Page 39 of Operation Annulment
“Say it, Kate. You’ll just combust if you don’t.”
I glare at him. “I would not. I’m just a little confused about why you’re here.” I look around the room. “And where is my sister?”
“Right here. Sorry, I was in the shower.” Dakota’s hunched over, running a towel through her wet hair. When she stands up to face me, I gasp.
Her nose is covered in a bandage; black and blue bruises peek from underneath. Her eyes are swollen and bruised as well. It looks like she was beaten.
She gives me a confused look. “What? What’s wrong?”
I point at her. “Your face! What happened?” I spin around to Zane. “Did you do this to her?”
She starts laughing. “Kate, Big Guy would never do anything to hurt me?—”
It’s my turn to laugh. “Really? So, him having you arrested and charged with drug possession was just an expression of love. Look, I know that trauma can make things murky, but this man?—”
She puts her hand over my mouth. “This man is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Zane beams with pride, and I want to kick him in the shin. Jeremy wanders back in with two beers and takes a seat next to him on the couch. “What’d I miss?”
Zane leans over to him. “Nothing. Cap’s getting to the good part right now.”
I turn back to Dakota and shake my head.
“No, Mary Katherine, don’t you dare shake your head at me. You’re going to listen to everything damn thing I have to say. Sit.” She pushes me into the chair and continues, “Do you remember Jackson?”
I roll my eyes and mutter, “Of course, I remember Jackson.”
She smiles. “Good. That would have been a headache to have to rehash. So Jackson showed up at the gym last night and insisted I get in the car with him—something about Zane, I think. Anywho, so I got in the car, and it was a setup. He admitted that he was behind my arrest. He took me to his warehouse but wasn’t counting on the fact that he was dealing with a woman who possessed the training of Black Widow. I disarmed Bill just as Zane showed up to ‘rescue me.’ I didn’t need a hero, though?—”
Zane clears his throat. “There you go again with the air quotes, babe. I thought we talked about that.”
She purses her lips. “Yeah…right. Sorry. Zane showed up to interfere, and he got shot in the skirmish. It was a big skirmish—guns blazing. If I hadn’t been there?—”
“Dakota shot me, Kate,” Zane says dryly.
“That’s not been proven, Big Guy.” Dakota places her hands on her hips in mock anger, and I’m glad I’m sitting down.
My head is a fishbowl of nonsensical information right now. Dakota’s ex-fiancé kidnapped her and was the mastermind behind her arrest. The guy was barely capable of tying his shoes on his own.
“Was this part of your whole‘A girl needs a name’plot? Did you shoot him because he was on your list?” My head hurts as I try to figure it all out.
“You had my name on a list, babe?” Zane stands up and comes over to her.
She nods. “Yeah, but that was before I had all the facts.”
He leans down and kisses her on the nose. “I’m honored that I made your vengeance list.”
I close my eyes and shake my head. Maybe I’ll shake loose something that explains what I’m seeing because this is unbelievable. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen in real life.
“So Dakota, you shot Zane—but who broke your nose?” Jeremy takes a casual sip from his beer as he reclines on the couch, one ankle crossed over his knee. As if gunfights and drug deals are everyday topics ofconversation.
Her eyes light up. “Right, I can’t believe I left that part out. I broke my own nose. Jackson got to waving the gun around like a moron, and I stumbled over my own two feet. I made close friends with the gravel.”
Jeremy nods and takes another drink.
Maybe I need a drink to make sense of all of this. I leave the three in the living room and walk into the kitchen. My mother and Little Ricky are sitting at the kitchen table, watching something on his phone. A bowl of cereal sits in front of him.
He laughs and takes a big bite before noticing me. “Holy shit, Hail Mary. I thought I heard you in there. How’s it hanging?”
