Page 31 of Slay King

“You cooled down?” Storm asked.

I didn’t turn around to look at him. “He knew better.”

“Yeah, I know. I should have said something. I thought she’d be in bed when you got back though.”

He came to stand beside me, and I glanced over at him to see he had a sausage biscuit in his hand. It smelled good, and I was suddenly hungry. He took a bite and nodded toward the trailers the horses were being put in for travel.

“Sebastian is leaving with them today. That should make you feel better.”

I wasn’t worried about Rumor wanting Sebastian. She wanted me. She’d made that very clear several times. My concern was hurting her. The hurt that she’d faced already in this life was more than any woman should endure. I didn’t want to be another person who broke her or let her down. I just couldn’t figure out a way to fix it. Be who she needed.

A darkness settled over me as I thought about it.

“I want the bastard who is stalking Scotlin to make his move. Weed him out and end this bullshit,” I said.

“We’d all like that,” Storm replied.

My phone started ringing, causing my mood to sour more. No one called me this early unless it was business. I’d left Rumor in the bed to sleep, and I intended to go back up there to her. I didn’t need someone calling me away.

Seeing Scotlin’s name on my phone didn’t help my mood.

“Yeah,” I said in greeting, not wanting to deal with whatever this was.

“Good morning,” she replied cheerfully. “I need to go shopping today, and you need to go with me.”

My grip on the phone in my hand tightened. “I don’t fucking shop. You have bodyguards for that shit.”

“Don’t be a sourpuss this morning. It’s a beautiful spring day, and the sun is shining. And I need you because I need your opinion. You are my fiancé after all.”

I swear to God, she was fucking mental.

“Fake. I’m your fake fiancé.”

She laughed as if I had told her a joke. “That is merely a technicality. We are leaving for the Derby this week. We should be seen out shopping together. I’ll be ready at eleven.”

“No. I have things to do,” I replied sharply, then ended the call.

“Scotlin, I take it?” Storm said.

I nodded and took a drink of my coffee.

“I’d offer to entertain Rumor, but after the shit you pulled last night, I’ll pass.”

No one was entertaining Rumor but me.

My phone rang again. I wanted to throw the damn thing against the nearest brick wall. Glancing down at it, I saw my father’s name. Fucking hell.

“Yeah,” I said into the phone.

“You’re going shopping.”

My head pounded as I glared straight ahead. She’d called my father? Was she fucking serious?

“No, I’m not.” My teeth were clenched so tightly that I could hear them grind.

“It’s not a request. It’s an order.”

“Whose fucking order?” I snapped.

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