Chapter 70

Shiloh Fontenot-Stone stepped out of her new bedroom into the living room where her husband was standing and reading something on a tablet. “Okay, that’s a bit creepy.”

Kaius looked up from whatever he was reading. “What’s creepy?”

Shiloh leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms. “The movers put everything away.”

Kaius looked at the one big cardboard box that had been left in the corner of the living room. “Not quite everything.”

Shiloh looked at the box marked “cookware” and shook her head. “Don’t even get me started on that. I’m talking about my underwear drawer.”

Kaius looked up from the tablet as he strode towards her, crossing the living room in a half-dozen steps. Shiloh thought he was going to see for himself and turned in the doorway to let him through, but he stopped in front of her, put an arm around her waist, and drew her in close. Shiloh wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head back to look into his eyes. People often did a double-take when they saw Shiloh and Kaius together and realized they were not father and daughter. Even though he was only seven years older than her, Kaius Fontenot-Stone was taller than his wife by a foot and a couple of inches. He was also wide enough around that she could barely grip one wrist with the other hand when she hugged him like this. Shiloh’s friend-at-the-time Lara had once described him as “one big muscle with a mullet on top.” At Shiloh’s insistence, Kaius had divested himself of both the mullet and Lara in favor of a more professional-looking haircut and Shiloh herself, but being in his arms was like being gingerly encased in living, breathing concrete.

Kaius kissed Shiloh and stroked her hair. His lips tasted like the expensive Scotch he’d ordered at dinner, reminding her of the eye-popping bill that had come at the end of tonight’s meal. Her husband had encouraged her to eat and drink her fill because Nick, through his ever-present emissaries, was footing the bill. She’d done as she was told and enjoyed it mightily in the process, but three hundred dollars for a single meal seemed like a provocation and she had no desire to poke a sleeping tiger.

When he broke the kiss, he said, “That’s what full-service movers do, Reb.”

It took Shiloh a moment to remember what they’d been talking about. Kaius’s kisses had a way of doing that to her. Embarrassment washed over her, but one immediate effect of being in Kaius’s arms was that she couldn’t squirm away even if she tried. She still blushed, though. “My underwear drawer, Kaius.”

Kaius kissed her again. “If you didn’t want strange men pawing through your dainties, you had time to bring them over.”

“I didn’t get to it,” Shiloh complained.

“You made the appointment.” Kaius kissed her a third time.

Usually, three kisses from Kaius were enough to make Shiloh forget not only what they’d been talking about, but also her own name, and on one memorable occasion the fact that they were at a country club with a very active wedding reception going on one room over. This time, she managed to stay focused enough to say, “It wasn’t just my dainties. You remember that thing I bought to use on myself while we talked on the phone so I wouldn’t end up climbing the walls?”

Kaius chuckled, low and sexy. “You mean your vibrator?” When Shiloh blushed darker and nodded, he slid his hand down to her ass and squeezed. “What will the others think of you?”

“I don’t care,” Shiloh said automatically and defiantly.

Kaius kissed her again, hard enough to raise a whimper from her. “Reb, if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be blushing and worrying about the fact that some movers we’ll probably never see again touched your vibrator.”

Shiloh bit her lip and looked up at him. “You’re not mad?”

Kaius shook his head. “I think you should get it out now.”

Shiloh’s heart leapt. “What? Why? I don’t need it now that you’re here.”

Kaius had moved both hands to her ass now and squeezed in a rhythmic massaging motion. “I could hear that thing over the phone and just imagined what you would look like fucking yourself with it. I want to see if it’s as much of a turn-on in person.”

The idea should have been mortifying. Buying the device and doing what she’d done while on the phone with Kaius had taken a lot of courage, including the liquid kind. But Shiloh didn’t seem to know the trick of being turned on and mortified at the same time. Before they’d left to make room for the movers, Kaius had already promised they would “christen” the new apartment after dinner and that promise had set off a dull ache in her loins that never entirely went away. With her body warmed by good food and drink, she was ready to agree to just about anything Kaius asked of her tonight.

She stepped over to the dresser and retrieved the unmarked cardboard box her vibrator had come in. Kaius said, “It was in a box?”

Shiloh nodded, opened the box, and slid out the sleek silver wand. “Do you think they peeked?”

