyes wide.
“Miss Waldo. To what do I owe the pl—”
I slammed the door closed behind me, cutting off his bullshit. “I’m not here for pleasantries, Mr. Bennett.”
Striding forward with bold confidence surging through my veins, I slapped the folder down on his desk. Up this close, I could see his dark eyebrows were starting to sport some gray hairs. The fine lines around his eyes didn’t detract from his handsome face. He may be the devil with a penchant for farm animal sex, but the man was damn good looking, more’s the pity. Interestingly, Rip, his son, had gotten all the good looks, but none of the devilry. Rip was as pure as sunshine like his mama, which was probably why the mayor had no use for him. Mr. Bennett only understood corruption. I was sure of it. So sure I was betting my entire revenge plan on him and his questionable activities.
“What’s all this nonsense, young lady?” The mayor’s eyebrows drew together in a scowl that might have made me waver on any given day. But not today, Satan.
I smiled and his frown faltered on the edges. “I think you’ll have some interest in what I have here in my folder.”
I flipped it open and drilled the first page with my index finger, feeling like a badass Nancy Drew. “Dates that one M. Smith checked into Hill Hotel.” I let his gaze scan the page before flipping it dramatically to the next. “Dates new business projects of yours have been greenlit by the city council. Note the one- to two-month delay after each and every visit by one M. Smith.”
Next page flipped. The condom in all its blown-up, eight-by-ten full-color glory.
The mayor sucked in a breath and I knew deep down in my bones like I knew flats were for sissies, I had the man’s attention now.
“M. Smith keeps a man’s company on each of her visits.” In all honesty, I was speculating here. It could have been a different man each time. But I was the betting sort and I placed all my chips on the mayor being her one and only paramour. “Thankfully, they left evidence. Evidence that I turned over to Lucille Sutter, a purveyor of sperm, if you will.”
Now this part was the flat-out lie, not that my ace poker face would ever give it away. I’d sealed that used condom up in a Ziplock and stashed it under my bed like a total weirdo. But if I had given it to Lucy for examination, she could have done all kinds of tests on the sperm, coming back with DNA evidence that any jury would have a hard time disputing.
The tick-tock of the antique clock on his desk kept time while Mayor Bennett swallowed repeatedly, gaze trained on the photo.
“DNA evidence should be coming through any time now.” I put both fists on the desk and leaned in, a rush of adrenaline making me feel high
as a kite. I hadn’t watched CSI all these years for nothing. I knew how to intimidate a suspect. “Question is, what shall I do with this evidence? Turn it in to my father? Or…?”
The mayor’s gaze swung up to mine, anger, embarrassment, and desperation mixing together, each warring for center stage. His nostrils flared. My own rage recognized his. Oh yes, I knew what it was like to be angry and desperate. Two could play that game.
“What do you want?” he spat.
I stood straight and then sat down in one of the chairs opposite his desk, reclining like I had all the time in the world. “It’s not really about what I want, Mayor. It’s about what we can achieve together.” I laced my fingers and set them in my lap, cool, calm, and collected.
The dirty look he gave me would wither a lesser woman, but as it was in my rage, I was untouchable. He sat down in his chair, the leather creaking as he shifted, unable to find a comfortable spot. Hard to get comfortable when a “young lady” has your nuts in a vise you can’t escape.
He made a rolling motion with his hand, so I continued. “You agree to never allow the town of Auburn Hill to do business with Daire Beneventi. In exchange, I make this”—I waved at the folder on the desk—“disappear.”
He was silent for a moment, digesting my simple demands. Then he put his hands on the desk and some of the rage left his eyes. “That’s it? No business given to Daire and you destroy all this?”
I nodded. “That’s right. Pretty simple. I’m not here to extort money. I’m asking for very little, in fact. I hope you’ll take the generous offer.”
“How do I know you won’t just release this information later anyway?”
“Because if I do, you’ll start handing off future projects to Daire in retaliation. We both have to keep our ends of the bargain to get what we want. See? We achieve together.”
The mayor’s thumb tapped the table in a tell he probably didn’t even realize he had. Then he stood abruptly, the chair rolling back. I stood too, every cell in my body waiting on the edge of its seat to hear if my little game of chicken had actually worked.
“Deal,” the mayor stated, putting his hand out to shake on it.
I cringed. “Deal. But I prefer not to shake. I know where that hand’s been.”
The mayor blanched and looked down at his own hand hanging there in the space between us. With that parting shot I grabbed the folder and its contents and left the office with my head held high.
By the time I reached Hell Hotel, my heels weren’t even touching pavement. I was floating on a cloud of accomplishment I’d never felt before. I’d threatened the most powerful man in town and come back unscathed. Not only that, I’d shut down Daire.
And that? Shit, that was cause for celebration.
I’d take the day off and have a little party in my room. Maybe text Titus and see if he wanted to come over and party horizontally with me.
Rage?
Bitch, please. Rage was so last season. Blackmail was the new black.
“I’d like a jelly filled and a mocha with extra whip and drizzle.”
Lukas took my order at Coffee the next morning. I tipped him double for being willing to step up against Daire the other day. He was almost ten years younger than me, but the guy had certainly stepped up when he was handed his man card. He’d stood up to Jayden when he treated Lenora badly a while back. And he’d stepped up to help me with Daire. Lukas was good people in my book. If things didn’t work out with Titus, maybe I’d have to consider the cougar angle. Kidding, just low blood sugar making a bad joke.
I sat down and scrolled through my texts while I waited for my celebratory breakfast. As high as I’d been off my victory at the mayor’s office yesterday, there was a bubble of foreboding in my belly too. Titus had taken over an hour to text me back yesterday, telling me he wasn’t available to come over. And that was it. No sorry or how about a rain check. Just “not available.”
