I did not have time for this. Fine. I had the time, but I very much was choosing not to waste it on him or this conversation, whatever it was about. The odds were too great that I was only going to get him more worked up, and that would not be pretty.
“Why are you calling?” As if he couldn’t have easily led with that. “I legit am asking. I’m not trying to be a dick.” Unlike the other person on this call.
“What have you been doing with the car? And don’t you dare lie to me and say, ‘Nothing.’” A low growl filled my ear. He needed to control his wolf better. Not that I was going to tell him that now. “I’m so going to fuck you up if you’ve been doing anything close to sketchy.”
And context didn’t actually help. At least not the context he was offering. Great. I got to play the fun game of putting the puzzle pieces together without making things worse. It was a game I would not win.
If only I could totally break free from my entire family and begin anew. I just needed to keep painting and cross my fingers that the right buyer would be there at the right time to catapult me to the kind of income that would grant me true freedom.
“I’m going to need some more information.” And a drink…and a shift… and Roy nowhere near me or even through a cell phone. But since none of that was going to happen, I had to wait for his answers.
“I have the fucking email. Don’t play coy with me. It’s been stolen, and you knew that.” There was a pounding echoing through the phone. It sounded like he’d just hit a table or wall.
“I’ve. Got. The. Email,” he repeated.
The more he spoke, the less I understood. How was it possible that I shared DNA with this asshat?
“For the love of the moon goddess, maybe explain yourself just the tiniest of bits?” I’d hang up on him, but that would only mean my father would call—or worse, showing up. I just needed to make it through this one phone call. That was it. “Who sent you an email and what does that have to do with a stolen anything?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. You may think you’re special because you paint or whatever, but you’re nothing. Why do you think you were the one picked to…? You’re nothing.” A full on growl filled my ears. At least if he shifted out, it wasn’t here with me. That was something.
Zero good could come from his beast challenging mine. If I let him win, I would forever be under my family’s control, being stepped on and used until I met the goddess. If I won, my father would find a way to make it about me picking on his son and devise a plan to make my life even worse than it already was. There was no winning in that scenario, making it best to avoid it at all costs.
“Dean saw the car. How did you think I knew? Like I have time to spy in your shitty little neighborhood.” It wasn’t. But addingfuel to the fire sounded like a piss poor idea if I ever heard one. “It’s not like it wouldn’t stand out in that shitty part of town. It was like you were begging for it to be stolen. Or maybe you were the one who arranged for it to be taken.”
He was out of his ever lovin’ mind.
I wanted to ask who Dean was, but not nearly as badly as I wanted this conversation over with. Of course, someone saw the car there. That was how my luck tended to roll. But that didn’t mean it was stolen. What a freaking mess.
My wolf was a million percent in agreement with me being done with this conversation. He wanted out, to hunt, to run. And sure, his vision of out included Roy as prey and him bleeding my half brother. And to be fair, Roy deserved it. But also, that would not go over well with my dad and I’d be paying those consequences forever.
Thank the goddess this was a phone call and not in person. I wasn’t in the mood to fight my wolf and honestly, I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to win. Not being near his mate had my beast all worked up. This was only fuel to the fire.
“Now I’m going to have to deal with my insurance to get a new one.”
And damn if it didn’t sound like that was exactly what he wanted, which meant what I wanted to tell him but wouldn’t was, “You are such a piece of shit. I’m not going to have a car for who knows how long.” No way did I let loose with that. He’d really have it in for me.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Roy. I’ll deal with it.” Probably. Maybe. I was going to try, that was for sure. As far as I knew it wasn’t stolen and he was jumping to conclusions. Please let thatbe the case. “Forward me the email and I’ll meet the guy and figure out what’s what.”
“As if I would trust you with it.”
“This conversation is getting neither of us anywhere. Why did you bother calling if you didn’t want me to take care of it?” Now it was me who sounded feral.
Fabulous!
Chapter 15
The truth and nothing but the truth.
Heston
“Maybe we should cancel.” I grabbed Dean’s arm, my fingers digging into his flesh.
“Too late. He’s on his way.” My friend was almost salivating at the prospect of seeing the blue car again.
“He has a phone. We could text saying we have to reschedule because of an emergency.”
Dean removed my trembling fingers. “Who’s ‘we’?”
