Page 13 of Cold as Stone
“Besides,” Devil continues, “she’s exactly what this place needs. What this town needs. Someone who won’t roll over for Summit’s money.”
“You should have told me. We could have found another buyer?—”
“There was no other buyer who’d keep it as Devil’s. Who’d fight for it.” He steps closer. “That girl came back here for a reason, Lee. Maybe you should figure out what that reason is instead of trying to beat me for making a decision.”
I turn to find Kya standing in the doorway, arms crossed, eyes blazing.
“If you two are done discussing me like I’m not capable of making my own decisions, I have a bar to run.”
The anger in her voice cuts through my protective rage.Shit.This isn’t how I wanted this to go.
“Kya—”
“No.” She holds up a hand. “I get it. Your first instinct when you see me is to be pissed I’m here. Message received.”
“That’s not?—“
“I’ve got customers.”
She disappears inside, leaving me standing in the alley with Devil’s knowing look burning into my back.
“Fix it,” he says simply, then heads back inside.
I run my hands through my hair, frustrated. She doesn’t understand. How could she? She doesn’t know about the threats, the missing people, the real danger Summit poses.
When I finally go back inside, she’s behind the bar, purposely not looking at me. The hurt in her posture is obvious, and I hate that I put it there.
“Kya.”
“What can I get you?” Her tone is professionally cold.
I blow our a breath. “I’m sorry for being an ass. That’s not about you. It’s about Devil being an ass. Can we start over?”
She arches an eyebrow, staying silent.
I pull a fifty out of my wallet and stuff it in the tip jar. “How about now?”
She stares at me for a beat, a reluctant smile pulling at her lips. “Maybe. What do you want to drink?”
“Just give me a bottle of whatever your most expensive beer is.”
“Good choice. Money makes forgiving you a little easier.” She reaches down and pulls a foreign beer from one of the fridges, popping the lid before sliding it across the bar.
“Let me start again. How long you been back in town?” I ask, because I need to know how long I’ve been oblivious to the fact that Emma’s little friend grew up into… this.
“About a week.”
A week. She’s been here a week, and this is the first I’m hearing about it. In a town this size, that’s practically impossible unless someone’s been deliberately keeping it quiet.
“My mom died,” she says suddenly, like she can read the question in my eyes. “Car accident. I had to come back to deal with things.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. “Shit. Kya, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“There’s no reason you would have.” She shrugs, but there’s pain hiding behind the casual gesture. “She left me some money. And this opportunity came up.”
“So you decided to buy a bar?”
“It’s a good opportunity. Devil made me an offer, and… here we are.”