What kind of guy says no when sex is a pretty damn sure thing?
A pissed-off guy. That’s who.
That truce of ours didn’t seem to be weathering the storm well. Which meant we’d have to have a conversation about things. And soon. I didn’t resolve all the Daire drama to just lose my best friend slash boyfriend as a result.
“Here you go.” Lukas set down my plate and coffee, spinning quickly to clean off a recently vacated table in the busy shop.
I took a huge bite of donut and danced in my seat as the powdered sugar hit me. Fuck, sugar was awesome.
“Trouble in paradise, honey?”
I opened my eyes and swallowed quickly. Damn, I’d gotten lost in my donut experience. Again.
“I’m sorry?” I asked Yedda, who stood next to my table, her stooped shoulders making her appear much older than her sharp wit.
“Any woman who gets that O-face over a donut is not getting the Big D on the regular.” She cackled and Polly joined in, having a seat at the table next to me.
I shook my head, impressed with her street vernacular, while being a little irritated I was so transparent. Must have used up all my poker face on the mayor yesterday.
“I don’t know, Yedda. Seems to me Titus is a smart boy. I don’t see him leaving Amelia wanting.”
Yedda pointed right at my face. I swiped at my mouth thinking maybe I had some powdered sugar left over. I didn’t particularly care for my sex life being dissected by Old and Older here at the coffee shop for everyone to overhear.
“The O-face doesn’t lie. Mark my words. My sixth sense is a honed machine, sniffing out discord from twenty paces.”
Polly rolled her eyes, but she smiled kindly. “You’re a regular Jessica Fletcher.”
I gasped. “I love that show!”
Yedda had a seat finally, leaning over to pat my hand. “You and me, girl. We’re practically the same person.”
I rolled my lips in to keep from laughing. Then she patted her tight white curls and took a sip of her coffee, liver-spotted hand shaking at the effort. Good Lord, I needed to think about a better skin care regimen if Yedda thought we were similar. I actually looked forward to growing old and not having to put a filter on this mouth of mine, but all in good time. I still wanted to live it up a bit before my tits took the southbound train to Sad-Sack-ville.
“Ohh, don’t look now, dear, but your ex just darkened our door,” Polly whispered from behind her coffee cup.
I spun in my seat, my gaze laser focused on Daire the Douchebag walking up to the line like he had all the right in the world to still be here in Auburn Hill.
Polly sighed dramatically from behind me. “I said don’t look, dummy. Although I don’t blame you. He may be a jerk face, but he’s a pretty jerk face.”
“I’m calling Poppy!” Yedda exclaimed, titillated to activate the gossip phone tree.
I stood abruptly and the wail of the wood chair scraping against concrete flooring had the whole shop quieting down to catch the drama. Daire looked up from his phone and narrowed his eyes as he watched me approach.
“What are you still doing here?” I crossed my arms across my chest.
Daire threw out a charming smile. Thankfully I didn’t fall for that shit anymore. “Far as I know, it’s still a free country, babe.”
Oh shit, a tidal wave of rage was returning. “Don’t call me babe. You’re not wanted in this town, so I suggest you leave.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Poppy running down the sidewalk, mail flying out of her bag. She nearly ripped the door off its hinges to get inside the coffee shop, ample bosom heaving with the effort.
“Or will Poppy here have to beat you with her mail bag again to get you to leave?” I smirked, finding humor in an elderly mail carrier getting one up on Daire.
Daire’s face drained of color. “You people are crazy, you know that? Just a bunch of lowlifes in a hick town. That’s all you’ll ever be, babe.”
I smiled. “Sounds good to me. At least these ‘lowlifes’ treat me well.” Poppy stood next to me. Polly and Yedda sto
od behind her. Then Lukas swaggered over and a few other diners stood as well. “Go ahead. Make fun of my town. Look who’s got my back.”
Daire flicked a glance at the crowd behind me, then rolled his eyes. “On second thought, I wanna get out of here before any of the small-town crazy rubs off on me.” He walked to the door and then spun one last time. “Goodbye. At least for now, babe.” Then he winked and walked out.
I lunged to go after his smug ass, but Poppy blocked me with a hip check worthy of the NBA. “Now, now. No use running after trash. You said enough to make him leave. Let him be.”
I growled. Yes, actually growled like a feral animal. “I think I might hate that man. What did I ever see in him?”
Yedda whispered from behind me, “Big dick, probably.”
I snorted, her dirty mouth breaking the tension.
I walked back to my table, putting it all behind me. “Now where’s a donut when you need one?” Yedda snickered as I took a huge bite and closed my eyes in bliss again.
A shadow fell over the table. Opening one eye, I saw Titus standing there, his jaw clenched like he wasn’t happy to see me. His T-shirt was covered in man glitter—Finnie’s funny term for sawdust. A faint trace of blue had formed like an ink blot test on the side of his jaw.
“What happened?”
“Well, hello to you too. Why don’t you have a seat?” I gestured to the chair opposite me. Titus’s lips pinched, but he had a seat. “What’s wrong?”
“You tell me. I get a call from Poppy that Daire’s at Coffee and I need to get my ass down here. What happened?”
I rolled my eyes and threw a look at Poppy, who studiously looked away from me. “I didn’t need your help. I had things handled. I told him to leave. He called me names. He left. End of story.”
Titus’s eyes started glittering and not in the usual sexy way. “You just confronted him? By yourself?”
I put down what was left of my donut. Why couldn’t a girl just eat her pastry in peace?
“Yes, by myself. Because I’m a fully capable adult.”