Page 25 of A Fine Line

Dare smiles at me, then pushes himself off the wall and walks over to stand in front of me. “I was hoping you would say that. But I also didn’t want you to get blindsided by him. He can come on pretty intense sometimes, but he means well.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

Darius nods, then reaches out and pulls me closer to him by my upper arms. He wraps his arms around me, hugging me while I stand there stiffly, genuinely perplexed by what the fuck is going on when the door opens, and Antoinette asks, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Darius doesn’t release me, but he turns his body so he can look at her as he says, “She looked like she could use a hug.”

Antoinette giggles as she enters the room and walks over to us. “Really? Because it doesn’t look like she’s a willing participant in this hug.”

He squeezes me tighter, jostling me around a little until my arms come up to his sides. I half-heartedly give him a little pat, and he says, “See. It’s working.”

Antoinette laughs again, the easy-going sound allowing me to relax a bit, and finally, he releases me. She steps closer, the fond expression on her face directed at him as she shakes her head. “Have you lost your mind?”

“No. You told me I need to start being more mindful and considerate of the needs of others, so that’s what I was doing.” He shrugs.

Antoinette turns her smile on me, then leans in, knocking her shoulder against mine. “Sometimes, he misses the mark, but what’s a girl to do?”

“Well, I appreciate the sentiment.” I return her smile, then the three of us make our way across the room, exiting out into the main of the building. A bunch of people are milling around, but the beaten man is no longer on the floor, and there’s no sign of Anton or Tony.

“Where did they go?” I ask Antoinette since she was the last one out there.

“They took him downstairs. I was coming to see if you two want to watch or not.”

Darius perks up beside me, a bit of a pep in his step as we walk across the room, and he says, “You know I want to. Where are we going?”

She jabs him with her elbow. “Obviously, you do. I meant Carolina,” she says, then turns to me. “You don’t have to watch, but if you want to hear what he has to say, you’re welcome to. And if you want to be the one to end him, you’re also welcome to do that.”

“Is there a way for me to watch without him seeing me?”

“We can gouge out his eyes…” Darius says with a certain level of eagerness that should be disconcerting.

“How about something less bloody?”

“Boring,” Darius replies, his lip curling in distaste.

Antoinette gives him a patient look and then turns back to me and says, “Yes. There’s a two-way mirror in the room they have him in.”

“Tony down there already?” Darius asks as he looks around the room.

“He’s down there, but he’s not in the room yet. He’s waiting for you.”

“So, it’s like that, then?”

“Oh, yeah,” Antoinette answers emphatically. “It’s like all that I’ve never seen from him before, so he’s your problem.”

Darius turns back to her and leans down, nuzzling her cheek before placing a soft kiss on her brow. “Don’t worry, baby girl. I got it.”

“Oh, I have no doubt. I’ll stay in the other room with Carolina, so if she feels she needs to escape, she can. I don’t think they’re going to need any more bloodthirsty, unhinged maniacs in the room anyway.”

Darius frowns at her. “You gonna start with the unhinged thing again?”

She smiles saucily, then turns and flounces away, leaving us to follow her. Darius follows a little more closely than necessary, and I hear him murmur, “Oh, my little minx wants to play, huh?”

She winks at him over her shoulder but doesn’t say anything. The growling laugh he directs at her has me shaking my head. “Good to know you two are still disgusting.”

This makes Antoinette laugh, and she smirks at me knowingly as she opens the door and indicates for me to proceed her down the stairs. Then, from behind me, she says, “Someday, Carolina, I have a feeling you’ll be disgusting, too.”

“That’ll be the fucking day.”

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