“I would have, but maybe they’re more professional than I would be,” said Kaius. “Come here, but leave the box in the drawer.”

Shiloh did as she was told. A lifetime ago, she’d thought of herself as an out-of-control party girl, but over the intervening years since meeting Kaius she’d come to realize he was by far the more transgressive of the two of them. Much of what she now considered normal between them had started with Kaius pushing the envelope and daring her to leave her comfort zone.

She walked up to where Kaius stood in the doorway with the device held in front of her like an offering. Kaius smirked. “It doesn’t even look like a cock.”

“I don’t use it like a cock,” said Shiloh simply.

“How does it turn on?” asked Kaius.

Shiloh twisted the base, causing the device to vibrate and buzz in her hands. Kaius went down on one knee in front of her like he wanted a closer look, but instead he reached up under the hem of her dress and in one sudden motion pulled her panties down so that they fell to her ankles. “Show me how you do use it.”

Shiloh felt faint from the wave of desire that washed over her at Kaius’s words. She stepped out of her panties and sat on the bed. When she leaned down to take off the high heels she’d worn to dinner, he said, “Leave your shoes on.”

Shiloh looked back at the bed. “On the comforter?”

“Yes.” Kaius had followed her and stood over her, but knelt again so that he was practically at eye level with the surface of the bed.

“They’ve been on New York City sidewalks!” Shiloh protested.

“Fine.” Kaius rolled his eyes, rose again, and went into the bathroom. When he emerged, he had a navy blue bath sheet in his hands. He laid it over one side of the bed, then picked Shiloh up from where she was sitting and laid her down on the oversized towel. She squealed his name, laughed, and tried to bite him on the shoulder all at once.

Kaius pulled away and sat down by her feet. “Spread your legs and show me how you use your little friend there.”

Once, Shiloh might have been afraid that this was all a setup to put herself in a position to be shamed for her own desires. She’d been with men who would do that, but Kaius had never been that sort of man. She spread her legs and slid her free hand down between her thighs. “I don’t start with my little friend immediately. I need to warm up a little first.” She looked down her own body at him. “It’s a little weird with you watching. If I close my eyes and pretend you’re on the other end of the line, will you talk to me the way you did over the phone?”

Kaius nodded and the last thing she saw before closing her eyes was the wolfish, hungry look he was giving as he looked up her dress. He said, “I miss your sweet cunt, Reb.”

That should have been too harsh for him to start the conversation with, but Shiloh was wound up enough that she gasped and pressed a finger into herself. “God, she misses you too, baby.”

“Do you know what I would do to you if you were right here in this room, you little tramp?” Kaius growled.

Shiloh’s fingertip slid to her tender, waiting nub and she let out a long, breathy sigh. “Tell me, baby?”

Kaius gave a low, hot chuckle. “First, I’d watch you do whatever it was you just did to make yourself gasp like that.”

Shiloh stroked herself, feeling her desire coalesce into pleasure. “I didn’t do anything, baby. That was all you.”

“Oh, really.” Kaius took one ankle in his hand and spread Shiloh’s legs wider. “You’re not just stroking my ego, are you, Reb? Because you know, if you were right here in this room, I’d be able to see what you’re up to.”

“Too bad you’re not in the room and you can only imagine what I’m getting up to.” Shiloh stroked faster and dipped a second finger in then deliberately cried out at her own touch.

“Well, I’m imagining you being unable to resist sliding your fingers between your legs and touching yourself while I tell you what I’d like to do to you,” said Kaius. “Do you have the item we talked about?”

“I do. If I hold it up near the phone, I bet you can hear it.” Shiloh didn’t want to think too hard about why this scene was working so well between her and Kaius. She’d never touched herself while talking to him and lied about it. When they’d had phone sex, which had been nearly every night, it had been hot and dirty and honest. Lying here on the bed imagining that her husband was on the phone imagining being there with her when he was in fact already there with her and watching her was somehow hotter than she’d expected, and teasing him with the lie had been instinctive.

“Is that where it belongs, near the phone?” Kaius challenged.

“No, it belongs somewhere else,” Shiloh admitted.

“Why don’t you put it where it belongs, then.” Kaius growled.

Shiloh placed the vibrator between her thighs and guided it to her swollen, tender flesh, drawing her hand away. She cried out at its touch and again as the pleasure built.

