Page 75 of Shark’s Edge

“Me?” I asked incredulously. “Do you want to go again? So soon?”

“Take a look at yourself, Bas. She’s got you chasing your tail. Don’t you see it?” He shook his head, laughing as he wiped at the blood coming from a crack in his bottom lip with the back of his hand.

“What are you talking about?” I asked Grant, who started digging through his pocket.

“You reacted that way, and all I did was say a few things to intentionally get you riled up. Me.” He thumped on the middle of his chest. “Your best friend. Although, that may be up for debate if the blood doesn’t come out of this suit. I love this suit.” He looked up from rubbing his lapel with the handkerchief from his pocket. “What’s it going to do to you to sit at home knowing she’s getting boned by some other dude? You’re delusional if you think you’re going to be okay with that.”

“This whole thing is making me insane.” I shook my head. Shit, if I thought it hurt before, it was pounding like a bass drum now. “This woman is making me insane. How can a much-too-young redhead be wreaking this much havoc on my carefully planned world? And I’ve not even seen her pussy? Let alone tasted it, touched it, or fucked it. This is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.”

“My God, your sister would be so proud to hear you right now.” He shook his head, smirking.

“Leave her out of this.” I pointed my finger at Grant in threat. “Entirely out of this. I’m not joking, Grant. Not a word of this shit to Cassiopeia. She already thinks she has my whole love life figured out with that gloating shit she does. ‘Oh, we’ll see,’” I mimicked my sister’s voice. “Fuck. Fuuuuuck!” I pulled on my hair with both hands. I felt like utter madness was setting in. “There’s more. Believe it or not, you haven’t heard the worst of it.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Shit.” I looked at my best friend, hoping to God he saw the desperation in my eyes.

“Man, what’s going on? You look like you did the first time you kicked your dad’s ass and came to my house all freaked out.”

Odd he’d chosen that memory to recall. I still remembered the day like it had just happened an hour ago. It gutted me to get physical with my own father, but he’d been drunk and started goading me, taunting me about not being man enough to handle the shit life was raining down on us. What a joke. He was the one delivering the shitstorm called life to our front door. No one else. But he wasn’t man enough to admit the fault was his own. I’d punched the loser square in the face, grabbed Pia, and fled to Grant’s, broken fingers and broken heart be damned.

Yeah, I thought this pain felt familiar.

It’s called betrayal, motherfucker.

“She said Viktor Blake’s been sniffing around, and she’d give it up to him if I don’t want her.” I let my head fall forward until my chin touched my chest. All I felt was shame when I heard the words out loud. Seriously? What kind of man does this to a woman he claims to care about?

“Dammit, Bas. Tell me you stopped her. Please tell me you stopped her. Everyone knows that dude is seriously messed up. I will take care of her if that’s the only option you left her with.”

I raised my head, growling again. “You stay away from her. I won’t say it again.”

“But Viktor? You can’t allow that, Sebastian!”

“I told her I’d do it.”

“Oh, thank Christ. Jesus, why didn’t you just say that?”

“Because she told me ‘don’t bother.’ Her words exactly. Then she stomped out of here and has iced me out since. Won’t pick up my calls or texts. Nothing.”

“So you went home and tied one on instead of tracking her down? Shit. You’re losing your edge, man. The Sebastian Shark I know would’ve been pounding on her door until dawn if that’s what it took.”

“I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought, then.”

My God, I’m exhausted.

He stared at me. Turned his head slightly and stared some more. As if a different angle would reveal a different truth. “Nah, that’s not it. Not it at all,” he finally said.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s not you that’s different, necessarily. It’s this woman. It’s your reaction to this woman.”

“And we’ve circled the wagon completely. You’re a broken record today, Twombley.”

“Just speaking the truth, my brother. This one has you all twisted up. It’s as plain as the nose on your face.” He paused a few beats before he continued. “But you need to do something about it. About her. And before she makes a grave mistake and tangles with that gutter rat Blake. You know it as well as I do. He has a horrid reputation with women. He will break her in ways you won’t be able to repair.”

The silence that blanketed my office was deafening. Even the streets far below seemed to join in the calm. No traffic sounds. No car horns. Just peace—punctuating Grant’s decree with giant exclamation points.

Or middle fingers, maybe?