Devil's Due [h.s.]

Chapter 28

"Riv," Raven snapped the fingers on her free hand in front of my face. "Where'd ya go, bug?"

"Sorry," I cleared my throat, grabbing hold of her wrist and lowering it down. "No. Don't worry. No need for the knife. Put that thing away before you poke my eye out–"

"I'm not convinced," Raven said flatly, but reluctantly tucked the switchblade back into her pocket. She crossed her arms over her chest. "He seems... questionable. Did he tell you the real reason he was all beat up?"

"He got into a fight." I affirmed after a beat, careful not to hesitate. Quite frankly, I was the worst liar. And piling on one after the other was not going to be healthy for my mental sanity whatsoever.

"Mm," Raven chewed on the inside of her cheek, glancing me once over, before finally retreating from the subject with a small sigh. "Fine." She held her hands up in mock defence. "I won't keep harassing you. You're a grown woman. Just... let me know if anything changes and you need some backup, okay?"

"I will," I nodded, giving her a small smile, before averting my attention back to the computer monitor where I pulled up my list of the clients that I had scheduled for today. When I allowed myself a small glance outside, there was now a black SUV pulled along the curb across from us. I tried not to frown at the sight.

Raven clicked her tongue and when I looked back at her, she was once again resting on the counter looking positively ready to burst at the seams.

"So..." she bit her lip, the dimple on her cheek popping out. It instantly made me think of Harry, of the few times I'd seen him smile wide enough to show his dimple. I immediately shoved the thought down, refusing to let him take up any space of my mind when he wasn't even here.

I cleared my throat. "So what?"

"How was it, you freak!" She reached forward to grab my wrists, giving them a harsh squeeze. "How was the sex? You're sure marked up enough from it–"

"God, Raven, not at work," I groaned with a small laugh, pulling my hands back. Once again, I felt a flush creep onto my face. It wasn't that I was embarrassed about what happened, more that... it was a lot to reminisce about so early in the morning when I was trying to keep myself as composed as possible.

"When have you ever been one to shy away from sex talk at work?" She rolled her eyes, lifting a knee onto the counter so that she could pull herself up to sit. "This is coming from the girl who went into graphic detail for a solid hour about Darren–"

"Don't bring up Darren, ew!"

"–and how he was so fucking bad that you had to tie him up and just get the job done yourself." She winked before adding, "There was entire family in the gallery showroom looking at art while you told me that story. Now you have an empty studio, and you refuse to talk? Cruel, honestly."

I huffed, narrowing my eyes. With a hand braced on my hip, I shrugged. "Yeah, I mean... Yeah. It was good, okay? There. That's all you get."

Raven reached out again, trying to pull my shirt down in order to better see the marks on my skin. "Until?" She asked teasingly.

I swatted her arm away, shooting her an annoyed look. "Until what?"

"Until when? When am I gonna hear the rest of this story?"

I hesitated for a second, playing over in my head how much I was willing to divulge.

"Until... I don't know." A small pang of guilt shot through me. I reached forward to throw the scarf back around my neck, carefully and meticulously.