Tall, Dark & Lonely (Pyte/Sentinel #1)(62)

“That cake better be worth it.” He closed and locked the door on his way out.

Ephraim gave her a lopsided grin and tried to look innocent. “Happy Birthday, baby.”

“Don’t try sweetening me up. Why didn’t you tell me that vampires were after you?”
“Well, in all fairness you never asked your questions. I can’t very well be in trouble for something you didn’t ask.”

She pressed her hands to her forehead. “You know what, it’s been a very long day, a very scary long day. If you’re going to joke around let me know now so that I can go to bed. I just want this day to end.”

“I’m really sorry, baby. I did try. I was trying to surprise you with a nice dinner and cake with your friends. I had to stop off to get your gift. I didn’t know she was there until it was too late.”

“What was she to you?” she asked softly. She was afraid she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Nothing. No one. She was the servant of a Master.”

“So, you never slept with her?” She met his eyes. They were a bright blue.

“Is that what this is about? Why you have me chained? I did not kiss her. She kissed me quickly before I could push her away. She did it to pin me to the car so the others could grab me.” He frowned. “I take it they're all dead.”

“I don’t know. We didn’t stick around to check. You know you just avoided answering that question.”

“What question is that?” he snapped. “This is getting a little old, Madison. Just ask the f**king question and get it over with.”

She pulled back a sob. “No need. I think I just got my answer.” She turned her back on him. “Goodbye, Ephraim.”

“Goodbye?”

“Yes, goodbye.”

“Look at me!” he snapped.

Madison slowly turned around and gasped. His eyes were red, his fangs were down, but that wasn’t the problem. He was free. Somehow he escaped the handcuffs without making a sound.

He climbed off the bed and stalked forward. “Do you think this is a game for me? Do you think I enjoy playing these f**king games of yours?”

She set her jaw stubbornly. “I’m not playing any games.”

“Aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not.” She refused to take a step back. She held her ground firmly. He stopped a foot away. Every muscle in his body was flexing.

“You’ve been playing me since the first time that you realized that I wanted you.”

“How?” she demanded.

“You keep yourself distant from me and you look for every little reason to fight.”

“I do not!”

“Oh no?” His eyebrows arched. “You’re mad at me because I paid off your debt so that you wouldn’t have to struggle for the rest of your life to fix your credit or scrape to get by.”

“I was doing just fine without your help.”

“Bullshit, I know the amount of debt you were facing.”

Through clenched teeth she spoke evenly. “I was doing fine. I didn’t need your help!”
“Oh no? I know you lied to your grandmother about using your savings against your student loan. If that was true they wouldn’t have been threatening to take you to court for nonpayment. Four months Madison, four months you missed payments. You have the same problem with the insurance company. They stopped your auto insurance four months ago. They just forgot to tell the police that or I guarantee someone in my department would have come for your plates.”

She looked away. “This is none of your business, Ephraim.”

“The Jeep is the only thing you own outright. What happened to all that money, Madison? You had over twenty grand saved up. The Jeep cost fifteen so what happened to all that money four months ago? Whatever it is you haven’t gotten out of trouble yet, because you fell behind on all of your bills. You don’t spend any money on yourself. You don’t put money in the bank. Hell, you never seem to have enough money to put gas in your car. Tell me where the money is going?”

He leaned forward. “Tell me.”

“No.”

“You’re sending twelve hundred dollars a month to an online account.”

She gasped.

“Yeah, I know about that. Who does it belong to?”

“That's none of your business!”

He pulled back, smiling. His eyes were hard as stone. “Really? Not my business? Then you can explain how you plan on taking care of a sixteen year old boy on the meager two hundred dollars that you have left over after you send away the twelve hundred dollars?”

“Shut up!”

“Is Chris going to have to continue getting his food in the same manner after all?”

“What are you talking about?”

He crossed his arms over his bare chest. “Oh, you don’t know? Here I thought you knew everything. Chris’s mother doesn’t give a f**k about him. She won’t send a cent to help him out.”

“She gets food stamps and has a job at a bar,” she said, even though she wasn't counting on any help from her.

“Yes, she does. One would think she would use those stamps to buy the boy some food.”

“She doesn’t?”

“She trades them for money. For a lot less than they’re worth. Whatever she doesn’t spend on herself she spends on those losers she drags into her bed.”