Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
The bartender moved their way. He was an older man with thinning gray hair and dark eyes. He smiled as he slid a cocktail napkin in front of Carys. “Tu as un ami?”
Kala didn’t hesitate to reply. “C’est plutôt une famille. Je pense que nous allons faire une autre tournée. Elle aura ce que j’ai.”
Pierre nodded. “Certainement. Donnez-moi un instant. J’ai besoin d’une autre bouteille.”
Sometimes she forgot how smart her cousins were. It was easy to chalk them up to simply being weapons the Agency pointed and shot, easy to put them against Lou and not see their brilliant minds. Kala had spoken Russian earlier, and now she’d apparently been conversing in French with the bartender. “I took four years of Spanish, and I can barely order a beer.”
Kala sat back as Pierre disappeared behind the bar. “Well, I just ordered another round of vodka tonics. Don’t worry. Though it hurts my soul, I asked him to go easy on the vodka since I’m working. And all he has is French vodka. What the hell kind of place is this?”
“A very French place.” She didn’t mention to her vodka-loving cousin that she deeply preferred grape-based vodka to potato. It would potentially start a war. “And thanks. I love a vodka tonic.”
“I know.” Kala turned in her seat. “I might need twenty of them since I have to explain this to you again. He thought he was protecting you. He was dumb about it, but that’s kind of how guys go.”
Carys shook her head. “It’s not about the Agency stuff. It’s about The Court. With Tris gone, going to the club was more of a social thing for me and Aidan. We went and talked to our friends and spent time in privacy rooms. I didn’t feel some deep need to find another Dom.”
Kala shook her head. “But you did need him. You needed his dominance.”
“I didn’t think about it at the time. Maybe I was too upset to really think about what was missing. I don’t know. I want to understand why he needed to top someone else.”
Kala’s eyes closed, and when she opened them there was sympathy on her face. “I can only tell you why I have to. Believe me there are days I wish I wasn’t wired like this.”
She’d come down because she’d thought Kala might be able to explain this in academic terms. She’d never thought her cousin would open up this way. She was almost afraid to ask questions because it might scare her off, but she had one she couldn’t ignore. “Because Cooper’s a top, too?”
“There are many reasons, but I suppose that’s one of them.” Kala’s eyes were dark in the low light. She’d put in colored contacts before they’d left for the hotel, and it made her look even more grim than usual. “I’m not sure I got to choose.”
“What does that mean?”
She seemed to think about whether she wanted to continue. Pierre came back carrying an elegant bottle. He used a corkscrew to cut through the wrapper and then came the pop from uncorking, proving the vodka not only wasn’t Russian but was high-end stuff.
“It means I had something happen to me,” Kala said quietly. “It happened when I was dumb enough to get kidnapped so your brother would walk into his stalker’s trap. I don’t talk about it so you’re not getting the story, and if you say anything…”
“I wouldn’t. Ever. I would never tell your secrets, cousin, but I worry if you don’t ever talk, they’ll take you down.” She’d been aware Kyle had been in trouble once years before. They’d all gone into lockdown, and Kala hadn’t been there. But she’d been assured her cousin came through it all fine. “You don’t have to tell me anything. I’m sorry I asked.”
Kala was oddly fragile at times. Now Carys had an idea why, and it broke her heart.
“Don’t be.” Kala seemed to shake it off. She smiled Pierre’s way when he slid the drink in front of her and then Carys. “Merci, mon ami.”
Pierre inclined his head and then moved back down the bar, picking up his cell phone.
“Test it first.” Kala slid a thin test strip into Carys’s drink. It came back clean. “Every time someone hands you a drink, you test it. Unless you pour it yourself and you opened the bottle, you test.”
Carys nodded. Kala tested her own drink and seemed satisfied with the results.
“I will.” They were going into Huisman’s world tomorrow.
Kala slipped the test strips back into her bag and held up her glass. “Za tva-jó zda-ró-vye.”
She knew this one since she’d spent many days with her Aunt Charlotte. She clinked glasses with her cousin. “To your health.”
Kala took a long drink and set it back down. “All right. You want to know if there’s anything sexual about Tris playing at The Court. Probably.”