Rose rolled her eyes and turned to the window. She wasn’t mooning. She was planning strategy. Declan had to have a weak point. Somewhere. Everybody had a weak point.
He was arrogant. That was something. And he didn’t know the Edge. She had to give him some sort of challenge that involved knowing the terrain, something that appeared deceptively easy, so easy he didn’t try very hard until it was too late . . .
A man slid into the opposite chair. He had wide shoulders and green eyes, and he wore a Carolina Panthers ball cap on his head.
Rose stared in complete astonishment. A pair of worn-out jeans and a green sweatshirt toned him down a bit, but not nearly enough. She was aware of the shocked silence at the table next to her.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed.
“Perhaps I missed the sight of your lovely body,” he said.
“What?”
Declan leaned closer. “My promise not to ravish you doesn’t extend to this fine establishment, does it? As I recall, it’s only valid under your roof. How could I pass on such an opportunity?”
“If you touch me, I’ll hit you with this chair,” she ground out.
“I had no idea you enjoyed rough courtship,” he said with a straight face. “It was never my particular favorite, but I’ll do my best to play along, provided I’ll get you in the end.”
Rose opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“Would you like me to be quiet?” he asked.
“Yes!”
“If you kiss me, I promise to be quiet for a very long time.”
The thought of him bending down and kissing her zinged through her brain, and she clenched her hands together under the table, grimly determined to hide it. “You have no sense at all, do you?”
“You’re quite easy to rile up.” He leaned back. “Your brother is right. You don’t date.”
In her mind she picked up the chair and hit him over the head with it. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I might have a word with your employer,” Declan said. “Amy mentioned that he decided not to pay you.”
Amy shouldn’t listen to other people’s phone calls. “You’ll do no such thing. How did you find me?”
“I followed you. You walk quickly, but I’m used to marching.”
“You can’t be out here. This is the Broken!”
“I’m aware of that,” he said. “Crossing into it felt like my guts were being ripped out.”
“You could’ve died.”
He shrugged. “I doubt it. It hurt, but the pain passed.”
She once saw a caravan master from the Weird try to cross into the Broken. He’d gotten upset over the prices and decided he’d go and get the Broken goods for himself, cutting out the Edger middlemen. Two steps into the nine-foot-wide boundary he went into convulsions. The Edgers let him hurt for about a minute or two and then came to get him. He didn’t complain about the prices anymore after that. Declan’s crossing must’ve been agony. She didn’t quite know what to make of it.
“Where did you get the clothes?”
“Leanne gave them to me. She insisted, actually. She said my appearance might cause a, how did she put it, ‘fainting epidemic.’ ”
Dear God.
Behind Declan the door swung open, and Brad Dillon sauntered into the Burger King. “Well, lookit here. Rose Drayton and her faggot boyfriend. We meet again.” Brad’s voice rang through the Burger King, and Rose found herself the focal point of ten stares. At the counter Juniper went white with fury.
Rose glared. First, Declan, now Brad. She just couldn’t catch a break.
Brad slouched in the aisle, hand in the pockets of his jeans. “Wait. You’re not the same guy, are you? You get around, Rose.”
Declan glanced at him and looked back to her. “Who is he?”
“Nobody,” Rose ground out, looking at Brad. “Are you following me now?”
“I saw your friend from across the street and couldn’t help myself.”
They’d had run-ins before, but he’d never followed up like this. For one, she knew where to find him—he still lived in his trailer in the Edge, where she was the strongest. For another, she never rose to the bait. But now he’d met William, decided he was easy pickings, and wandered over to harass him. Except Declan wasn’t William.
“Piss off, Brad!” Latoya called from her table.
“Shut the fuck up, Mophead, before I come over there and make you swallow your teeth.”
Declan’s green eyes fixed on Rose. Brad couldn’t see his face, but she could. It was merciless and so iced over it was nearly cruel. “This is Brad?”
Rose was too mad to answer.
“Do you want to keep talking to him?” Declan asked.
“No.”
The blueblood rose. “Excuse me for a moment.” He nodded to Brad. “Let’s go chat.”
Brad pulled his hands out of his pockets. “I’m always up for a chat.”
They left the Burger King, heading to the left, Declan moving in unhurried strides and Brad ambling to the right of him. Rose stared after them, stunned. Now what?
At the counter Juniper waved her thin arms. “Rose, drive-through window! Come on!”
Rose jumped up and ran behind the counter, following Juniper to the back, Latoya at her heels. She ducked between the fryer and the wall and ran into a patch of freshly mopped tile.
“Careful, wet, wet!” Juniper yelled.
Rose’s feet slid on the floor. She crashed into some boxes and scrambled to the window. The two men stood in back, past the drive-through lane. Juniper flipped the switch, and Rose heard Declan’s voice, distorted by static.
“You want to talk, now’s a good time,” Declan said.
“Fu—”
The punch was so quick, Rose barely saw it. Brad stumbled back, clutching at his gut, shook his head, and lunged at Declan. “Sonova—”
Declan’s fist caught him in the left side with a solid crunch. Brad stumbled to the side, wincing.
“Ouch,” Latoya squeaked.
Brad whipped about. “I’ll—”
Declan rammed his fist into Brad’s solar plexus. Brad bent over. Spit dripped from his mouth in a long sticky strand. He clenched and vomited a gush of foamy liquid onto the asphalt.
“Eww. In my goddamn parking lot, too.” Juniper skewed her face.
“That last one hurt a bit,” Declan said. “Take it easy. You have time.”
Brad made some hoarse noises and stumbled a few steps, still bent over. About ten seconds later, he finally straightened and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Ready?” Declan asked.
Brad raised his fists. “Motherfu—”
The punch took him off his feet. He curled on the ground, cradling his gut.
Declan leaned over him. “Done?”
Brad nodded, his face twisted.
“Okay. Anytime you want to speak to Rose, you let me know and we’ll do this again. Understand?”
Brad nodded again.
Declan rose and headed to the entrance.
Rose ran back in a mad dash, sliding on the slick floor. By the time Declan reached the door, she was barring the doorway. “Let’s go out for some fresh air.”
“As you wish.”
Brad chose that moment to stagger out from behind the Burger King, holding a cell phone to his ear. At the sight of them, his eyes went wide and he ducked behind the building.
A moment of vicious satisfaction claimed her, but Rose had no time to savor it. She grabbed Declan’s arm and pulled him down the narrow sidewalk, away from Brad before he saw him and decided to finish what he started. “What are you doing?”
“Walking with you.”
“You can’t just come in and destroy my life!” She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. He was trying to help, and he’d done a lot for her. “I’ve known Brad for years. He has done people a lot of favors, the kind one doesn’t forget. What happened between us happened long ago, and he was punished for it already. You just started a new war. He’ll be gunning to get at me now.”
“He’s most welcome to try it,” Declan said with a grim finality that promised painful things in Brad’s future.
“You just don’t understand. Just like with Amy’s roof.”