Page 70 of Things We Burn

Safer and saner for all involved to keep this from him. I didn’t like lying to him—omission counted as lying in my book—but I felt like it was a lesser evil at that point.

I could survive one dinner service with him. Sure, I likely could’ve feigned illness or straight up refused to share mykitchen. It wasn’t unheard of in the culinary world full of egos. The staff who had been with me for years might’ve raised eyebrows, since I wasn’t known for overly dramatic behavior, but no one would’ve guessed the truth. The truth that felt bitter and rancid in my insides, the guilt of carrying it around with me a physical thing.

It was too late now to ‘out’ Gerald.

Or maybe it wasn’t. This was the age of women coming forward and speaking about their abuse, bringing down powerful men and ending their reigns of terror.

Yes, plenty of brave women had done that. Not without attention, though.

And it was the attention I couldn’t stomach. Having to be the ‘face’ of it.

It was cowardly.

I hated myself a little for it.

Yet not enough to speak. Especially not after I’d gotten a taste of it with Kane. And that was by association. I couldn’t do it, have it all focused on me.

It was my rebellion then, to stay in my kitchen, stand my ground and refuse to let Gerald run me out.

Even though I was terrified.

Kane noticed it, as he noticed everything about me.

“Chef.” The word was gentle, tender, concerned.

I refused to meet his eyes in the mirror as he came up behind me, his arms wrapping around me.

In every other circumstance, Kane’s arms around me were comforting, grounding, safe. Yet that night, they made my skin feel too tight for my body and my stomach turn.

“Chef,” he said again.

Reluctantly, I looked up at him in the mirror.

“What’s happening?” he asked. His finger brushed the sides of my uniform open so he could stroke my hip bone lazily.

I sank my teeth into my lip until I tasted blood so I wouldn’t flinch away from a touch that would usually set my body alight.

“The restaurant,” I said, unable to lie to him. “Tonight is going to be a lot. Special guests who think a lot of themselves, making my life harder than it needs to be.”

There. Not a lie.

Yet I still felt the truth sticking to my insides like tar.

Kane smiled at me in the mirror, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He saw me, knew me, even after a short time. And I knew him too. I knew he was weighing whether he should push it, probe more.

But that wasn’t Kane’s style. He’d wait until I was comfortable. Or he’d accept that I wasn’t ready or willing to tell him something.

I did not deserve him.

“You want me to come in there, rough ’em up?” he teased, nuzzling my neck. “I can blow off this event; I’ve been looking for an excuse.”

My lungs seized at the thought of Kane in the same building as Gerald.

Kane had imprisoned his dragon when Gerald was a two-dimensional asshole living on another continent. I did not want Kane near Gerald. Didn’t want him to breathe the same air, and I certainly didn’t want to create any drama.

“No, it’ll only make things a lot more complicated with Kane ‘The Devil’ Rhodes in the building,” I replied. Again, not a lie.

It was a blessing in disguise that Kane had let Brax convince him to go to some event that night. I knew part of it was him going crazy, being stuck in the city, unable to do anything dangerous. I didn’t like that Brax was involved, but it would keep Kane from the restaurant.

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