He remains quiet.
I press, “Did you think I was holding back because I didn’t know she was rude? Do you think I’m an idiot who can’t tell when I’m being laughed at and ridiculed?”
Gunner breaks his silence, his eyes fierce. “I couldn’t sit by and watch them tear you down.”
“Look around, Kinsey. What do you think people see when they look at me? You think they see someone like Victoria, who wears fancy pantsuits and touts around her law degree like it’s a family heirloom?”
I shake my head. “YouandVictoriacan demand all the respect you want. Since you were babies, you were told you were someone important and people had to treat you well. That’s not true for the rest of us. We have to choose our battles because sometimes, it’s a fight between respect or a job. Do you understand? It’s either we get respect or we keep the lights on.”
Gunner’s eyes flutter and his jaw returns to flexing and un-flexing as it did when we were driving to the restaurant.
“But I wouldn’t expectyouto get it, Mr. Kinsey.” I flop against my seat and stare into the headrest in front of me.
“You say we’re different,” Gunner’s voice cuts through the silence.
“We are,” I clip.
“No, we’re not. I don’t care what your last name is, who your parents are or how much you make. You’re human. Just like me. You matter. Just like me. And if I had to do it all again, I would still choose to defend you.”
My heart skips a beat, but I struggle not to let it show. “Do you expect me to thank you?”
He glances away.
“Did you think I’d be happy? You thought you ‘saved’ me?”
His jaw flexes. Nothing. No response.
I play the scene with Carol over in my head. Rather than sadness, now all I feel is hot, burning anger. “I didn’t ask you to be my knight-in-shining armor. I wanted us to bepartners.”
He flinches. My words, like a knife, seems to have cut something inside him. And I decide to give that knife a good twist.
“At least one decent thing came out of tonight’s dinner,” I mumble.
Gunner’s head whips in my direction and he studies me, waiting.
“Without the Society, I don’t need you. I don’t have to pretend I like you. I never have to talk to you again.”
For a second, I see hurt flash in his eyes. “You hate methatmuch, Rebel?”
No, I don’t.
But I can’t say that. No way.
Like a boulder going downhill, I let the rude, nasty part of me free. “You’re a Kinsey. You’re the enemy. Everything about you irritates me. Just one look at your face ruins my day.”
Gunner’s eyes sink to the ground and it seems like his entire being dims.
“It’s not like you feel any differently,” I bite out, trying to ease my own guilt.
Gunner says nothing.
Thought so.
I turn back to facing the window as my heart cracks a little. In a quiet, strained voice, I say, “We’ll go back to how things were before and it’ll be like none of this ever happened. From this moment,” I rest my forehead against the cool glass, “you and I aredone.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
