Page 23 of Allegiant

“He’s a Buckingham…”

Larry’s knuckles turn white as he grips his cane tighter. “What?”

“One of them has been meeting up with me and…you know…we’ve been having fun.”

Larry grunts. “Don’t like that family. Don’t trust them. People with that much money are never good inside. Trust me.”

I cock my head at that. “Why does it seem like you know them?”

His eyes shutter, and he turns his gaze back to the TV. “Don’t fucking know them. Just heard bad things.”

“I dunno. I mean, I think they’re pretty philanthropic, from what this article says. The eldest runs a scholarship fund.”

“They only do that to make up for the bad shit they do.”

I don’t know what that means, but my mind goes to the dagger at Samson’s hip, and I chew on my bottom lip. Maybe Larry is onto something. Or maybe Larry is an older man with nothing to do but be conspiratorial.

Maybe I need to get him out of the house to do some yoga or something.

Maybe he could take Nugget for a walk.

Scratch that. Nugget might be tiny, but the universe failed to inform him of that fact. He’d probably pull Larry’s shoulder out of joint.

Larry glares at me. “Whatever you’re thinking, put it out of your mind. I’m not going outside and exercising. I get enough of that as is.”

It’s not a good idea, but I can’t help but suggest it. Anything to tempt him. “Not even with Nugget?”

He glowers at me. “I don’t need to take your dog for a walk.”

I cock my head at him. He doesn’t look out of shape, but he doesn’t look like he moves much either. “Okay, so how about some hot yoga, then? Some tai chi in the park?”

“I’ll die. Is that what you want? You after my money?”

I snort and turn my gaze back to the TV. “No, Larry. I don’t care about money, as you well know. I just want you to live for a long time. You’re my best friend, I think.”

He settles deeper in his chair like he’s afraid I might bodily haul him from it. “You’re not mine.”

I ignore that because I think I just may be his one and only friend. I don’t even know if he has family. No one comes to visit him, and he never talks about anyone. The snooping I’ve done in his house has revealed nothing.

Then I realize I may be just the same as my unfortunate, aging friend. Because my parents didn’t make it to see my twenty-first birthday. The rest of my relatives are estranged. And the one person who was everything to me, I lost almost a year ago. My best friend, my only family. He was the one who knew me the best, the one who had my back no matter what.

He’s gone.

Dead.

And it’s all my fault.

Larry eventually forces me back to my own apartment. He poked me with his cane until I stood up and slunk back home. I didn’t really want to leave, which tells you the state of my mind. The thought of going back to my apartment alone is something else entirely. I have Nugget, and he keeps me company, but he also causes chaos.

There’s no peace in there, just the crushing loneliness. I’ll have to put on some music to keep the shadows that try to descend at bay. Dancing will help too. Not tons of room in my tiny apartment, but I make do.

But when I make my way toward my front door, my footsteps falter. Someone is lingering there, metal glinting in the dim light as it moves between fingers.

“Samson,” I breathe as my heart kicks up a beat. “Buckingham,” I add, and I know he hears me say that because the metal stops glinting, his head tilting up slightly. It’s dark out, but I can see his eyes flash as he takes me in.

“Didn’t take you long to figure that out,” he murmurs grumpily.

“It’s the unique name. And you have quite a presence online.”