Chapter Six

Chapter SixSluggishly entering my kitchen the next morning, I blinked in surprise at the sight of Judy sitting at my table wearing a shit-eating grin. Not a usual occurrence. My brain was far too sleep-addled and caffeine-deprived to properly compute the whole shit-eating grin part.“Good morning, darlin’,” she greeted brightly. “There’s coffee in the pot waiting for you.”“Uh, thanks.” I crossed to the pot, took a mug from the cupboard above it, and then poured coffee into the cup. Conscious of her watching me while still grinning like a fool, I turned to her as I sipped my drink. “Everything okay?”“More than okay,” she assured me, uncharacteristically perky.I eyed her for a long moment. “All right.” I thrust a hand through my bed-head as I made a slow beeline for one of the cupboards. Opening the door, I reached for a box of cereal. “Want something to eat?”“No thanks, I’ve had breakfast already. I just thought I’d come sit with you so we could have a, you know, girly chat.”A girly chat? Since when did we have those? Taking another sip of coffee, I stared at her. “Why are you being weird?”“Weird?” she echoed, all innocence.“Yes. Weird.” I set the cereal box and mug on the counter. “Seriously, what’s going on?”“I could ask you the same thing.”I rubbed at my eyebrow. “Grams, I am in no state to play guessing games. I haven’t had enough caffeine yet.”She only let out a “hmm” sound, still beaming.I gave a little shake of the head and then grabbed a bowl from a nearby cupboard.She watched me with a smile as I poured cereal and then milk into the bowl. “I went to bed early last night,” she said, her voice casual. “Didn’t have the greatest sleep, though.”Returning the milk carton to the fridge, I asked, “Did Sushi keep waking you up again?”“No, she chose to sleep in the tumble drier last night—don’t worry, it wasn’t switched on or anything. Anyway … I woke at a stupid hour because I heard a car outside. Imagine my surprise when I came out of my wing to see who our late-night visitor was only to hear you talking to Kaiser Wolfe.”Ah, hell. With an inward sigh of annoyance, I settled at the table opposite her with both my coffee and bowl.“I couldn’t hear exactly what was being said,” she continued. “I didn’t dare get closer—I worried he’d leave if he thought you had a kinky voyeur for a grandmother. So I went on back to my wing, figuring you could enlighten me in the morning. Want to tell me what brought him here?”Nope, not at all. I hadn’t told her anything about the Vault. Not that she’d judge what went on there. No, on the contrary, she’d be highly intrigued. Nosy as she was, she’d also be hungry for specifics. Then I’d have to deal with all kinds of uncomfortable questions, not to mention constantly be hit with “What room did you play in tonight?” each time I got home from the club.I’d rather not have those conversations with my little old grandmother, just as I’d rather not explain my arrangement with Kaiser. The problem was … she was a terrific lie detector. It was rare that I managed to get a fib past her.“Well?” she prompted.Shifting in my seat, I spooned some cereal. “He wanted to talk to me, that’s all.”“Really?”“Yup.”“About what?”I hesitated. “Music.” I shoved some cereal into my mouth. “He wanted my opinion on some lyrics.”“That so?” she asked, clearly doubtful.“Yes. That is so.”She pursed her lips, squinting. “Hmm, I thought you two weren’t well-acquainted.”“We’re not.”“Then why would he come to you for an opinion?” she challenged. “Especially at such a late hour?”“You’d have to ask him.”She nodded. “I can do that.”“No,” I blurted out, dropping my spoon into the bowl. “No, no, you can’t. You need to leave the man be.”“Then perhaps you’d better cough up the truth.”I exhaled heavily. “You do realize that this is none of your business, right?”“And what does that have to do with anything?”I rolled my eyes. “Can’t you just let this go?”“No way. It’s too juicy.”Cursing under my breath, I picked up my spoon. “What you really want to know is if we had sex last night, right? Well, the answer is no.”Her brow furrowed. “Why else would you invite him over here?”“I didn’t invite him, he just showed up.”“And you let him in, when you bring very few into your sanctuary. Odd. As is the fact that he was so sure he’d be welcome. But not so odd if you’ve been spending time with him elsewhere lately.” She grinned a-freaking-gain. “You have, haven’t you?”I scooped some cereal onto my spoon. “Look, Grams—”“Don’t bother to deny it, missy. It’s obvious that he’s no virtual stranger to you anymore. Be honest, you two havebeen sneaking around doing the dirty.”