“Keep going, baby ... and keep your eyes closed.” Kaius rose from the bed and sat down again next to Shiloh. As she rocked against the surface of the device, he leaned across her, pulled down the top of her dress, unhooked her bra, sucked one breast into his mouth, and kneaded the other with a skillful hand. Shiloh cried out and bucked, but she couldn’t get far with her husband pinning the top half of her body down.

He kissed her lips hard. “Fuck that cunt, you dirty little slut.” Each harsh word tightened her core and she moved to obey, sliding a finger back inside herself while the vibrator worked its magic on her clit.

“God, Kaius!” she cried out.

“That’s it, baby. You want to come for me, don’t you?” Kaius demanded.

“God, yes!” Shiloh cried out and felt herself going over the edge at the question. “Fuck!”

Kaius didn’t say or do anything in the next few moments. If he was trying to draw out the moment, it made no difference. Shiloh came hard and hot, dropping the vibrator as its touch quickly became too intense. Even as wrapped up as she was in the moment, some small detached part of her mind watched with bemusement at the intensity of her climax. There had been nights when Kaius had played her body like a virtuoso and she hadn’t come hard enough to see the stars dancing in front of her eyes like she did now.

She was panting and her heart beating so loudly in her ears that she almost didn’t hear Kaius say, “May I?”

When she realized he’d retrieved the vibrator, she shook her head, eyes widening in alarm. “No, please! Too much, too soon!”

Kaius gave Shiloh such a look that she knew he might ignore her request just to see what happened. Even the look was enough to send a fresh mini-climax shivering through her. She loved the little thrill of fear that came every time she realized that Kaius had a bit of a devil in him and, whatever he decided to do to her, she couldn’t really stop him.

This time, he turned the device off and placed it on the bedside table. “Tell me when, baby.”

Shiloh looked over at the wand. Still panting, she said, “You want to use that on me? Couldn’t you just ... I don’t know, fuck me?”

“I could and I will, but I’m in no rush. Are you?” Kaius leaned down and licked her nipple, making her writhe.

“No!” she said much too loudly. When she could speak normally, she added, “But you must be rock hard right now. Don’t you want to be inside of me?”

“I am and I do.” Kaius unbuttoned his dress shirt as he spoke. “I was already rock hard a few times at dinner, Reb. I didn’t throw you over the table and take you there, though.”

“That’s probably just as well. I liked that restaurant.” Shiloh smiled to herself. “Expensive, though.”

“New York is expensive. We can afford it now, though. And certainly Nick can.” Kaius stripped out of one shirt, then the other.

Shiloh didn’t want to ruin the moment, but didn’t know when she’d get a better chance to broach the subject. “I hope he doesn’t get upset about how much of his money we spent.”

“If he does, we’ll know more about our situation here. But, I don’t think he will. I think we’ll have to push him a lot farther than that before he decides we’re a problem,” said Kaius.

A note in her husband’s voice made Shiloh raise her head. “Do we want him to decide we’re a problem?”

“We want to know how big of a problem we can be before he notices. Otherwise, we don’t know what we can get away with. If he looks at that bill and calls us onto the carpet when he gets back from Louisiana, we’ll know that we can’t get away with much of anything. If he doesn’t, we try something else and see how he feels about that.” Kaius picked up the tablet he’d been reading from. “I was looking at this packet SSCS gave us. Even at our relatively low level, Nick picks up the tab for a lot of things. There are plenty of opportunities to spend his money and find out where he cries uncle.”

The chill that went down Shiloh’s spine couldn’t really compete with the heat in her core, but it made itself known anyway. She asked, “Do we want to do that? I thought Nick was giving us a pretty sweet deal. You said we should take it.”

“He is and I did. But that doesn’t mean we should just take what we’re offered and just assume everything’s going to be hunky-dory. Nick’s like a hurricane.” Kaius retrieved the vibrator from the bedside table and held it up.

Shiloh knew she should focus on the conversation, but the pleasure coursing through her body demanded more. She wasn’t sure she was ready to be touched like that again, but she spread her legs and offered herself to her husband anyway. “How is Nick like a hurricane, baby?”

Kaius turned the vibrator on and considered it for a moment. “He’s going to do what he’s going to do and there’s really not much we can do to dissuade him once he gets moving.” He pressed the vibrator into her inner thigh a few inches below her sex and Shiloh’s body responded without her mind’s say-so.

