Page 66 of Shattered By the Currents

“Before you get your knickers in a twist, Ferris okayed me being here,” Lottie started. “This was a last-minute meeting. The girls and I stumbled across this amazing new book. It’s part of Janie Crouch’s Linear Tactical series. We needed an emergency book club meeting to discuss?—”

“Get out.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Lottie froze. “What?”

“Get out, Lottie. Now.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” She stepped forward. “Ferris?—”

“I’m not fucking around.” She finally drew her gaze to the woman, her voice loud, so wild it was unfamiliar. “I need you out, and I need you outnow.”

“Raven Price?—”

“Go!”

Lottie grabbed her chest.

Raven shifted her attention back to Xander. He had a smug expression on his face.

Yeah, he knew exactly what he did to her. And he liked her fear. Preyed on it.

“Ferris will be hearing about this,” Lottie huffed, as she grabbed her bag from the floor. “I played by your rules. I got permission to be here. And this is how I’m treated? Enjoy your last days here, young lady.”

The click of a door closing behind Lottie was loud, and it was followed by silence. A silence that felt suffocating, almost daring her to breathe.

“What are you doing here?” She was proud of how steady her voice was. There was only a hint of a shake and maybe he didn’t hear it.

He grinned. The fucker actually grinned. “I’m here to seeyou, darling fiancée.”

“Ex-fiancée.”

One side of his mouth lifted as he closed a bit of the space between them. “Ah, yes. Ex. And you’ve already moved on, haven’t you?”

“Is that why you called him out torescueyou?”

“Yeah, I wanted to meet him. Got lucky when he was mysavior. He’s nice. Didn’t know you liked nice guys.”

“Hadn’t really met one until him.”

Xander’s chuckle was like nails scraping against her skin. “You were always funny. It’s something I miss about you.”

“You don’t miss me, Xander. Maybe you miss what I did for you. Or the ownership you had over me. But you don’t missme.”

“Because you know me so well?”

Nowshe did. Once upon a time, no. “You need to leave.”

“Or what? You’ll tell people what happened?”

A knot sat in her throat, but she swallowed it. “I might.”

He laughed again, drawing a little closer. “You won’t. Because you know as well as I do that I wouldn’t be the only one going down. You also know there’d be…consequences. How are those parents of yours? How’sConnor?”

Asshole. “I’ve held up my end of the deal. I’ve stayed silent.Youhaven’t held upyours. You weren’t supposed to come back.”

“Oops.”

The door to the community center opened. Raven spun—and froze at the sight of Connor.