“There was no sneaking.”“But you have beendoing the dirty, right?” It wasn’t really a question, it was a confident statement that dared me to lie.I chewed on my cereal, thinking once again that I really needed to throttle her. “Yes, okay? Yes, we have. And I’m asking you not to make a big deal out of it.”Her dancing eyes widened. “Out of what? That, for the first time ever, you had a man over here for a late-night boogie? Now why would that be a big deal?”I felt my brow crease. “A late-night what?”“You know what I mean.” She leaned forward. “Is he good in the sack?”“Grams, I am absolutely not having this con—Would you wipe that smirk off your face, please?”“How can I not smirk when you two are humping like bunnies, just like I predicted?” She clasped her hands together, excited. “Where do you think he’ll propose? A restaurant, maybe, or—”“See, this is why I didn’t tell you about it.” I dumped my spoon back in my bowl. “I knew you’d blow it all out of proportion.”“I doubt I’m the only one blowing things, if you catch my meaning.”I groaned and picked up my mug. “Do you have to do this to me?”“Of course not, but an old lady has to get her kicks somehow.” Her eyes lit up. “Ooh, you should invite him here for dinner one night.”“No.”“I can do it if you’re too shy.”“No.”“But it’s a good idea for me to get to know him, since he’ll soon be proposing marriage to my granddaughter.”“He’s not gonna propose anything other than maybe getting a restraining order against you if you go near his home again.”Judy huffed. “You’ll soon see that I’m right.”I gave a quick, dismissive shake of the head. “You’re wacked, woman. Accept it.” I sipped at my drink. “Now on another note, I’m heading to Gloria’s store in a little while to grab a few things, do you need anything from there?”She hummed. “We could do with some bird feed.”“We don’t have birds.”“But we need seeds so the wild ones will hang around the backyard. The cats need something to play with.”I frowned. “I’m not helping you lure birds to our yard and, essentially, their death.”“Do you really want the cats to be bored?”“I can’t see why they’d be bored—they have toys all over the damn house.”“They prefer ones that are alive.”“Well, that’s their problem.”She shot me a distinctly unimpressed look. “I would have thought you’d be more agreeable now that you and Kaiser are regularly taking trips to pound town.”“What?”“It means—”“I know what it means. I just don’t want to hear you say it.”Rolling her eyes, she pushed out of her chair. “Really, Inaya, you can be such a prude.”I inwardly snorted. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. “Other than the bird feed I’m not going to buy, do you need anything from the store?”“No, I’m good. But be sure to stock up on condoms. Maybe also some lubricant, depending on if—”“Thanks for the suggestions.” I shook my head. The woman truly was nuts.Once I’d finished my breakfast, I headed to my en suite bathroom and went through my daily morning ritual. Clean and fresh, I dragged on some clothes and then settled on the plush chair in my bedroom’s reading nook with my cell in hand. I opened up my ‘Redwater Girls’ friend group on a messaging app and typed: So Kaiser turned up at my house last night.Responses quickly poured in that included shocked emojis …Izzy: Whhhhaaaat?Cat: No way!Briar: Why? More details please!Smiling, I expanded: He came to find out why I didn’t show up at the V. He thought I had a dude here with me.Briar: Well someone’s possessive.Until last night, I wouldn’t have thought so. Or maybe I just hadn’t been prepared to let myself consider it, unable to trust that I wouldn’t see only what I wanted to see when it came to Kaiser. I’d have to agree, considering he pushed for an arrangement.Cat: Boom!Briar: Figured he’d suggest it eventually.Izzy: Did you say yes?I replied, Yep. So I was in a super good mood up until I discovered that Judy knows he was here last night. She saw right through my lies and so now also knows that I’ve had sex with him.  