As Kaius spoke, he guided the tip of the silver wand slowly towards Shiloh’s still-throbbing clit. “All you can do when a hurricane’s coming is get the best possible information and make your decisions based on that. Do you stay home with your flashlights and candles? Do you move to higher ground? Or do you make a run for it and get as far away as you can.”

“Kaius ... please,” Shiloh moaned as she realized he was guiding the wand in a tight spiral over her flesh and could take some time getting to the point.

Kaius kissed her stomach and didn’t change the pace or the direction he was moving the wand. “No rush, baby. Clear skies tonight.”

Shiloh moaned again, but nodded. Kaius went on, “Nick’s plan to make Malcolm back down is a good one, but Malcolm’s too stupid to know what’s good for him.”

“I...” Shiloh wanted to say that there was no way she could concentrate on what Kaius was saying if he didn’t stop what he was doing, but he gently shushed her.

“Just listen, baby. You don’t need to speak. Malcolm is going to make Nick crush him and Nick’s put himself in a position where he has no choice but to go through with it. My brother is a walking dead man,” said Kaius.

Shiloh whimpered. She didn’t know if Kaius thought Malcolm would actually wind up dying from his conflict from Nick or if she was supposed to want that. Kaius brushed a fingertip between her legs. “You are soaking wet, Reb.”

She nodded emphatically. Kaius leaned down and kissed her pussy without using his tongue or opening her more than she’d opened herself. Her whole body trembled violently anyway. He raised his head. “If I were in Nick’s position and found myself forced to grind Malcolm under my heel, I’d want to put someone else on his throne - probably George Laird.”

Shiloh let out a wordless protest. She had nothing personal against George Laird, but his wife Lara was another story. Lara still thought Shiloh had stolen Kaius from her and wasn’t entirely wrong. Worse, George was a weak man and thoroughly besotted with Lara. George running Shreveport might actually be worse than Malcolm.

Kaius went on torturing her flesh while he painted a picture with his words. “George knows the city, knows the players. Hell, he could probably run things without Malcolm better than Malcolm can without George. He’s a better businessman and a better person. Plus, he’s already been shown how easily he can have everything taken away from him. Did you see his face when Pilar threw him out of the limo?”

“I ... was watching ... Lara,” Shiloh managed to pant.

Kaius chuckled. “Yeah, that was something. But, I was watching George. He looked like he’d just been told he had forty-eight hours to live. If Nick throws him a lifeline, he’ll have an ally for life.”

Shiloh moaned. “Lara...”

“Lara wants to be a Stone more than anything else in the world. She’s been petitioning the family trustees on it forever. If Nick could make that happen...”

Shiloh let out a sound that might have been a protest and might have been pleasure. Her senses were too mixed up to tell the difference between strong feelings anymore. Kaius finally guided the wand between her legs and honed in on her clit. Shiloh was so primed, she momentarily lost any thread but the pleasure screaming through her veins into her brain. There was pleasure and nothing else.

She came down and found Kaius looming over her, found herself clinging to him, her own hair damp against her face, her lips kissing him or being kissed. Her whole body felt like a live wire, like anywhere Kaius touched her could make her come again. He was looking in her eyes and seemed to know when she’d become aware of the world around her again because he said quietly. “On the other hand, that could be us.”

“What?” Shiloh thrilled at the words, but didn’t trust them to be true.

“I know the city. I know the players. I know George and I would treat him a lot better than my brother ever did.” Kaius manhandled Shiloh’s leg to let himself slide in under it and kneel between her thighs. At some point during Shiloh’s torment, he’d become as naked as she was. She opened herself wider to him than she knew she could as if she could pull him into herself if she was exposed enough. Kaius scooped up one leg, then the other, hooking them over his shoulders. He pushed forward. “If Nick and I became friends, he would almost certainly think I was a better choice than George Laird.”

He fucked her then - savagely, violently, and with only the most brutal, demanding rhythm. Shiloh loved being fucked like this. Usually, it made the whole world disappear and her mind go blank. Today, it trapped her inside her own head with thoughts of taking power, of moving into a big house like Malcolm’s, calling the shots like Malcolm did, making Lara Fucking Bourgeoise-Laird grovel and scrape to her like she did to Malcolm. Hell, she could kick Lara out of a different limo in a different neighborhood every day of the week and make her walk home. The sight of Lara’s face when Pilar had told her to get out was burned into Shiloh’s memory and it played over and over again in her mind’s eye, cycling with her pleasure under Kaius’s assault on her senses.

