Page 77 of Implode

“You are something else,” she mutters under her breath. “I swear you make every nerve in my body cranky.”

“Here’s your delivery,” the worker says, passing me a huge bag from the cafe just a block away.

I hand over the money and sheepishly smile at Claire. I don’t know how I can get into her good graces again, but I know it starts on a full stomach. Nothing good can come from this if she is hungry.

“You are so presumptuous,” she grinds out.

“You are giving me way too much credit.”

“Am I?”

“I am simply hungry, and I hate eating alone,” I say with a smile. “Should we eat out here in the hall or inside your place?”

“You are beyond any words I can even come up with,” she huffs.

“So, will you eat dinner with me?” I ask like a teenager waiting to hear back a response to prom.

“Not like I have a choice.”

“You really don’t.” I mean for my words to come out like a joke to lighten the mood, but just from Claire’s stance, I know she is fuming and still ready to fight.

I manage to get us through the door of her apartment so we aren’t continuing to share our dirty laundry with the entire hallway of tenants to hear. I serve up the food, and we eat at her kitchen counter because her place is too small to really enjoy it elsewhere.

I want to talk and ask her about her day, but I know she is going through the motions just to appease me. I feel like I’m not even in the room. We eat in silence, and I sneak glances at her to see if her reaction has changed with some food in her belly. Nope.

“Tell me why you’re mad,” I challenge. “Say the words.”

“How can you be this obtuse?”

“I just want you to be real with me.”

“You bugged my phone and my car,” she says bluntly.

“I did,” I admit, causing her to openly gawk at me. “Were you expecting me to deny it?”

“I braced myself for you to lie some more about it, yes.”

“You saw what happened with Angie last year. You are her best friend. How could you not expect me to make sure you were safe and that if something were to happen, I would be able to find you? It started out being a favor to Graham to make sure both you and she were safe. Then it became my number one priority for my own personal reasons.”

“Why not tell me? You violated my privacy and made it impossible to trust you again. Sure, we can be civil. I mean, we work together, my best friend is now going to be your family, and we both have wedding traditions to adhere to. I won’tnottalk to you, but the truth is we are lousy for each other. I can’t do toxic right now.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you. I’m not sorry for actually doing it. If I had asked for your permission months ago to keep a tracker on you, would you have agreed?”

“Hell, no.”

“This is my exact point, Claire.” I sigh. “When you surround yourself with someone as lucrative and influential as my brother is, then you need to accept the added protective measures we push on those we care about. It’s a part of the whole picture.”

“You had ample opportunity to share this information with me, yet you took it upon yourself to do whatever you want. You think rules don’t apply to you. That code may work for Angie and Graham, but I am different.”

“I was wrong. But you are wrong too.” I watch as Claire frowns, and I can tell I hit a sore spot. I didn’t come here to make her sad. Instead, I came here to see why she is sad. “You are holding something back from me, and no matter how hard I try at giving you space, I need to know what it is so we can move past it. Please. Trust me enough to confide in me.”

“I…”

“Oh, baby girl, don’t cry.” I move closer to her and wipe away her tears. Claire’s swollen eyes look up at me, and they are so stained with redness that I break a little inside. She seems emotionally battered and torn, and there isn’t anything I want to do right now other than hold her to me. “Come here. Tell me what you need right now, at this very moment.”

“Just hold me,” she says with a quivering voice.

“Okay,” I easily comply, wrapping my arms around her slender waist.

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