Page 43 of Demon On Deck

“There’s more,” I say after a moment, anger quickly replacing my sorrow. “Matt is trying to get more money.”

Grey stiffens, pulling back with murder in his eyes. “That shithole squirrel dick is doing what now?”

A bubble of laughter erupts from me despite the rage now simmering.

“He came in a few weeks ago. He saw one of the floral displays in the grocery store. Naturally, all he saw was dollar signs. He accused me of hiding money from him during the divorce proceedings. He’s trying to take me back to court for spousal support, and” I grit my teeth so hard I think they’ll crack, “threatened to place a lien against the shop because he’s entitled to part of that income.”

Grey’s face transforms from outraged to something savage, his eyes narrowing viciously. The fierce loyalty in his expression warms the place where my heart used to reside. Just like Mel, Grey would go to battle for me, and I am so grateful to them both.

“That fucker. Squirrel dick is too good for him. Fucking parasitic amoeba. Hiding income? Seriously. Gold digging bitch baby. What you ever saw in that shitbird I will never understand.”

I shrug as he releases his grip on my shoulders. “I’m sure that, in the beginning, he had some good qualities. Something I thought I loved. But looking back? It was all a very well-placed mask to hide his money-grubbing ambitions. Unfortunately, those ambitions are doing nothing but continuing to cause me grief.”

Grey nods grimly, resuming his work. “So… do you have to go to court?”

Another soul-crushing sigh that seems to be my signature trademark today escapes me. I rub my aching chest and grab my own oasis and basket to start working on.

“I’ve been speaking to my lawyer. She’s confident that we can prove that I wasn’t hiding any income during the divorce. She has some ideas about how to show my finances that she thinks will be proof enough. Hopefully, based on that and the contract dates for the grocery stores, she believes he won’t have any grounds for a lien. It’s just that the legal fees are so expensive.”

He’s silent, stripping thorns from brilliant colored roses. “And if he does manage to use his weaselly charm to get a judge to approve the lien?” His tone is light, casual, but I can hear the worry.

I set down my shears and turn to him, crossing my arms. “Then everything is in jeopardy, including both our jobs. But I’ll fight it until I have no funds left to fight. I’d rather close and start over than let that asshole have even a nail from the wall of this place.”

Matt took too much from me during our marriage and divorce already. But robbing me of my happiness with Evren is something I’ll never get over.

Grey straightens, jaw tight. “So we fight the micro dick.”

Another much-needed laugh crosses my lips. ”We fight the micro dick.”

Chapter 15

Absence Makes the Mate Bond Grow…Feral?

EVREN

Iwatch from my parked car as Kallie hauls a trash bag half her size to the dumpster behind Bloomhaus. Laying eyes on her for the first time in a week dulls the throbbing ache in my chest by a fraction.

I needed to see her. See that she was okay. Even if I’m slowly dying, as long as I can see her and know she’s okay, I can wither away to nothing.

Every day since the day she told me to leave, I’ve looked for her. The first day, I fought every instinct to drive to her house and demand we talk. I knew her too well. My sweet, stubborn mate would refuse, under the misguided belief that she’s protecting me from the legal mess her fuckwad ex-husband created. Her need to rebuild and reclaim herself is driving her to push me away instead of letting me in.

No, going there and making demands would serve me no purpose; it’d only drive her further away. Instead of caving in to my demonic instinct, I decided to drown myself in a mixture of vodka and bourbon while binge eating every unhealthy food I could get my hands on. With every passing hour, the ache in my chest that formed the moment she asked me to leave got worse. The need to be with my mate was riding me hard.

Day two, I drove to Bloomhaus just to make sure she was okay. But she wasn’t there. So I drove by her house. Her car was there, and as I drove by, I caught sight of Mel heading inside. Though I was relieved she wasn’t alone, my demon instinct raged that I wasn’t the one comforting her. I drove past a few more times that day, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but never did.

Sleep eluded me those first two days. My hope was that going to work would be the distraction I needed.

Oh, how epically fucking wrong I had been.

Every day brought a new wave of hellish problems.

First, I made an acquisitions transfer for the wrong client. That meant calling several people to get the transaction reversed and two very expensive apology gifts to the affected clients. I spilled my coffee on my computer, frying it beyond use. My aggressive tone is keeping everyone in the office as far away from me as possible.

And every chance I get, I excuse myself from the office to go park down the street from Kallie’s house in the hopes of catching a glimpse of my mate. Which has resulted in not one but three meetings that I was late to and had to reschedule.

When I ran into my friend Augustus, a local EMT and vampire with dietary challenges, while grabbing dinner from a local pizzeria, he looked at me with concern etched on his face.

“You look as blue as, well, me,” he said dryly.