Page 80 of Insurgent

“Atlanta,” he barks, clearly annoyed at me, like I am at him. He takes a seat on the barstool.

“Where’s Trig?” he says to Johnny.

“Said he wasn’t feeling well.”

He grabs his case of smokes from his front pocket. He lights one, looking over at me when I sit down at one of the tables. His hair is slicked back. He wears a black wool trench coat with a black tailored suit and thin tie. He’s handsome. I can’t stand him.

I wear a long black coat over a contemporary knee-length black dress, with three-quarter sleeves and a surplice V-neck. My eyes are swollen behind black shades, and my hair is pulled straight back into a ponytail. I skipped makeup, knowing I’d just cry it off. My skin is pale and chapped.

I’m a nightmare, while he’s a daydream.

I look at my fingernails, flicking one with the other as Mae walks in from the back.

“Drink anybody?” she asks.

“Whiskey,” Danny says. “Bex, you want anything?”

“Wine,” I say. “Red, please.” And it doesn’t go unnoticed that no matter how mad I make this man, he still goes out of his way to make sure I’m happy. A small ping of guilt resolves in my chest, but it doesn’t last long.

Mae prepares our drinks and Johnny gets up once they’re placed on the bar. “I’m heading home to pack some clothes. Be back shortly,” he says.

Danny nods, hitting his cigarillo. Grabbing his drink, he downs it. “Mae, give us some privacy, please.”

Mae looks from him to me, and then like a child throwing a tantrum, she tosses down her towel and leaves. I feel guilty. This is her home. She’s been here every day with him. I’m an intruder and yet, he tosses her out.

“Aren’t you going to grab your drink?” he asks me. I exhale and slide my chair out, walking over to the bar. I choose to sit a stool away from him. I lift my glass.

He smirks slightly at my distance. “We need to go get some things from your house. Clothes and whatever else you need.”

“How long will I be gone?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know anything?” I ask.

He looks over at me, not saying anything before he looks away. I taste a sip of my wine, enjoying the sweetness now on my tongue.

Danny reaches over and grabs the liquor bottle, pouring himself another. He picks up his glass. “To Samuel.”

I nod, not able to say those words. Silence is welcome and comfortable, but we’ve never been uneasy around one another. I remove my glasses, rubbing my eyes and sliding a hand over my head.

“This is the way things are going to go,” Danny says to me. “You’re going to stop with this attitude. You’re going to accept the situation we’re in, and you’re going to be grateful you have me to look out for you.”

Fire ignites inside my chest and I feel my cheeks redden. I laugh. “If you believe for one second I’m going to do any of that, then you’ll be sadly mistaken.” I down my drink and stand up, walking to the stairs, but he reaches and grabs my arm.

“You will do as you’re told, Bex,” he says.

I narrow my eyes at him. And for a split second, I see the man Danny has grown into. When we were younger and in love, I never for a moment thought he would hurt me. I still don’t, but I can see why he seems to be feared and why he demands respect. But it doesn’t mean he’s getting it from me. I yank from his touch. “I need to stop by the shop first. If we’re leaving town, then that’s non-negotiable.”

“Fine,” he says.

And then I turn to face him. “Now, let me tell you how this is going to go. I will follow your lead, simply because I’m clearly in danger. I will try to control my anger toward you and keep my attitude at bay. But I will not be grateful, for there isn’t a damn thing to be grateful for at this moment.

“Also, Danny O’Brien, you will not speak to me like I am one of your men. You do not pay me, and you do not, or have you ever, owned me.”

I can’t imagine what he would do if anyone else spoke to him the way I just did, but what does he do when I do it? He smiles. “Okay, Mrs. O’Brien. Let’s change and then we’ll go.”

Chapter Forty-Six

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