Afterwards, she lay flat on her stomach, too drained to move. Kaius picked up the wand again and turned it on. She shivered in fear in anticipation, but he turned it off again. “Did Nick buy that for you?”

“What? No.” She didn’t move. Kaius didn’t sound like he was angry, just asking a question. “I bought it myself.”

Kaius put the wand down and picked up his tablet. “He might have if you’d wanted him to. There’s a big section on sexual wellness in our insurance plan. Hang on.” He scrolled a little. “Here. It says, ‘Devices for sexual stimulation can be considered part of a patient’s holistic sexual health and are eligible for reimbursement up to three hundred dollars per year per adult family member.’ Did that cost more than three hundred dollars?”

“Ninety bucks,” said Shiloh.

“How’d you know to pick this one? There must be like a million choices. I saw a bunch of them at college, but they all looked like big rubber dongs with veins on them and shit,” said Kaius.

Shiloh raised her head fractionally to look at him. “What were you doing with a bunch of big rubber dongs in college?”

“Fraternity stuff, childish pranks. We used to carry them around and photobomb people. We’d stick them in the planters on the quad so they looked like cactuses. As a pledge, I had to sing ‘I Feel Pretty’ into one at a karaoke bar.” Kaius chuckled. “Good times.”

“Don’t let me catch you singing into mine.” Shiloh reached for the wand, but Kaius pulled it away from her.

“I don’t want you to fuck Nick,” said Kaius.

Again, it didn’t sound like an accusation. Shiloh frowned. “I don’t want to fuck Nick.”

“Nick wants to fuck you,” said Kaius.

“What makes you think that?” Shiloh stretched a little.

“I asked him and he told me,” said Kaius. “Or, more specifically, he said that you were a beautiful woman and that, if you were available and he wasn’t getting more ass than a toilet seat, he would certainly make a go at you.”

Shiloh rolled to face Kaius. “Nick said that?”

“I’m paraphrasing,” said Kaius.

“I hope you told him I’m not available,” said Shiloh.

“I didn’t. I don’t think he’d believe me if I did. You’d probably have to tell him ... if that’s what you want to do,” said Kaius.

“And why...” Shiloh reached out and stroked her husband’s powerful thigh. “ ... would I not want to tell Nick that I’m unavailable?”

“Nick is very generous with his friends. He’s very generous with the women he’s sleeping with. But, I bet he’s most generous with the women he wants to sleep with, but hasn’t yet. If he thought he had a chance with you...” Kaius shrugged.

“You think he might hand Shreveport over to you in order to make me happy?” Shiloh took a deep breath.

“I think it would help...” said Kaius.

Shiloh rolled on her back. She couldn’t look her husband in the eyes and think clearly about this. She stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine flirting with Nick and the women around him, but all she could see was herself sitting on a throne with Lara Laird spit-shining her Louboutins. She said quietly, “What about Nick’s women? That’s how I got to you ... through Lara.”

“You know I don’t worry about you and other women, Reb. You need this too badly.” Kaius cradled his cock in one hand.

Shiloh couldn’t disagree with that. She’d fooled around with girls and gone farther with Lara when it had been the three of them. She was never going to leave Kaius for another woman. But of course, she was never going to leave him for another man either. She stared at the ceiling and thought and, even after she’d made a decision, let Kaius wait and stew for a while longer before she said. “If I do this, you have to swear to me that you’ll never forget that it’s a game and I’m doing it for us.”

Ainsley waited until after she’d rented a car and she and Pilar were strolling through the Shops at Ithaca Mall to say anything of substance about her morning with Artemis. They talked about many other things including the excesses of the night before, Lev’s arrest and subsequent release, and the property the Ramshackle was on, but all Ainsley would say about her trip out to the range with Artemis was that she was still processing it to decide how it had gone.

She specifically waited until Pilar asked her a truly prosaic question. That moment came when, inside the Bath & Body Works, Pilar handed Ainsley a bar of moderately fancy French-milled soap and asked, “Do you like the smell of this?”

