Heaven and Hell (Heaven and Hell #1)(114)

“She’s my dog, Sam,” I repeated.

“No argument from me on that, sweetheart,” Sam returned.

Great. He was calling me sweetheart.

Yes, displeased.

He went on, “But she’s also smart and she’s a people dog. She’s with you or me constantly when we’re in the house. She didn’t wander all day yesterday when she was out in your front yard during the sale. And she’s smart enough not to wander now, especially not knowin’ the lay of the land.”

“You’re probably right but I’d rather not take any chances. She was a puppy when we got her, except for staying at Dad and Mom’s house she’s never been anywhere else so I don’t know how she’ll behave in a new environment,” I replied.

“All right then why the f**k didn’t you say that instead of biting my head off?” Sam asked.

“Because you stated in your ‘Sam Way’,” I gave the last two words verbal quotation marks, “that she was fine. In other words, she was fine, I should shut up and do as you say.”

Uh-oh.

His brows drew together over narrowed eyes and he asked, “My Sam Way?”

“You can be bossy,” I informed him.

He took in a breath and studied me. Then he crossed his arms on his chest.

Then he invited, “Right, Kia, tell me what’s really up your ass.”

Uh-oh again.

And not uh-oh that Sam was getting more pissed.

Uh-oh because I was.

“What’s up my ass?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Sam answered immediately.

“Were you a Ranger?” I returned and his brows snapped together again, this time in confusion.

“Come again?”

“Were you a Ranger?” I repeated.

He looked to his right at the flag on the wall then back at me and answered, “Uh… yeah.”

“I didn’t know that,” I told him.

“So?”

“You didn’t tell me.”

He studied me again then said, “Sweetheart, you internet stalked me. How could you not know that?”

“Is it common knowledge?” I asked.

“Uh… yeah,” he said again.

Really? How on earth did I miss that?

“It is?” I queried, surprised.

“Yeah, Kia, Jesus. What’s the big f**kin’ deal?”

“It’s not in that book about you,” I stated.

“No, it isn’t. There’s shit in that book that’s true and very few people knew, until that book came out. There’s shit in that book that’s missin’. And there’s shit in that book that’s conjecture and all that isn’t true. Whoever wrote that piece of trash missed me bein’ a Ranger. Don’t know how, it’s one of the few things that isn’t a secret that they didn’t include. I also don’t care. It was a hack job. They knew just enough to get a payday and made up just enough to make that payday big.”

“What parts were missing and what parts were conjecture?” I asked.

“You don’t have the clearance to know the first and I don’t have all night to explain the last. Now, what I’d like to know is why you not knowin’ I was a Ranger made you turn bitch?”

Oh man.

I didn’t like that.

“Don’t call me a bitch, Sam,” I whispered.

“You got another way to describe how you’re actin’?” he shot back.

“I didn’t know you were a Ranger.”

“And this is my problem because…?” He let that hang.

“And it’s also over twenty-four hours since you had your powwow with Lee and Tanner and I don’t know about that either,” I retorted, finally bringing the matter in hand.

He took in another deep breath and on the exhale murmured an annoyed, “I see.”

“Are you going to tell me about that sometime in this century?” I asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, but, see, yesterday, sweetheart, you let go of the physical manifestations of your life with that piece of shit which I suspect was profound for you. It also took effort and you were busy all day. Then you got a headache likely because it took effort, you were busy all day and what you were doin’ was profound for you. Then, since I know how tight you are with your family and your posse and your stay here and away from them is indefinite, I figured you’d want to enjoy your time with them so I wanted you to have that and not burden you with outside shit.”

Damn. That made sense and it was nice.

Still.

“Well, thanks for that Sam but I did ask twice to be told and I can see you not wanting to do it through that and me having a headache but you’ve had all day today.”

“Yeah? Should we get in a discussion about people wanting to whack you when we can be overheard in a departure lounge or on a plane?”

Now he was being sarcastic.

But damn again because he was also right.

He kept talking.

“And, you think maybe you can give me a chance to relax and be home, which I haven’t been, Kia, a lot longer than you, and spend some time with a buddy of mine without that shit intruding for awhile?”

Oh man.

Now I was feeling like I was a bitch and a worse one than I thought because he had valid reasons for his decisions and I hadn’t asked nice. I’d been, well… a bitch.