She’s probably flicking through bridal magazines as I type.Laughter memes and emojis practically took over my phone screen.Once I’d given the girls a rundown of the conditions that Kaiser and I agreed on—all of which met their approval—I rounded up the conversation. After I said a quick goodbye to a still-smirking Judy, I went straight to my car.I often took my bodyguard with me when I went shopping, but I didn’t see the point when only going to the local grocery store. The people in this part of Redwater were used to seeing me out and about, and some of them were as high profile as me. As such, it was rare that I had any issues.Thankfully, this particular trip to the store was as quick and painless as usual. As I was driving down my road on the way back home, I felt a frown tug at my brow. A car was parked at the curb near my gates.A red convertible that I’d seen once before.No, surely not. Surely she hadn’t come here. But just as I neared the gates, the driver’s door opened and Camila fluidly exited the vehicle.Huh. So she had in fact come. Fucking wonderful.Just like when I last laid eyes on the beautiful redhead, I felt jealousy slither through my system, insidious as a snake. It wasn’t a reaction I could suppress. Not when she’d touched—Yeah, I was not going there in my head. Not now.With not one iota of an interest in talking to her, I decided to pointedly ignore her and go straight into the house … but then I reconsidered. If I didn’t grant the woman five minutes, she might wait out here or come back another time. A time when she could incidentally bump into Judy. I didn’t want this woman anywhere nearmy grandmother again.Letting my car idle just outside my gates, I blanked my expression and then wound down my window.Camila flashed me a pretty smile. I wanted to claw it off her porcelain white face and warn her to stay away from Kaiser. Only … I couldn’t. I didn’t have the right to warn her off. Because he was only mine within the confines of the Vault. And clawing people was wrong. Sadly.“We haven’t officially met,” she said, planting a slim hand on her delicately curved hip. “I’m Camila Larson.”In no mood to be courteous, I asked, “Why are you here?”She cast the tall gates a brief look. “How about I come inside so we can have a quick chat?”Uh, how about no? “We can talk right here.”Her smile dimmed. “As you wish.” She straightened her shoulders. “I know that you’re sleeping with Kaiser.”No, she was guessing. “I hear you hooked up with a friend of his. How’d that work out for you?”The corners of her eyes tightened. “That was a rumor. Nothing more.” She sighed. “Look, I know from personal experience that it’s easy to fall for Kaiser. So I also know that, despite how you’re undoubtedly aware that you’re nothing but his rebound, there’s a good chance you’re falling for him.”My jaw hardened at the word ‘rebound.’ Honestly, it hadn’t really occurred to me that I might be that for him. Though, really, could you be someone’s rebound when you were only a sort of play partner for them?“You saw how cold he was toward me,” she went on. “I deserved that. I hurt him. I didn’t set out to do so, but it happened all the same. So I expected the ice-cold shoulder.”She sounded as genuinely ashamed as she did honest. I had to wonder what she’d done that hurt him so much.“I gave him time. I gave him space. Then I gave him more time. And more space. But that’s now over. He and I have things to work through. If you stick around, you’ll be collateral damage.”“Damage?” I echoed.“You may not wish to see it, but he’s using you to get at me. He and I aren’t done. Far from it. You probably don’t want to believe that either. I could show you dozens of messages I’ve received from him recently that would prove otherwise. Messages wherein he admits that he still cares for me but isn’t sure he can forgive me.”My chest clenched. She could be lying. She could be lying her tight little ass off about all of this.But she could also be telling the truth.“I’ll work for that forgiveness,” she told me, a determined glint in her pale-blue eyes. “And I’ll get it. I’ll accept nothing less, and I won’t care who I mow down in the process—he’s too important to me for me to simply give up on.”“Huh.” I poked the inside of my cheek with my tongue. “So what you’re saying is that you wanted to warn me, one woman to another, that you aim to win Kaiser back and so I should either strap on my seatbelt or cut my losses?”She blinked. “Yes. That.”I gave her a winning smile. “Oh. Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” I went to face forward, but she spoke again.“Wait a moment. Look, I can see that you’d prefer to ignore my warning and hope that the situation works out well for you. It won’t.”I inwardly sighed. “As I said, thanks for letting—”“He always called me his little muse, you know.”That was a stab to the gut.