Page 85 of Dangerous Men

“You know what?” Sydney snaps. “I’m not sure what I did to make you hate me or whatever the hell it is you feel, but don’t you think it would make both of our lives better if youliterally just fucking left?” Scowling, she stoops down and grabs a book from the pile at her feet, and when she looks at the cover, a vindictive smile spreads across her face.

“Here’s that book recommendation you wanted!” Sydney says in an overly cheery tone, striding forward and shoving the book hard against my chest. “Enjoy! Maybe this will improve your shitty attitude.”

The Prince’s Knife.I keep my expression blank as I stare down at the cover, recognizing it immediately. Alec has been trying to hide a copy of this same book on his desk, hoping we wouldn’t notice.

Her point made, Sydney storms off with an irritated huff, heading back toward the bakery. I follow behind her, not ready to let this go.

“Jade, my love, can you add a copy of The Prince’s Knife to Sebastian’s bill?” she asks loudly.

I emerge from between an aisle of books just in time to catch Jade’s confused frown.

“Okayyyy…um, sure,” she says warily, glancing between us. She purses her lips, clearly unsure how to read the situation. “That’s totally something you could have done yourself at the other register, but anything for you, Syd.”

Jade waves me toward her. “Come on, Doc. I’ll even make you a fresh cup of tea if you ask me nicely.”

I don’t want tea. And I don’t want to be sidetracked. I pull a few bills from my wallet and set them on the counter, pushing them toward her.

“Here. That should cover it,” I say. It better.

Jade’s eyebrows lift, but I don’t stick around to hear how much I’m grossly overpaying for a single book. My full attention is on Sydney, who’s walking away, back toward the bookshop, ducking into another aisle.

“What other shit?” I call out after her, following her.

That stops her escape. She turns to frown at me, brow wrinkling in confusion. “What?”

“You said you had other shit you were dealing with,” I remind her. “So tell me. What other shit?”

Exasperated, she rolls her eyes. “Can we please not pretend like you care, Seb? If Alec wants an update about me, tell him he can ask me himself.”

She’s clearly upset over something. Her conversation with Chase was short and didn’t seem overly emotional, so …did one of my brothers upset her?

Seems unlikely. Alec won’t return from Empire City until later tonight, but the last time we spoke, he seemed fine. Busy, but fine. And Ash has been positively insufferable with his good mood. He won’t shut up about her and how well things between the two of them are progressing.

“What if I’m the one that wants to know?” I press.

“And I’m sure you’re asking with purely altruistic motivation, right?” She smirks when she says it, though. Then she sighs, reaching up to touch her hair nervously. “I’m stressed about money, okay? Happy?”

Huh.

“Must be hard to have invested everything in such a fragile business,” I say.

From the way Sydney stiffens, her shoulders tightening, I know immediately it was the wrong thing to say.

I didn’t say it to offend her. Independent bookstores aren’t exactly a booming business—not in today’s era of online shopping. Their store runs a profit, sure, but small businesses are risky, and a single mistake can be all it takes to ruin one.

I was trying to be empathetic. That’s all.

“I’ve got it handled,” Sydney says, fists clenching at her side. “My business is doingfine.” Ah. A touchy subject there. I file that away with all the other information I’m learning about her.

“If money is the problem,” I venture, “you could always ask my brothers. I’m sure if you need them to?—”

“I don’tneedanyone,” she cuts me off. “And what I absolutely don’tneedis a man stepping in to try to save me.” She pauses, shutting her eyes for a moment to collect herself. “Don’t… don’t tell Alec. Please, Seb. I don’t want him involved. I can handle this on my own.”

Fine. I shrug. “Then handle it.”

She scowls at me one last time before storming away.

“Asshole…” she mutters under her breath, maybe thinking she was far enough away for me to not hear. Maybe not caring if I did.