Page 120 of Slumming It
Reese gave it some thought. "Him with her? Or her with him?"
I stared in confusion. "Honestly, I'm not sure what you mean."
"Did he look angry?"
I considered the question. Mostly, Cameron Slade had looked cool and collected, even as he'd goaded my sister into madness.But angry?I shook my head. "Not particularly."
Reese shrugged. "Well there ya go. If he hated her, you would've known. And that goes double for your sister."
"Why double?"
"Becauseyou, he won't mess with."
"Why not?"
He smiled. "Because he'd have to mess withme."
His meaning was clear, and I was obscenely flattered, especially when I recalled that Cameron Slade had been surprisingly pleasant to me personally even after things had gotten so heated with Vivian.
But flattered or not, I was still concerned for my sister. "What are you saying? That he'll mess withher?"
"Nah, he might yank her chain a little, but he won't abuse her if that's what you're wondering."
I had already seen firsthand what Reese meant by yanking her chain, but I'd also seen that Vivian wasn't one to be cowed. So maybe Reese was right. Still, I felt compelled to ask, "Are you sure she'll be safe?"
"A hundred percent." Reese grew serious. "I trust Slade with my life – and your sister's, too. She'll be in good hands, I promise."
Finally, I felt some of the tension ease. "Then I guess it's a good thing you didn't kill him, huh?" When Reese responded with nothing but a blank look, I explained, "You know…like you said in that text?"
Finally he smiled. "Who says I didn't?"
"Youdid," I laughed. "Unless my sister's going to be mentored by a corpse. But seriously, why'd he come all this way to see you? Did he say?"
With a low scoff, Reese replied, "Trust me, he said plenty."
"About what?" But then I realized. "Oh. You mean about us, don't you?"
"That and other things."
I almost groaned out loud. "Oh, no. He didn't do one of those intervention things, did he?"
"Not quite." But then Reese paused. "Unless you mean an intervention of one."
I could practically see it – Cameron Slade demanding to know why his billionaire partner would hook up with a lowly waitress. In truth, I was kind of wondering that myself. "So, what did you tell him?"
"Mostly to mind his own business."
I doubted it was that simple. More likely Reese was trying to spare my feelings. A few days ago, the idea would have been laughable. But today, I was seeing a lot of things differently.
And now, I was more curious than ever. "So I know why Slade came to town. But what about you? You never did say."
"You want the old reason? Or the new one?"
I laughed. "What, I can't have both?
"Screw the past," he said. "Lemme tell you why I'm here now."
It would have been so easy to let it slide, but I had the distinct impression that he was hiding something, and I refused to bethatgirl – the one who closed her eyes and prayed for the best. "Does that mean you're not gonna tell me?"
