Page 14 of Psychological War

“Salem,” she warned.

Looking up from my food, she was giving me that look. The look that told me she was not backing down from this. She would bug me over and over again until I got angry. But I couldn't be angry with her.

“Fine.” Setting down my now cold Chinese food I slouched down pulling a blanket over me. “I really didn’t find anything useful on them…. buuuut there were two men that tried attacking me in the alleyway.” I barely got time to finish my sentence before she sat up and started fussing over me.

“Excuse me?” she hissed. “You thought you could just ignore the fact you were attacked? Salem Wren Gray, what is wrong with you?”

I let out a laugh at her using my full name.Again. Damn this was the second time in less than twenty-four hours.

“Yeah, I was attacked. But that’s not the part I think you should be using my name for.” I almost shied away from telling her about Zane. I hadn’t told her about it four years ago, because four years ago I was more unhinged than I am now. I was so angry that everyone who came across me in the wrong manner, I killed them.

She stared at me, waiting for me to continue. I really hated dragging her into this; however, she was involved. As much as I wished she wasn’t. She was the one who found the men I needed to end. So as much as I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut and just let it be, I couldn’t.

“Four years ago, before I got kidnapped by the cartel, I remember I ran into a man.” I couldn’t look at her as I spoke. Instead, I focused on swirling a string from the blanket around my finger. “I let him live.” I muttered the last part.

Like I said, I was unhinged. I killed anyone who basically looked at me wrong. So someone following me, someone twice my size would have caused me to feel threatened and I would have killed him on the spot.

“You… let him…live?” I did not like the way she said that. Why was she saying it that way?

“Oh, come on, Aziza, you know how I was back then.”

“Yeah, crazy, unhinged, a freaking psycho. Yeah, I know, you were freaking crazy outright.”

I huffed out a breath. She wasn’t wrong, but I did not like the sound of it.

“So what happened?” she asked.

“Uh, nothing,” I lied.

“I call bullshit,” she said, laughing at me. “Actually how about some snake shit? Yeah, I call it complete and utter snake shit.” Rolling her eyes, she dropped her empty container on the side table crossing her arms.

“You’re difficult.”

“You love me.”

“That’s debatable.” I rolled my eyes, my heart fluttering at the emotions. I didn’t do well with them, but Aziza did. “Anyway, no information in the club. Two guys tried attacking me when I was leaving when I texted you. I knocked them out and when I turned around, he was standing there just watching me. He never saw me. I mean, never saw me back then. This time, yeah, he saw me.” Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “He let me walk away.” It was a full lie. I mean, I punched him, tackled him, sat on his neck. Then I ran away. But basically, he let mewalkaway.

“Do you know his name? I can find out anything about him.”

“No,” I said a little too fast.

“Salem…”

“I-I don’t know his name.” I kept my voice tight and calm. I was lying to her; I was lying to my best friend to cover up for some man I punched.

“I know you’re lying to me,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “But all is forgiven because I’m leaving tomorrow morning for that audition.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, like a fish flopping out of water. I wasn’t sure what to say to her. I mean, I’m glad she was going to follow her dream, but the protectiveness inside was raging a damn war.

“That’s great!” I found myself blurting out. “What time do you leave?”

“I’ll probably head out around five. I have to be there at nine.” Looking over at the clock, I saw that it was 1:12 a.m. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“You should probably get some sleep while you can, I guess.”

“Yeah, are you going to be okay?”

I lied for a living, so you’d think this would be easy. But lying to Aziza was like swallowing nails. I hated it, but this was her dream. She lived for dancing. She lived for it. I couldn’t hold her back, especially when I was the one saying I didn’t want her around the danger I was bringing in.

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