Page 42 of Retribution

That doesn’t make a lick of sense to me, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to figure it out.

Isolde walks past the bedding department and gazes longingly at a lilac bamboo sheet set.

“Buy it,” I say, dropping it into the cart.

“I don’t really need it,” she sighs.

“I didn’t say you did. Not everything in life is about needing it,” I say. “Sometimes, it’s simply a pleasure purchase.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever done that,” she says, picking up the sheets and putting them back. Instead, she decides on a set that makes my skin crawl just looking at it. They’re definitely scratchy.

“Why?” I ask, feeling like a broken record. “You’re going to want your own pillow, Miss ‘I need my own shit.’”

“I didn’t say that,” Isolde says, rolling her eyes as she plucks a pillow off the shelf and drops it into her cart.

That’s also a terrible choice. I’m going to have better options delivered to her…just as soon as I know where she’s living.

“You didn’t have to, your designation is particular,” I grunt. “Where are you living?”

“None of your business,” Isolde says coolly, beginning to move toward the front of the store to pay.

“Is that all you’re getting? What about food?” I ask, my brows drawing down in annoyance.

Fuck, why do I care so much?

“You’re really getting on my nerves, Grant,” she says. “I’m not your responsibility. While I’m still working, I’m not on a job at this time. However, that could change because I got a call tobe ready to move if needed. Apparently alpha energy is all about wars and murders, while I’m perfectly happy slitting throats while people sleep. It’s less messy.”

“Less messy for who?” I ask. I should be horrified by her words, but I’m not. Lucas doesn’t know about all of the people I’ve killed on his behalf.

Being a good person gains you more enemies than not, and it’s led to a trail of dead bodies for Lucas. His medication will be the demise of a lot of these street drugs if he’s able to get the cost lowered. Things like scent blockers are cost prohibitive still because of all the hoops Reid Pharmaceuticals has to go through to produce them.

I have no doubt that Lucas will find a way to ethically bulldoze those hoops, but that takes time. Until then, I’ll be the bad guy to allow him to figure out the best way forward.

“If there’s a war, more people die,” she says simply, responding to my question.

It seems I’m not the only one cleaning up messes. The difference? I don’t like the idea of her doing it.

I’m well aware of the double standard, and my mother would smack me with a wooden spoon if she knew what I was doing, if she was alive.

“I don’t like it,” I state, before I can hold back the words.

Thankfully, she’s ahead of me purchasing her items at a self checkout stall and doesn’t hear me. Or, more likely than not, she’s pretending that she didn’t.

Gathering her purchases, she dumps her bags into the cart and grabs her card to pay. Beating her to it, I swipe mine without thinking.

“What…why would you do that?” Isolde asks, annoyed.

“You’re my good deed for the day,” I say. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“God, you’re an asshole,” she grumbles, pushing her cart forward.

Yeah, but I could be your asshole…

Pinching my inner wrist to clear and delete that thought, I follow her out.

“Why are you hiding?” I ask under my breath, leaning toward her so she can hear me. “You’re wearing so much scent blocking spray, you may as well not exist if I were to close my eyes. No one will outright tell me why.”

“Then maybe you don’t deserve the information,” she suggests, the cart’s wheels squeaking as she pushes it. “You’re very annoying, Grant.”