Page 37 of Bent Out of Shade
“Yes. Again, thank you and my apologies.” I hung up, leaning into Laurent’s touch at the small of my back. “How could she be so stupid?”
“She’s young.”
“I’m sorry our date turned into this disaster.” I scarfed down the roll.
“Are you kidding? Your exit was the high point of the meal. Allons-y.”
He led me to his truck, but once we were on our way, my fury left me in a whoosh, and I clasped my trembling hands in my lap.
“Even if no one touched her, there are things that happen in Blood Alley that my sixteen-year-old is too young for.” Like many her age, Sadie had likely seen porn, but Blood Alley sold desire, honed to a dark sensuality that enticed as much as it unsettled. She was too young to parse its complex nuances.
“Wait to discuss it with Sadie,” Laurent said, hitting the gas through a yellow light. “My bet is they didn’t get very far inside before they were caught. The Lonestars give BatKian a lot of leeway, but hosting minors is another matter entirely.”
“Okay.” I stared out the window at the city slipping by, my stomach in knots. My daughter could be super snarky, but she’d never gone through a rebellious phase. She’d never been openly defiant like this. “Sadie hasn’t cared about impressing other kids before. Well, not to the extent of doing something stupid. Of all the things I’ve worried about with her magic, this wasn’t one of them.” I buried my head in my hands with a groan. “And she pulled Romi’s niece into this.” How many irate parents was I going to get calls from?
As distraught as I was, I was also secretly relieved that this date from hell was over.
Laurent’s expression was inscrutable, so it was hard to say whether he shared my feelings.
Just like that, my earlier set of worries about tonight breaking us came roaring back, fighting with my anxiety over Sadie’s actions like two teams in a tug-of-war vying for first place. Could this night get any worse? No, wait, don’t answer that, universe.
Since my house was between the restaurant and Blood Alley, Laurent took me home to get my car. He idled the truck at the curb. “You’re sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“God no. I mean, I need to talk to Sadie on my own.”
“Right.” He pulled off his tie and tossed it in the back. “Call me?”
He’d brought me wildflowers and taken me to what he’d believed would be a wonderful meal. It wasn’t his fault this date had gone sideways.
“Actually, would you mind helping me with something?” We kicked butt as a team. Maybe that was our way through this awkwardness.
“Of course. What?”
“Giulia has this poison ring and—”
Laurent’s face lit up. “I was very clever, non? My olive branch for the strain between us.”
A strain that was my fault, but that’s not why my face scrunched up in horror. That ring was the one thing that Nora the raven shifter had agreed to accept in trade. A trade that would hopefully buy me information about McMurtry’s killer—the same being who either murdered my parents or was tied to whomever had.
Giulia would never give up this ring if Laurent had given it to her, nor could I ask him to sweet-talk her into handing it over like I’d planned.
“You don’t think it was a good idea?” Laurent frowned. “You think she was offended? It was rumored to be one of Lucrezia Borgia’s, and I thought Giulia would love the Italian history behind it.”
“It’s perfect for her.” Too perfect for that bloodthirsty gargoyle cat. “I, uh, was wondering where you got it. There’s someone else who was hinting at it for a gift.” I mentally crossed my fingers that there was a duplicate.
He shook his head. “It’s the only one of Lucrezia’s that’s surfaced in years.”
It was official. I’d moved from “I can’t see how this night can get worse” to “Wow, and yet somehow it did.”
I opened the door. “Thanks for dinner.”
He laughed, the sound full and rich. “That’s like thanking the Wise Brothers for their lovely parting gifts.”
I side-eyed him. “Yet it’s funny?”
“Yes, Mitzi. That was hands down one of the worst dates ever, and I still enjoyed it because I was with you.”
The Laurent of my initial acquaintance would not have seen the humor. He would have used tonight as a whip with which to flagellate himself.
