Page 9 of Captivated By Danger

“Fish, chicken, or shrimp?”

“Oh… um… I don’t know, chicken.”

She set the plate in front of me before moving on to the next table. When I looked at them, I felt nothing… not happiness, not sadness, not jealousy, not anything. I was blank on the inside. Both Kyle and Perris erased everything I thought I knew about family, love, and relationships. As everyone was digging in their plates, Perris stood, pulling Kyle up with her. His eyes danced around the room before landing on me. He offered me a weak smile before looking back down at his plate.

“We just wanted to make an announcement.”

Please, don’t be pregnant. Please don’t be pregnant.

I didn’t realize how tight I was gripping the knife until my dad rested his hand on top of mine.

“So, we know this is pretty early and won’t hold this against any of you if you can’t make it, but we have decided to move our wedding to…” She looked at Kyle and smiled. “May 1st.”

Kyle’s eyes widened before they immediately found me. When she noticed where he was looking, she tightened the grip on his arm, like she knew he was getting ready to come to me. My heart started racing and the roaring in my ears was louder than the applause going around the room. Tearing my eyes away from the pair, I glanced at my grandmother who had a smile on her face, staring ahead. My mother had a sympathetic look on her face and my father’s jaw was clenched tight. With shaky hands, I tried to pick up the glass of water but it slipped from my hand, thumping against the table. My stomach clenched and then a cramp shot right through down the middle. When my throat started to burn, I realized it was time for me to get out of there before I made a bigger fool of myself.

“Grey,” my dad called, but I ignored him.

Rushing out of the room, I stumbled my way to the bathroom into the last stall, slid down to the floor, and started to sob. I couldn’t believe that Kyle would take the last little bit of dignity I had left. My whole body was on fire. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Elle.

“Yeah,” she answered on the first ring.

“Can you come… come and get me?”

“Baby, I’m already outside, on my way in. You didn’t think that I’d let you go through this alone, did you?”

My only response was a loud cry. I’d kept the phone to my ear until she’d made it to the bathroom. Just like she’d been doing for the last three years, she sat on the bathroom floor with me, and let me cry.

TWO

DIESEL DANGER

Holding my hand out, I stopped both of my assistants from tackling the unruly woman in my kitchen. They’d been trying to calm her down for the last ten minutes. I was halfway to my office when they’d called and said that she wasn’t leaving, demanding that she see me before she burned my penthouse to the ground. Because I believed her, I turned around.

“Fuck you, Diesel Danger!”

She fast-balled the glass ornament toward me. I’d ducked just in time for the glass to miss my head, crashing against my window.

“Are you out of your mothafuckin’ mind?” I shouted over her screaming at the top of her lungs.

She snatched the cabinet open, grabbed a plate, and launched it at me like a frisbee. The plate was kind of heavy, so I was able to catch it, and set it on the table.

“Rachel,” I called her name calmly.

“Uuughh!” She huffed. “You came intomyfucking life two months ago, buying me shit! Fucking me good! Tricking on me! Got me up in this nice ass palace! Forcing me into this… this… this… whatever the fuck life this is, and you just think you can throw me out!”

“I’d appreciate it if—”

She picked up another glass and launched it at me. Her aim was way off this time.

“Rachel.”

She ignored me, reaching for another glass.

“Rozay. Mona.” I called my assistants.

When they moved closer to her, she realized what was about to happen, so she took off running through the house.

“Mona, go the other way!” Rozay ordered her.

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