“No, pretty boy. And you’re not going to tell her about any of this, either.”
Bas clicks his tongue. I’m not sure if it’s because hehatesit when I use ‘pretty boy’ as a nickname for him or because he disagrees with my vehement answer. Probably both, though I’m leaning more toward the latter when he sighs and says, “Haven and Loni were best friends. Don’t you think she’d want to know that Loni’s back?”
“Haven is finally sleeping through most nights. She finally eats without me bargaining for her to take every bite. She finally moves around this house without looking like she’s plotting another escape. So no, Bas. I’m not walking upstairs and telling my wife that the girl she grieved for a decade is back in Harmony Heights and getting married to Desmond fucking St. James.”
Bas doesn’t flinch.
See? Andthat’s why he’s allowed in my house. Because he can hear the madness in my voice and still look me in the eye without letting me know he thinks I’ve lost it. I’m sure hedoesthink that, but he’s good enough not to show it.
Finally, he exhales roughly. “She’ll find out.”
I’m sure she will. “Maybe, but it won’t be today.”
“If Adrian pulls this off, he’ll probably want her and Loni to reconnect eventually.”
And? “Adrian wants a lot of things.”
“So do you, Con.”
I smile.
Bas sighs. “Don’t do that, bro.”
“Do what?”
“Smile like you’re one inconvenience away from committing another murder. Jack’s bad enough. Dallas and me are running out of places to bury the bodies for his old man. Don’t you start, too.”
I shrug and, whoops, suddenly my pocketknife is in my hand. I toss it from one palm to the next. “I’ll try, Bas, but maybe it’s better if you stop bringing me inconveniences.”
He thinks about that for a second. “Just thought you should know.”
“I appreciate it.”
Bas raises his eyebrows at me. “You sound like you don’t.”
“I appreciate you telling me. Gotta say, pal, I don’t really appreciate the information.”
“Trust me. I’m not too keen on it, either.”
Ain’t that the truth? “Look. I want this to work out for Adrian. If he needs any help?—”
“He knows where to find you.”
Exactly.
I think I surprised Bas. Sure, I’ve been keeping my nose out of Order biz lately, but that’s because my focus and attention is on Haven. I’m married, though, not dead. And in order to abandon one of my boys when they need me… I’d have to be dead first.
Once he’s finished his coffee, then decides he’ll choke down some toast before he gets back on his bike, I walk Bas out. I lock the door behind him, check the security feed out of habit, then stand in the hall for longer than necessary, all while thinking.
I should go upstairs. I should tell Haven something. Maybe not everything, butsomething. Loni is back. Loni is alive. Loni is within reach for the first time in years… and she’s about to betied to Desmond St. James or Adrian Heller, neither of which will make Haven happy to hear.
No. I can’t do that. Especially when I don’t know how Loni’s story is going to end… I can’t do that to my wife.
So I go upstairs, knock once on our bedroom door, and when Haven opens it with suspicion in her grey eyes, I smile like the selfish bastard I am.
“Bas says ‘hi’,” I say, and that’sallI say.
Her gaze narrows because she knows there’s way more to it than that. At the very least, I was down there with him for a while. I’m totally hiding something.
