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Ashe chuckled at that.

“You knew I was here. Why send him away?”

I studied him for a moment, looking at his face and waiting to see how my body reacted. There was no weird feeling in my gut, no warning bells that were usually so accurate.

The only body part that seemed to react was my vagina, as if she remembered this man well and missed him dearly.

“Because I’m not scared of you.”

He leaned closer, his voice low and rough and stirring as he asked, “Why not?”

Yep, my pussydefinitelyremembered him.

But I wasn’t about to let him know that.

I just smiled, eyes still locked on Ashe’s hazel ones, before I got up and walked out, leaving him there to enjoy his non-consensual manicure.

I drifted towards the food court, knowing that Theo and Larissa would probably still be either in line or sitting down eating. Larissa would be trying to extend any alone time she got with him.

Mindlessly, I shuffled through the crowds and wondered if I even had an answer as to why I wasn’t afraid of Ashe.

Everyone had warned me.

People I trusted and people who loved me had explicitly told me that he was dangerous. Was I that stupid to blindly follow my gut in this situation?

Or was everyone else wrong?

9

ZARINA

Neither Larissanor Theo suspected a thing. Larissa was too caught up in Theo, and Theo was too caught up in being mad.

“We can’t do that again,” he scolded. “No more separating, especially in crowds like this.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer with a crowd around?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow and trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

“No,” Theo lifted his cap to run his hand through his hair, before placing his hand on the small of my back and guiding me across the parking lot as if I might be hit by a car without his help.

“With a crowd, there’s a lot more going on. Sure, there might be more witnesses if there was a big scene or something. But, crowds can help disguise things too. Nobody would notice a single person disappearing or being grabbed.”

I pursed my lips, seeing his logic but not being happy about it.

“Look,” he let out a breath, leaning his arms against the car and looking towards me. “Toni has trusted me to look after you, Zarina. Please,” he begged, clasping his hands together, “let me do my job.”

I sighed, shaking my head.

“Fine,” I relented as I opened the door. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” His shoulders dropped, holding the door open as I slipped inside. “You’re going to make this difficult for me, aren’t you?”

I smiled up at him, crossing one leg over the other. I noted the way his eyes dropped to watch the movement, but then quickly lifted back to my eyes.

“I would never,” I breathed, returning his smirk before leaning forward and closing the door.

Larissa was already in the back seat, and honestly, I had forgotten that she was there until she let out a long and annoyed breath.

I didn’t respond to it, or pay attention to her visible frustration. It was already obvious that she had a little crush on Theo, and I didn’t care in the slightest. She could have him, because I had no interest in the man.