Page 49 of Unfriend Me
I shouted back, probably for the first time ever. I wasn’t a shouter by nature. I talked calmly or used my fists. But dammit, she made me so angry.
“I will keep you safe, whether you want me to or not, come hell or high water!”
Amelia’s eyes went round, and the air froze around us. Her swallow was audible in the quiet room. After a long minute of us just staring at each other and breathing heavy, she glanced out the window, a furrow between her brows.
I couldn’t take this anymore. I never could handle Amelia and me being out of sorts. She yelled, I talked quietly, gave her space, and then we made up. Shouting at each other? That was just dumb.
“What are you doing?” I asked, exasperated.
Amelia still didn’t look away from the window. “Looking for the high water since Hell’s already here.”
That mouth of hers drove me absolutely crazy. Here we were in our first official fight as a couple and she was cracking jokes. She took a page out of my book. Using comedy to simmer the other person down.
I put a hand on her shoulder, stepping up behind her and pulling her close.
“We’ll get through this,” I whispered in her hair. “Together.”
20
Amelia
I’ve been angry a time or twenty in my life. I’ve even felt so angry that my vision turned a bit red around the edges and I’ve delivered a verbal blistering the other person wasn’t soon to forget. Mad and Amelia got along like chocolate and peanut butter. We were good by ourselves, but divinely inspired when mixed together.
Yesterday, though, I reached a new level of emotion: blind rage.
I saw Daire’s face and the bottom of my world dropped out. I heard his words about building a new hotel in town and the very essence of me grew to proportions not contained by the flimsy roof of Coffee. I grew so big and powerful in my rage I knew I could slay mere men and dragons with a simple glance. Justice would be mine or I’d die trying. I would bring revenge raining down on Daire’s unfairly gorgeous head before I left this earth and went to the real hell waiting for me beyond the curtain. It would become my new motivation for getting up in the morning. I’d change my name to Spite and live my life in its service. I’d burn shit down before Daire got away with snatching my dream out from under me. Hell, I’d already vandalized the town welcome sign. You really think I’d blink an eye at throwing some gasoline around and accidentally lighting a match? Watch it all burn, motherfucker.
And then Titus had gotten in my business and taken the punch I would have gladly shouldered if only to enrage me further and fan the flames of my revenge plan.Tituswas going to protectme?
Oh, sweet child of my youth. What a lovely thing to do, but absolutely no need. I could take care of myself. I’d proven over and over that I could do just fine on my own. Did sleeping with me mean I suddenly needed help from a man? I’d been handed some shit by males in my lifetime. I wasn’t going to take help from one now, no matter how much I loved him. This wasmyfight. Period.
Titus left last night with an unspoken and flimsy truce stretched between us. He wasn’t happy with me and I wasn’t happy with him. So there. We were even. He might have plans for swooping in on his white horse and protecting my honor, but he really shouldn’t. Because I had plans that didn’t include any honor, that’s for damn sure. Daire played dirty, but so did I. Don’t let the shiny badge on my daddy’s chest blind you from the truth about his daughter.
I put on my costume of war—black pants, black button-up shirt, stilettos that could kill a man with a jab to the chest, and a high ponytail—and hit the lobby of the hotel. I printed out a fresh copy of the dates a particularly loud guest of ours had visited the hotel. Then I printed out a document with the dates of all the new businesses that had gone into Auburn Hill the last few years. And then the coup de grâce.
A picture of the used condom from the last time that woman had come to visit and tore apart the hotel room.
I grimaced just looking at it. What kind of animal doesn’t dispose of their used condom appropriately? Putting that picture at the back of the stack, I stuck it all in a manila folder and headed out the door.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, Crystal. Hold down the fort.”
Crystal stood tall behind the front desk and saluted me. Far as I know, neither one of us had been in the military. My tone must have held some of my rage.
Keeping with the military theme, I marched right over to City Hall and blew right past the mayor’s secretary. She was a nice lady and I couldn’t let my burning inferno of rage singe her too. This was between me and the mayor.
“…have to do it as soon as possible—”
The heavy wood door banged against the opposite wall as I entered with a self-righteous flourish, startling Mayor Bennett. He whispered goodbye into the phone and put it down, jumping to his feet, eyes wide.
“Miss Waldo. To what do I owe the pl—”
I slammed the door closed behind me, cutting off his bullshit. “I’m not here for pleasantries, Mr. Bennett.”
Striding forward with bold confidence surging through my veins, I slapped the folder down on his desk. Up this close, I could see his dark eyebrows were starting to sport some gray hairs. The fine lines around his eyes didn’t detract from his handsome face. He may be the devil with a penchant for farm animal sex, but the man was damn good looking, more’s the pity. Interestingly, Rip, his son, had gotten all the good looks, but none of the devilry. Rip was as pure as sunshine like his mama, which was probably why the mayor had no use for him. Mr. Bennett only understood corruption. I was sure of it. So sure I was betting my entire revenge plan on him and his questionable activities.
“What’s all this nonsense, young lady?” The mayor’s eyebrows drew together in a scowl that might have made me waver on any given day. But not today, Satan.
I smiled and his frown faltered on the edges. “I think you’ll have some interest in what I have here in my folder.”
