Page 150 of Carnal Urges
After a thoughtful moment, she becomes completely calm. “Yes. How awful. Do you have any cyanide in the house, by chance? If this is what love feels like, I’d like to kill myself immediately.”
I wave that off because she’s only being dramatic, and drama is her middle name. “But, if you’re in love with him… why are you here?”
Her silence seems oddly fraught. “What did Kage tell you?”
“Only that Declan called and said he was bringing you back. I was too busy having a mental breakdown to get into the particulars. Why?”
She sits up abruptly and looks at me. “You know I love you, right?”
I blink. “Okay, you’re really starting to freak me out now.”
She takes my hands and squeezes them. “Just listen for a sec.” She draws a breath, releases it slowly, closes her eyes. “This thing…” She pauses for a hiccup, then starts over. “This thing with me and Declan is complicated. His life is complicated.”
I say drily, “Tell me about it. Loving a criminal isn’t exactly a walk in the park. The amount of gunfire you have to get used to is ridiculous.”
Sloane opens her eyes and gives me the strangest look. One I’ve never seen before, like she’s trying to decide what to say.
Or what not to say.
“No matter what happens, I want you to know that you’re my best friend, and I love you. No one and nothing will ever come between us.”
I wrinkle my forehead. “Is this about the baby?”
“There’s no baby.”
“You’re not pregnant?”
“No.”
“I’m very confused.”
“I’m here because Declan needed to take care of some business, and it wasn’t safe for me to be around him while he did.”
With a deep sense of surprise, I realize what she’s saying. “But he thought you’d be safe with Kage?”
“Yes. Well, sort of.” She winces. “Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“So uncomplicate it for me.”
She exhales a slow breath, then murmurs regretfully, “I can’t.”
Now I’m even more confused. “Did he give you an ultimatum? Like it was him or me or something?”
“No. He said he’d never make me choose.” She looks down at our hands. Her voice softens. “But he thought you might.”
I say vehemently, “No way.”
When she glances up at me, I insist, “No damn way, Sloane. I don’t care whose dick you’re sucking, you’ll always be my best friend.”
After a beat of silence, she drops her head to our joined hands and dissolves into laughter.
I make a face at the top of her head. “I’m glad one of us thinks this is funny.”
She raises her head and grins at me. “If I didn’t laugh, babe, I’d have to shoot myself.”
Kage returns from the kitchen with two tumblers of whiskey. When he hands them to us, I say, “Honey, what did Declan tell you when he called you about why he was bringing Sloane back?”
He answers without hesitation. “That he had to take care of some business, and it wasn’t safe for her to be around.”