Ainsley smelled it and handed it back to Pilar. “It’s acceptable, but I do wonder why you told Artemis that I came up here to find out if she was a stalker.”

Pilar dropped the soap into her shopping basket. “You did come up here to find out if she was a stalker.”

“Well, yes. But, I was pretty sure you understood that the best way for me to make that determination was if she didn’t realize that was why I was here or ... failing to realize it on her own, be told by someone who’s supposed to be my ally in this,” said Ainsley pleasantly.

“I understood that. But, I wanted to enlist her help in keeping you up here for a couple of days at least before you rushed back to New York.” Pilar brought down a luffa in the shape of a mitten from the shelf. “I guess she told you about that?”

“She did - right after she scared the living shit out of me by pretending to be a total over-the-top stalker and hinting that she might murder me and wear my skin as a disguise to get closer to Nick,” complained Ainsley.

“That would be a terrible disguise. You’re taller than her and your skin would be too tight in the chest,” said Pilar. Before Ainsley could retort, she added, “Why don’t we finish shopping for toiletries and talk about this over lunch?”

“It’s not even eleven o’clock,” Ainsley pointed out.

“So, you’re not hungry yet? You barely touched breakfast,” said Pilar.

“I didn’t want to risk throwing up on Churchmouse again. He already smirks at me every time I look at him,” grumbled Ainsley. “But, yeah. I could eat.”

Once they’d finished shopping, each picked out a lunch from the many questionable choices at the food court, and sat down at a table where they had little risk of being overheard, Ainsley tried again. “So, why did you tell Artemis that I thought she was a stalker?”

“I thought that, if you didn’t have an answer to that question for a few days, you would stick around,” repeated Pilar. “I knew I could just put off telling you anything I knew about the oil tank, but that would mean holding up work. Also, I wanted her to feel like I owed her a favor.”

“The Ben Franklin thing, I get that,” said Ainsley. “But, why did you want to keep me up here longer? Do you really want to sleep with me that badly?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” Pilar popped open her Diet Coke.

Ainsley stabbed a bit of iceberg lettuce with her fork. “Frankly, yes. You’re not recruiting me for Nick. You don’t really need another lover yourself. And you can’t believe you’re going to mold me into another version of yourself like you’re doing with Emily. So, I don’t see the point. I know we have this eternal contest going on between us, but it’s not really enough of a reason for you to go to all this trouble to prove you can seduce me, is it?”

Pilar spoke casually. “It’s not, no. You’re gorgeous, Ainsley and I certainly wouldn’t regret hooking up with you, but I really wasn’t planning before we left New York yesterday.”

“So, what? You’re lonely up here? I get the sense Artemis wouldn’t take much convincing if you just wanted to scratch an itch,” Ainsley pointed out.

Pilar gave a rueful chuckle. “That is undoubtedly true. She nearly had me after I approached her about stringing you along. I completely forgot what I was supposed to be doing. If she hadn’t stopped, you would have come out of the shower and found the two of us in flagrante delicto.”

“You let her get the upper hand?” Ainsley knew Pilar had shifted the topic of conversation, but couldn’t resist following.

“‘Let’ isn’t really the word. The girl moves fast,” said Pilar.

Ainsley shook her head in wonder. “She told me she doesn’t mind playing games, but that she’s a player, not a pawn.”

Pilar sat back and gave Ainsley a thoughtful look. “Maybe we should take her word for that. What do we think about her and Nick, then?”

“I don’t think we could keep Nick off of her with a firehose,” admitted Ainsley. “Plus, I think she’ll keep you on your toes. I’m going to tell Nick that I like her.”

“I like her too, and I agree with your take on how much Nick will like her. I’ll bring her to him gift-wrapped if Kiki doesn’t beat me to it,” said Pilar.

Ainsley ate for a minute, partly to give herself some conversational room, but also to get some calories into her system. Her stomach was pretty well settled and she really was running on close to empty. Finally, she looped the conversation back around. “So, why did you want to keep me up here for a few days, then? It’s obviously not for my flat chest and my Ivy League holier-than-thou bullshit.”

“Actually, you have amazing tits, but I did it because you were right with what you said in the soap aisle,” Pilar gave Ainsley just enough time to come up with a smart-ass answer, then spoke before she could get it out. “You said we were supposed to be allies.”