“Whether he’ll record the songs he’s written about me I don’t know, given I messed up so badly. My point is that I’m not simply a woman he dated. I was important to him. I’m still important to him. He won’t choose you over me, if that’s your hope.”I didn’t envision him ‘choosing’ me as a permanent partner in any scenario, but I wasn’t going to admit as much to her. So I shot her another wide smile. “Don’t you worry about me, I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine. You just, you know, do you.”Her eyes hardened. “If you have any sense, you’ll back off.”Hearing the threat buried there, I tensed. “And if I don’t?”“Patton Harvey.” She threw out the name, and my insides seized. Her mouth curved. “You remember him, I’d imagine. I suppose it would difficult for you to forget him, all things considered. The world doesn’t know all the itty, bitty details of what happened between you two, does it? That can change in an instant, Inaya Rose. I’m sure the tabloids would be very interested to hear all about it.”Bitch. I kept a neutral expression on my face by sheer force of will. “You’re blackmailing me now? Wow. That’s a weirdly desperate move for someone who’s so sure I’m no threat.”She let out a dismissive chuckle. “Oh, you’re no threat to what I have with Kaiser. But that doesn’t mean I like that he’s sleeping with someone else, so do the best for everyone and remove yourself from the picture. I can promise that you’ll regret it if you don’t.” With that, she sauntered back to her car and then peeled out of here.That motherfucking hoe.As I drove through my gates and up my driveway toward the house, I told myself again and again to stay calm. But it was damn hard. I wasn’t in a panic over her threat as she’d clearly hoped. No, I was furious. Furious that she’d threaten to drag such a serious and saddening story into the limelight, which would hurt many people in the process. Vindictive bitch.For the sake of the people that would be upset if the story surfaced, I should probably pull back from Kaiser, despite that the aforementioned people would do me absolutely no favors in any situation. But why should I have to give him up—give up this one thing I’d always wanted—just to placate some skank? It wasn’t like I’d get to keep him permanently. Couldn’t I at least have the simple luxury of enjoying our little arrangement before it all went south?Inside the house, I took my groceries to the kitchen and began putting them away, wishing I hadn’t heard Camila out. Not that it would have changed what she intended to do, but at least she wouldn’t have taken a dump all over my day.Chewing my lower lip, I wondered if Kaiser truly had sent her those messages she mentioned. I couldn’t weigh in on the matter, because I had no clue if she had been—or still was—as important to him as she claimed. I’d never asked him about her, and he’d never brought her up in conversation. He was so hard to read that I doubted I’d sense if he was pining for another woman.I mentally replayed how he’d spoken to her that time she’d shown up at his house. He’d been cold, yes, but it hadn’t seemed like a cold anger. It was more of an icy indifference that suggested she had no real emotional hold on him.He always called me his little muse, you know.Jealousy and dejection curdled in my gut, making me feel sick to my stomach.Cursing, I leaned against the countertop and swiped a hand down my face. Even if her claims were in fact true, it didn’t mean that she was right in believing she’d win him back. But I’d have a better idea of judging that if I knew exactly what she’d done to hurt him so much. And the only person who could enlighten me was him.If it hadn’t been for her threat, I probably would have shrugged off her words and let the whole thing play out. Or maybe not … because this was Kaiser. The thought that he might be yearning for someone else, that he’d soon set me aside for said someone and that I was nothing more than a way to hurt her, wasn’t something I could easily ignore.I could just ask him outright if she’d spoken the truth. He played his cards close to his chest and didn’t share much, but he was also a straight shooter. I couldn’t envision him lying if I asked if he still cared for Camila.I honestly dreaded the answer. Because if it turned out I was simply a tool to make her jealous, well, I was done. Being used for sex was one thing. Being used to knife someone in their metaphorical gut was another. I was worth more than that. And he wouldn’t be worth dealing with the mountain of shit she might cause if that was all I was to him.I’d like to think that that wasn’t the case. I’d like to believe that he was completely done with her. More, I’d like to believe that the man I’d crushed on for so many years wasn’t simply using me to hurt his ex.He always called me his little muse, you know.God, this day was really starting to suck.