Page 97 of Dissolving Prejudice

Wishing I had a cigarette, because nothing felt as good as sharing one after a good fuck, I decided to settle for gum. Reaching for the pack that fell from my pocket earlier, I picked it up from the car’s floor and popped two in my mouth before answering his question.

“Remember when I tried telling you how I was still working for Dion?”

Shay-Lee pretended to be clueless, so I flicked his forehead.

He chuckled. “Yes, of course I remember. I was mad about it for the last two weeks.”

I smiled. “Well, long story short, we had a mole in the organization. It made Dion lose a lot of money and caused problems… Anyway, my last task was to track him down.”

Shay-Lee’s curious eyes met mine. “And? Did you?”

“Thanks to Oro, I did,” I said between chewing, thinking back on the low-life guard who was stupid enough to steal information from Dion. As much as I loathed my boss, by now, I knew better than to mess with that crazy French fucker, who was, without a doubt, a loose cannon. People often thought he wasn’t as dangerous as he looked. Fools. He was a lot worse. That man had some serious issues, which I doubted he went to a shrink to sort them out.

“So who was it?” Shay-Lee asked while reaching his hand up to poke my cheek.

I took a moment to study how beautiful he was before answering. “Some bodyguard who worked at the club. After leaving the apartment earlier, I went over to his place and found loads of money, papers, even a burner phone, pretty much proving he’s our rat.”

“A rat.” He chuckled. “I feel bad we give rats such a bad name. I actually like rats.”

“You do?” I pushed his hair away from his face, and he nodded.

“Yeah. They survive quite well.”

“You used to call us rats, remember?” I said, referring to the time we were in high school.

Letting out some air, Shay-Lee lowered his body down so his head was on my lap while his feet touched the car’s window. “I used to say lots of crap back then…” He seemed to be lost in thought, with his eyes focused on his bare feet until he spoke again. “Anyway, what does it mean now that you’ve caught the mole?”

“That I’m free.”

Silence followed my statement, and I think it was simply because we both needed time to process it. For so long, I couldn’t think about being free, let alone mouth those words, but now…

“Hey.” Shay-Lee placed his hand on my cheek, forcing me out of my head. Slipping his hand to the back of my neck, he pulled me down into a short, upside-down kiss. “I’m so glad you are because I can’t wait to start our life together.”

Overwhelmed by emotion, I was unable to say a word and simply nodded while chewing my stupid gum. Unlike me, Shay-Lee didn’t try holding back and instead offered me a big smile before he moved to sit in my lap.

“I have another question.”

“Of course you do.”

He smacked my chest. “Don’t be an ass.”

“I’ll try. Now, ask away.”

“Why was it so hard for you to tell me you loved me?”

The urge to get out of the car was suddenly unbearable, and if not for Shay-Lee holding me still, I would have probably attempted to do it. Yet, seeing as how there was no escaping, I grunted, and he pinned me with a harsh look.

“What is it?” He frowned. “Are you one of those men who were hurt by love and now can’t bring themselves to fall again?”

My face twisted with the crap he was spitting out. “What the fuck?”

“Are you emotionally unavailable, then?” he asked with a straight face.

“What the hell does that even mean?”

Shay-Lee shrugged. “I dunno, but it sounds like a reason.”

“A stupid-ass reason,” I said, then spat my gum into the car’s ashtray.