Page 72 of Stay Toxic

“Can you get us some food, quick? She has to be back at the conference center down the road in thirty minutes,” Shasha ordered.

“Sure.” He looked at me. “Go to the reserved table.”

Shasha didn’t ask for directions, instead taking me to a table in the back of the room that had no chairs around it.

I stood there, wondering how we were supposed to sit down and eat, when a kid came out from the back with two chairs.

He handed them over and left.

Shasha sat down, and I was forced to let him go.

The moment I did, I went to the bathroom to take care of my leaking problem.

When I got back, I took a seat at the opposite end of the table and said, “This is a cool place. I’m guessing it’s really good.”

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “Hence the line.”

I sighed. “You don’t have to be so grumpy all the time, Shasha.”

“You’re going to end up killed,” he told me bluntly. “I have a dangerous life,Kisa.”

Kisa.

Kitten.

Shit, that was sweet.

I wondered if he knew that I was taking it in a sweet way, and not in an insulting way—which was likely how he’d wanted it to sound.

“I’m an adult.” I shrugged. “You’re gonna die no matter what. Your way out of this life is already set in stone. Haven’t you seenFinal Destination? You can’t escape fate.”

He studied me for a long moment.

So long, in fact, that I was about to start wriggling in my seat under the scrutiny of his face when a woman cleared her throat next to me.

“Hey.” The woman, Addy, smiled. “I thought you were going to that egg place across the street?”

“I tried, but they weren’t serving any food,” I admitted. “So my man here decided we’d come here.”

Addy handled the introductions with the men who shook hands with each other.

Tiago and Shasha were studying each other intently.

“Do you think that they have videos in hidden places in that building?” Addy asked, clearly wondering if she should be worried about her husband getting arrested for pulling a fire alarm.

“No,” Shasha answered. “The whole place is outdated. They’re talking about doing a complete overhaul this coming summer because of so many wiring and flooding issues. The cameras they do have only face more populated areas.”

“How do you know that?” Addy asked.

“Because we do a lot of business there.” Shasha shrugged.

For that particular reason, I’d be willing to bet. It allowed him to have privacy for his nefarious activities.

Kettle tightened his arm around his wife’s hips and said, “Enjoy your lunch.”

He pulled his wife away, and I turned to watch them go before returning to my previous position and said, “What’s his problem?”

“He’s sane,” Shasha said. “You’re the one that doesn’t react right.”

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