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Then, too, we would be able to go into the new year without anything hanging over our heads.
"He brought more coffee," Astrid called, making me stop short, realizing Roderick was back, standing in the kitchen, pulling coffees out of a tray.
"Figure it is going to be a long day," he told me, holding out a cup, and I found myself really careful not to let our fingers brush. Like there would be a spark or something cheesy and unrealistic as that.
"How did you know we were going to agree?"
"Because it's me or having Reign on your ass. And I don't know if you know what kind of year that man has had, but he'd be looking for an outlet for that kind of anger."
Cam's eyes held mine for a second, knowing. "Yeah, see, Cam agrees... everyone knows Reign doesn't hurt women."
"Cam looks like a man to me. And he might not do anything, but if you get the girls club stirred up enough, they might decide to step in. Working with me is the smartest bet for all of you. We can get all this handled and have you back off of Reign's radar in a couple weeks."
"Working with might be pushing it. We will do this. But we don't need you all up in our shit while we do," I told him, taking a sip of the coffee he'd gotten me, tasting cream and caramel. Observant men, in my opinion, were possibly the sexiest of them all. They knew how you liked your coffee, if you changed your hair, if you were trying out a new perfume. Guys who paid attention were hot.
Maybe that was how Camden got women.
He was observant too. Almost freakishly so. But he likely needed to be when he couldn't communicate with most people.
"Sorry, mami, you're going to need to deal with me being here. Going with you when you talk to contacts or go to pick up. I'm not taking any risks here. Not with guns that are impossible to find as it is. If you line them up, then something goes south with the trade, we're all fucked. It's smarter for me to be here."
"He can stay on the couch," Astrid offered.
"Astrid," I hissed, never planning on letting him stay at all, even if I did agree to letting him be a part of the process.
"Or in Liv's bed," she offered, smiling. "She has plenty of room."
"The couch would be better than the car I've been living in," he said, making me feel a small - very, very small - stab of guilt.
Really, if it wasn't for us - me, mostly - none of this would have ever happened for him. He never would have been robbed, upset a client, pissed off his boss, lost the respect of his peers, tracked us down, staked us out, lived in a car.
He'd been putting up with a lot of shit just because I didn't want to lose one of my clients.
Really, the least I could do was extend the offer of the couch.
"I'm sure we could scrounge up some pillows," I agreed, feeling an odd little surge of what felt like excitement, like anticipation inside at the idea of him being around.
"So are you two going to go talk to Eduardo?" Astrid asked, on a one-woman-mission to push this man and me together, it seemed.
There was a throat-clearing, drawing our attention over to Cam whose chin was lifted, something I took for No, I'll go with you.
"But that would leave him with Astrid," I told him in a small voice, quiet enough for just the two of us to hear.
Torn.
That was the look Cam had then.
He was torn.
Because he loved us both, wanted to protect us both.
But in the end, he knew I was more capable of handling myself. Because while Astrid had a whole hell of a lot of training that we both insisted on, she hadn't been given many real-life opportunities to put them into practice.
And, quite frankly, we were okay with that.
And while I didn't get a danger or creep vibe off this guy, sometimes you never knew. Some people didn't vibe. Sometimes their evil was hidden deep, only surfacing when the situations were ideal for it to do so.
And we wouldn't risk that with her. Especially because she did her flirt thing on guys, some who maybe didn't like hearing no when she'd been working them for an hour. Until she decided to stop toying with men for her own power play, it was best not to leave her in the loft alone with some man whose impulses we knew nothing about.
Me, on the other hand, I'd rip his balls clean off his body with one hand if he so much as got too close.
"Who is Eduardo?" Roderick asked, leaning back against the counter, looking at home already as he sipped his coffee, oblivious to my ball-ripping thoughts.
