Page 28 of Shallow

The confidence in her voice has me on edge. “Is this goinganywhere?”

“She has strict rules she has to follow, baby. One wrong move and her charmed ass gets shipped off to a women’s correctional facility in California. Everyone finally getsjustice.”

“And what do youget?”

“Her out of your life. Do you think I’m stupid? I see the way you’ve always looked at her.” Picking up her fork again, she stabs through a strip of chicken. “She’s a freak show now, and I won’t come second to her twice in one lifetime,Cary.”

I’d call her more of a wounded warrior than a freak. The devastated look on Shiloh’s face when I called her Shallow flashes through my mind, but I keepquiet.

“You’d send someone to jail for your own personal gain? That’s kind of sick,Taryn.”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t act so sanctimonious. You want to talk about sick? Do you remember the things you fantasized doing to her while you fuckedme?”

I wince at the accusation. I wish we’d drank enough whiskey to block out the things I’d said, but I remember them clearly. I’d said I wanted to hurt her. Not just emotionally, but physically. The worst part was that Taryn seemed to have gotten off onit.

She’s right. We’re sick. This whole arrangement issick.

But I continued to do it for months. Until Shiloh walked in yesterday. Now, nothing makessense.

“How do you plan on accomplishing this?” I ask, pushing my plate away. “It seems Shiloh has an aversion to being behind bars. I don’t think she’ll willingly do anything to jeopardize going backthere.”

A disturbing smile curves Taryn’s lips as she spears a piece of lettuce from her salad. “You leave that to me. I’ve got eyes on her, and I’ll find her weak spot. Everybody hasone.”

The rest of the meal is spent in silence. Taryn happily picks at her salad, while I watch her face. She’s serious. There’s a part of me that wonders if we’re going too far. Sending someone to prison is serious shit. Taryn is playing God with another person’s life, and if I sit back and do nothing, then what does that makeme?

Then I remember how Shiloh played God with my life with no regrets for sevenyears.

After paying the bill and walking Taryn to her car, I promise to take her to The Light House tonight. Everything inside me wants to drive to the center and get in the ring to clear my head, but my thoughts are too screwed up. I have to solidify my own plans before I can deal withTaryn’s.

There’s also no use in denying the obvious. I want Shiloh, and after the way my body reacted to her yesterday, I know there’s only one thing todo.

I’m going to make her fall for me. I’m going to take what I want fromher.

And then I’m going to destroyher.

* * *

Istareat the outside of the community center, my hand on the door, and the rest of my body frozen in a weird Heisman position. Anyone driving by would think I’ve lost mymind.

Maybe Ihave.

I’d planned on waiting until tomorrow to put my plans for Shiloh in motion, but the minute my foot hit the gas after leaving the café, I found myself here. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment. Maybe I’m overly anxious. The more likely scenario is that I just can’t stop thinking abouther.

As I open the door, the sticky humidity from outside mixes with the tepid air inside the center, creating a swooshing sound that turns every eye myway.

Every.Eye.

I head straight for Frankie’s desk, rifling through the mountain of junk food wrappers. “Where the hell is themail?”

Shifting a glance to the side, I catch Shiloh’s hardened gray eyes glaring at me. Even though she’s standing with a broom in one hand, the barely-there black crop top and tiny shorts she’s wearing screams anything but “maid.”

“I don’t know, chief,” she replies, inhaling so deeply that her tits lift high above the top of her tank top. “Why don’t you find a way to ask that doesn’t makes you sound like a giant dick, and maybe I’ll answeryou.”

My blood boils, and what I really want to do is bend her over this desk and show her how I react to being disrespected in my own place. Instead, I curl my fist around an overdue invoice I have no intention ofpaying.

“Has the mail arrived today, Miss West?” The muscles in my neck tighten as I punctuate each word with a grind of myteeth.

It kills me to bow down to anyone, much less her. The smug grin on her face is almost enough to make me kick the entire desk across the room. She’s kidding herself if she thinks she has the upper hand. Taryn is already planning on doing some kind of diabolic shit to take her down, and I’ve barely skimmed the surface of what I have in store forher.