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I turned toward the stairs, my head dizzy, ears still ringing.
“Clair.”
I turned back. He stood in the kitchen doorway and held out my phone.
I walked over and took it. He pressed it into my hand and held it there, staring into my eyes.
“No more running away,” he said.
“No more running,” I said.
“Good.” He released the phone. “I’m cooking. If you change your mind, come down. Or shout and I’ll bring something up.”
“Thanks,” I said and turned away.
I didn’t get why he was being nice to me. I got him in trouble, made him have to kill someone, and he’s still trying to feed me, trying to be kind.
Monsters like him weren’t supposed to be handsome and nice to me.
They were supposed to be bastards.
But maybe monsters came in all shapes.
I walked to the steps and went up, trying not to think of that man’s brains splattering from his skull.9LucaI let Clair sleep in the next day. She stayed in her room until around ten in the morning, when I finally heard her stirring. She showered and came downstairs, her eyes red and puffy like she hadn’t slept a wink.
“Morning,” I said. “Coffee’s in there, but it might be stale.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I don’t mind. So long as it wakes me up.”
She wore the same yoga pants from last night, plus a gray shirt cut off at the midsection, showing off her flat stomach and firm breasts. I followed her into the kitchen, leaned against the door, watched as she got a mug and filled it.
She took a long sip and looked at me.
“We should do something today,” I said.
“Can we… do that?”
I shrugged and made a shaky gesture. “Probably.”
“My uncle might get mad.”
“But I have a feeling you’ll go insane if we just stay in here.”
“Is it safe?”
“I won’t take you somewhere that’s not,” I said. “And the Jalisco don’t know about this place, so they won’t be able to follow.”
“I don’t know.” She chewed her lip.
“You can sit up in that room and sulk all day if you want,” I said. “I wouldn’t blame you, I mean, it’s not every day you see someone killed right in front of you.”
She looked away then down at her mug, took another sip. “Yeah,” she whispered.
“So you can sit up there and keep running it through your mind, over and over again, or we can go out and do some stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” she asked.
I spread out my hands. “Anything you want.”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“I have some errands I can run then,” I said. “Some little jobs. You might enjoy it.”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I’m not really interested in… whatever you do.”
I laughed and raised an eyebrow. “What do you think I do?”
“Sell drugs?” She sipped her coffee. “Shake down small businesses? Scare children?”
“None of the above,” I said. “I have guys for all that shit, including scaring children. Kids actually love me, I’m a lot of fun.”
“You kill men.”
“I do kill men,” I said. “When it’s necessary and they piss me off.”
“Did that guy piss you off?”
I stared at her, not sure why she didn’t get it.
“He hurt you,” I said. “I couldn’t let that go.”
“So you killed him for me then.”
“That’s right.”
She opened her mouth then shut it again. She walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. I tracked her with my eyes.
“Are your ears still ringing?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “Well, a little.”
“That’s a good sign. You’ll get used to it sooner than later.”
“Used to what?” she asked. “Killing?”
“No, the ringing. But killing too, if you stick with me.”
“I’m not sure I want that.” She held her mug in both hands, blew on it, sipped it again.
“Come on, let’s go do something,” I said. “I promise, no killing.”
She watched me, sipped her coffee, and sighed like she was about to do the most annoying thing in her entire life.
“Fine,” she said. “But nothing illegal. I don’t want to get arrested on top of everything.”
“Nothing illegal,” I said. “Well, nothing that illegal.”
She opened her mouth then shook her head. “Let me get changed.”
She stood up and went to slip past me. I grabbed her wrist as she went by, and she stared at me in surprise.
“No need to get changed,” I said, my voice low. “You look good like that.”
Her eyes drifted along my face, hung on my lips. She pulled her wrist away and I let her go.
“I’ll get changed anyway,” she said, and headed to the steps.
I watched her go up with a smile on my face. That girl was trouble, at least I was making her trouble. I really couldn’t help myself. There was something about innocent little Clair that drove me wild. Even though she was related to some of the hardest, most dangerous men in the whole damn world, she still seemed like she hadn’t been corrupted yet, like she’d been shielded from it.
