Page 80 of Forever By Morning

“Hurt her and I’ll rip your lungs out.” He slapped me on the shoulder.

I swallowed a groan. Had to be the shoulder I fell on. Goddamn him.

“Now let’s go clean up before Kira skins us both.”

“Yeah.” I was not looking forward to that conversation.

Or the one I’d need to have with Helena as well. But that would wait a bit.

Maybe until oh, June.

Chapter18

Helena

Bathroom Confessional

I stalked through the taproom and saw a sign for the bathrooms. Quickly, I ducked inside to collect myself.

“Helena, wait.”

My shoulders immediately went up toward my ears.

Could it be anyone other thanher?

Of course not.

I didn’t answer, just let the door swing shut behind me. I went right to the sinks and turned on the tap, letting the cold water flow over my wrists.

“Does that help?”

I sighed and looked up in the mirror to catch Kira’s gaze in the reflection. “Sometimes.”

“Is it working now?”

“I’ll tell you when my system recalibrates, and I no longer want to smash in a certain idiot’s face.” Surprised at my own words, my gaze darted back down to the sink.

What the heck had gotten into me? First, I’d actually yelled at Beckett. Not that they weren’t acting like children, but it still wasn’t like me.

And I still couldn’t get over the fact that Kain was here in Central New York.

Kira walked over to lean against the wall at the end of the trio of sinks. The room was jet black tile with matching enamel sinks and classy brass hardware. This bathroom could’ve been in any nightclub in Manhattan, to be honest.

“I like your taproom.”

She crossed her arms, one eyebrow raised. “Is that what we’re doing here? Making nicey-nice?”

I’d been built for niceties. I’d been trained since childhood how to deal with small talk and how to make it effortless. Now I just felt stupid and out of my element. “Well, it is lovely,” I muttered.

Kira laughed. “I appreciate it.” She looked around. “I actually picked out the black. It’s a bitch to keep looking clean, but it’s worth it. Beckett thought I was crazy when I asked to paint the ceilings black with the wrought iron.”

“I probably would have stayed safe with white. But I stay safe a lot.”

Dear God, I needed to shut my mouth.

“Hopping on Beck’s horse wasn’t exactly safe.”

I looked up, surprised she knew about it. “Were you at the wedding?”

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