Page 131 of Tangled Like Us

And a gun.

And my comms.

Grandmother Calloway inhales sharply. “I only reserved a table for you and your new boyfriend and myself. I’d hoped we could get some private time to address our issues.”

“Oh, fuck, no problem,” Sulli says, dropping crumbs into her shirt. Jane and her share a smile. “I can just sit right here and eat some more of these non-cupcakes and non-donuts.” She looks to Akara like she might go hang with him and Banks.

Grandmother Calloway touches Sulli’s shoulder. “Another time, dear. Tell your mother to call. I haven’t spoken with her in a while.”

“I’ll pass it along,” Sulli says.

Grandmother Calloway looks from Jane to me. “Follow me.”

* * *

Ten minutes.I clocked it. From the minute we sat down at the private table to the minute we stood up to leave. And all ten minutes felt like a brutal underhanded rag on me.

“I’msosorry,” Jane apologizes for the tenth time. She sits on the rung of a vintage wooden ladder. We’ve slipped into a small wine closet before we head back to the parlor. Shelves and racks of wine reaching at least ten feet high.

I cross my arms over my chest. My coat tight on my muscles. “Don’t be sorry, honey.”

She stares at me a second longer.

I continue, “It wasn’t that bad.”

Her eyes enlarge. “She brought outescargotjust to see if you knew how to eat it. And don’t get me started on quizzing you about your education.”

Her grandmother asked if I went to Wharton.

When I saidnoshe started listing a bunch of Ivy Leagues and asking about those.

It took a while before Jane could cut in and tell her what needed to be said. That she shouldn’t have done something that involved Jane’s personal life without Jane’s permission. That if anything like this happens to her siblings or cousins, there will be hell to pay.

Jane was firm.

Resolute.

And she even got a half-heartedI’m sorryfrom her grandmother. I’d take all the fucking underhanded comments about where I’m from and how I don’t fit into high society just to see and hear all of that over again.

But I also understand Jane feels like she didn’t protect me in the process. I’m really the last person that needs shields or handrails. Grandmother Calloway can throw underhanded comments my way, all day long. As long as she’s not pulling shit on Jane, I’m fine.

That’s all there is to it.

My eyes sink into Jane’s. “I can handle your grandmother.” I was polite. I didn’t raise my voice. Didn’t wish for my taser but onlyonce. And that was in my head, so no fault there. “And,” I continue. “I’m glad you did this. She needed to hear all of that shit as much as I think you needed to say it to her.”

She nods. “I think so, too.”

I hold out a hand. She stares at my opened palm and her lips upturn. “Merci.” She takes my hand and rises off the ladder to her feet.

“So we’re in agreement,” she says into a stronger breath. “No regrets.”

“None here.”

She smiles brighter and adjusts her purse on her hip. “The best part is that she’s already disinvited to Christmas, so I won’t have to see her for a good while.”

“Whose call was that?”

“My mom’s,” she says into a wider grin. “But that decision was actually made back during Greece. For what she said to Maximoff and Farrow.”