Page 67 of The Fighter

“Yeah.” I pulled back and surveyed the island. “What’s all this for?”

“I didn’t want you to cook today. I had my chef prepare a lot and bring it over.”

“A lot?” That was an understatement. There were various pasta dishes, a fish judging me with its dead eyeball, a whole chicken, some steak, and enough sides to last a week. “I think you overdid it.”

He bit his lip. “Yeah, I realize that now.”

I picked up a fork and swirled it into a pasta dish before stuffing it in my mouth, slurping what I couldn’t get in one bite. Sauce splattered near my eye. Con sighed immediately. “Tav, this is family style. So you put what you want on your own plate. And eat it off there. Yourownplate.”

I shrugged before digging into something cheesy. Were these potatoes? “But it’s just us.”

He stared at me for a moment before waving his white flag. “You know, you’re right. Whatever. Just eat.”

I grinned around the cheesy potatoes and settled onto a stool across from him. I kept eating, sampling from different dishes, but ignoring the fish who wouldn’t stop looking at me. I didn’t realize until I was nearly full that Con hadn’t moved. He hadn’t eaten. He still stood where I’d left him, staring at the plated food like it held the key to eternal youth.

I sat back and licked the tines of my fork. “Con.”

He didn’t respond, eyes unblinking.

I rapped my fork on the countertop. “Con.”

With a jerk, he glanced up, eyes finally focusing on me. “Yeah.”

Yeah?Con didn’t shorten words like that often. An uneasy feeling slid through my gut. “What’s going on with you?”

He ran his fingers through his hair, and I studied him more closely now. Lines bracketed his eyes, and he seemed paler than normal. His button-down shirt hung askew on his neck, one collar tip curled under. What the hell had happened while I slept? My overfull stomach rolled. “You okay?”

He leaned forward. “It’s not about me, it’s?—”

The ringtone of his phone pierced the air. It sat face down on the counter near Con’s hand. He rarely placed his phone face down. He snatched it up immediately, and I couldn’t see who was calling. “Yes.” He stood straight now, perfect posture, chin out, as if bracing for something. “Now? But you—” he closed his eyes and rubbed at his mouth. “Good. Your instincts are perfect as always.” Whoever was on the other line said something that made Con smile tightly. “I suspect we’ll be hearing from him soon. I’ll need to speak with her tonight.”Her who? “I’ll be in touch when we’re ready. “

He dropped the phone on the counter with a clatter and turned slowly to meet my gaze. “Where’s your phone?”

I patted my pockets, finding them empty. “Uh. Dunno?”

He marched around the counter. “Shit.” His bare feet pounded the tile floor as he searched the couch in front of the TV.

“I think it’s in the bedroom,” I said. He began to head that way. I spun on my stool with a frown. “Or maybe it’s in the gym?—”

“Fucking find it, Tav!” His shout made me rear back, but he didn’t see my reaction, because he was already down the hallway in the bedroom. I could hear him tossing things.

I rose from the stool slowly as alarm bells blared in my head. As I opened the gym door, I heard the distant jingle coming from my cell phone. It was on a weight bench, the screen lit with an incoming call. I grabbed it just as Con appeared in the doorway. His chest heaved. “Who is it?”

“Just Chen,” As Con opened his mouth to say something else, I answered the call. “Yeah?”

Speaker, Con mouthed, and I hit speaker phone just as a voice filled the gym. A voice that wasnotChen’s.

“Hussssssk,” Devlin hissed. “Oh Hussssk, where are you?”

My heart dropped into my feet. Con held my gaze, looking a lot less shocked than I felt. I blinked, “I’m at the hotel.”

“Oh no, you’re not.” Devlin was in a car. I could hear the engine revving. “Because I just left the motel where you’ve supposedly been staying. And now I know. You haven’t been there at all. You lied to me, Husk.” He inhaled sharply, and I braced. When he spoke, again, his voice elevated to a maniacal roar. “How fucking dare you lie to the man who owns you?”

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. My blood froze in my veins, and my lungs seized.

Amara. Amara and Holden.He was surely on his way to them now.He’d hurt them. He’d hurt them. He’d hurt them. He’d hurt them.

I could only stare at Con as guilt slammed into me, shame at enjoying the last week of this fantasy world where I could be happy all while my sister and nephew were in danger?—