Chasing His Kickass Luna Back novel Chapter 33

Abby

Karl walks into the kitchen, and I force myself not to look at him as he strides over. I’m almost done prepping food for the line cooks, and I don’t have time to get into it with him. There’s only so much stress one person can handle before they go crazy, and I’m reaching my limit.

We’re booked out again, and one of my waiters called in sick, making us even more understaffed than usual. If not, I probably would have told Karl to just go home. I need to repost my ad sometime soon. There must be people out there who want to work in the kitchen, even as a dishwasher. I don’t know if I can keep working with him after everything.

He stops at my station and hovers for a moment. I wait for him to say something, but he doesn’t. I slide the pile of carrots off the edge of the blade and give him an arch look. “What do you want, Karl?” “Can we talk for a moment?”

“No. I’m busy.” I don't have time to deal with Karl and his bullshit.

“We can talk here if it’s easier,” he says.

He knows that’s not going to happen. John is standing two feet away, not to mention Daisy and Freddy chatting in the corner with Jack. The last thing I need is for everyone to find out we used to be married, or that Karl is an Alpha.

“Fine,” I snap, putting down the knife. “But I don’t have a lot of time.”

He follows me into my office, closing the door behind him. I turn to face him and cross my arms over my chest. I can’t imagine what he plans to accomplish in the next few minutes. Continuing our argument from last night isn’t going to get him anywhere.

He must read those thoughts on my face because he puts his hands up. “I don’t want to argue, Abby. I just want to talk.”“I have nothing to say to you.”

He takes a step forward but stops when I narrow my eyes. “Please, Abby. You have to know I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Well, if you didn’t mean to, then it must be alright.”

He runs his fingers through his hair, looking slightly flustered. It’s probably the first time I’ve seen him like this, but I’m too angry to care.

“I can’t believe you didn’t even trust me enough to talk to me about it,” I say.

“Abby–”

I cut him off before he can continue. If he’s going to force me to talk, then I might as well get this off my chest. “I trusted you. I never would have done something like that to you, but you were so quick to believe it, anyway. How could you?” My voice breaks a little at the end, and I close my mouth before I get myself into any more trouble. I don’t want him to know how much he’s hurt me.

A sorrowful expression crosses his face, and he takes a step closer. “I never wanted to hurt you.” “But you did,” I say softly.

He visibly winces. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” It’s maybe the first time he’s ever really apologized to me for anything, but it doesn’t change what happened between us. “I’m sorry I ever trusted you in the first place.”

He crosses the distance between us, forcing himself into my space. I take a step back, but there’s nowhere to go. “Don’t say that!” he growls.

He’s so close to me, I can feel his warm breath on my cheek. I clench my jaw and refuse to look at him. “Just leave me alone, Karl. You’re only making things worse.”

“Abby–”

“I hate you.” I mostly say it because of how he reacted last night. I know it’s the one thing that’ll hurt him the most. But honestly, I’m not sure if it’s really what I want to say. What do I want to say? I don’t know. All I know is that I’m angry, and hurt, and I feel betrayed and disgusted. Maybe I do hate him, at least a little.

He wraps his broad hands around my arms before I have the chance to slip away. “Look at me,” he growls. The pure command in his voice makes my spine straighten. I don’t want it to, but his command is impossible to ignore. I might hate it, but he’s still the Alpha.

I lift my chin and meet his piercing gaze. He squeezes my arms, not enough to hurt, but enough to get my attention.

“I get that you’re angry,” he says. “You can be as mad at me as you want. I know I deserve it.” His voice lowers, and he leans in. If I move even slightly, my lips will brush his. I hold myself still, forcing down the thought that maybe I wouldn’t mind if they did.

“Yes, you do,” I say.

“Say whatever you want. Be angry for as long as you want. But don’t ever say that you hate me.” He presses his forehead to mine, and I tense even further. “Please, don’t.”

I could force him to move, but something stops me. The sort of something I’ll have to question later when I can think straight again. I squeeze my eyes shut, and a tear slips free.

“Karl, I…”

Suddenly, there’s a loud knock on the door behind us. Karl pulls away, turning from me. I wipe the back of my hand across my cheek and look up at the door.

“Yes?” I call.