Page 34 of Bound By Fate
She hadn’t seen me yet, but in assessing her, she didn’t have a good color to her skin. It was paler than normal with an ashy tone to it. Her eyes were tired and even drooped down a bit at the corners.
She swayed on her feet twice. Yes, I counted and didn’t like it one damn bit.
“Katie,” I called out, her head coming up and glassy eyes right to me. They were red rimmed, and the bags under her eyes would hold this entire grocery store. They were gray and angry.
“Hey,” she replied quietly and went back to ringing up the food. Once it was my turn, I stepped up close.
“Are you okay?” I asked, already assessing she wasn’t.
“Yeah.”
“Bullshit. You get your stuff. You’re goin’ home,” I ordered, meaning every word. She needed to rest, but knowing Katie, she was going to put up a fight.
“I can’t leave. I have two hours left on my shift.”
I turned around to the people behind me then to the last one. “You’re it. You tell anyone else who gets in this lane it’s closed.” The guy at the end nodded.
“Dryerson,” Katie snapped, a bit more of herself. “You can’t just order them to go somewhere else.”
The fuck I couldn’t. Watch me.
“Who the fuck are you?” a guy who was bagging groceries said to me. His tone immediately pissed me off and put him on radar.
“None of your fuckin’ business.”
He eyed me up and down. I took a step forward, ready to punch this guy out cold.
“Yeah, Katie’s my business,” he fired back. The man had a death wish.
“No, Katie isn’t your business. Because she’s mine. You touch her, fuck with her in any way, then this face will be in your nightmares.” I said this pointing to my face, wanting him to get a good look.
“You can’t threaten me.” The guy was seriously stupid. I could kill him with a flick of my hand, and he was still pushing it.
I turned to the people in line. “Did I threaten him?”
There were several grins and several ‘no’s’.
“Exactly.” I turned back to asshole guy.
“Dry, it’s okay,” Katie put in, but her words were hoarse like she had a sore throat.
“Fuck no, it’s not okay.”
Dismissing the guy, I went in search of the boss or manager who was in the office right off the side of the checkouts. It was a half wall and no glass. She was typing on the computer and turned to me with her brow raised.
“Katie’s goin’ home. She’s sick.”
The woman looked me up and down and grinned. “So you’re the man?” She stood, coming closer.
“Yeah, and she’s sick. I’m takin’ her home.”
The woman looked over my shoulder at Katie. “She’s gotten worse in the last half hour. I’ve been keeping an eye on her.”
“Well, the eye is over. She’s leavin’ with me.”
A small grimace came to her lips, and she paused as if she were thinking. “Danny has a thing for Katie.”
This caught my undivided attention. “Who the fuck is Danny?”
