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I ran to the opposite side of the room, trying to get distance between us. “Stop it! Stop pressin’!”
“What is so bad that you had to pretend to stop lovin’ me?” Eli covered the distance I’d just put between us. I felt his chest against my back. His warmth felt like melted butter in my soul. Utterly Eli. He was my home. No matter where I ran, no matter where I went, Eli was my home.
Tears burned like cold fire on my lids. I tried desperately to keep them away but they fell anyway, the traitorous things. Eli gently tugged on my arm, forcing me to turn around. I could smell him. I could practically taste him. His ebony skin was inches from mine. His chest was to my eyes and I refused to change my gaze.
“Look at me.”
“No,” I squeaked. Eyes blurry with tears, I forced them to look at the ground.
“What are you hiding?” Eli bellowed. His voice rose so loud that it echoed in the room, reminding me of the story of Echo that I’d read with Mama. I didn’t remember much of the tale, but what I did remember was that Echo was cursed to only echo what other people said. She followed a man that she loved, but because she was cursed, she could only echo what he said. She could never say how she felt.
I wanted to tell him. My gaze was rising to his. It was rising deep from my belly. All the secrets I kept, all the pain I felt, all the shame I held—it needed to be set free. It demanded to be heard.
“What the fuck is this?” Eli and I both turned in unison to see Vic standing at the top of the stairs, eyes furious.
As if he’d just walked in on us about to burn down his apartment, Vic glared daggers from atop the stairs. I wiped the tears from my eyes and said, “Vic, this is my friend, Eli.”
“Your friend?” Eli asked, indignation lacing his voice. Of course Eli was more than my friend. He would always be more than a friend. He was my first lover and probably my last true love. He held pieces of me I previously thought unattainable. “Boyfriend” didn’t quite explain Eli and I, but I wasn’t about to explain our long, sordid story to Vic.
“I know who it is,” Vic replied, his eyes trained on Eli as he descended the staircase.
“You do?” Eli and I both replied, surprise in our voices.
“You asked me to look into Vera’s disappearance, or have you already forgotten?” Vic’s voice was tougher than gravel when he replied. I nodded, not comprehending what Eli had to do with that.
“Well,” Vic continued. “A lot of interesting shit has popped up, including but not limited to a man named Cruz Zeros, alias Zero.”
I gasped. “What does Zero have to do with Vera? Hold on… Zero’s name is Cruz? Vera said she had an ex-boyfriend named Cruz…” I stopped rambling as the implications whirled around my skull. Was it possible that the Zero I knew and loathed was the same Cruz Zeros that Vera had dated? That would be too weird. And impossible. Because Vera lived in Louisiana and Zero…
Zero was a drug lord who traveled to make sure his deals went down properly.
“Zero was more than Vera’s ex-boyfriend,” Vic said. “They did a lot of damage together in Louisiana. That’s not what concerns me right now, though. What concerns me is one of Zero’s henchmen in my house, with my sister.”
“What?” I gasped again, starting to feel like a southern belle in an old movie. Who was Vic talking about? There was only Vic, me, and Eli in the room; Lennox was upstairs (somehow sleeping through this altercation). Also, had he just called me his sister? Figures the first time he did that would be in anger.
As I peered at Vic, waiting for him to explain, it dawned on me. “Wait, are you implying that Eli has something to do with Zero?” Vic didn’t respond, only hardened his gaze on Eli further. I nearly laughed. “Eli is no henchman!”
Eli had yet to say anything to Vic. Instead he was steadily making himself appear taller. He’d also folded his arms, which I think was an attempt to push out his already roped muscles. I wouldn’t have been concerned—in fact I probably would have laughed, but Vic was doing the exact same thing. They were eyeing each other like two people on the wrong end of a bar. This testosterone show wasn’t doing anybody any good.
“Uh…Lennox?” I called out, hoping she would wake up. “Lennox!” I yelled again when Eli and Vic clenched their jaws. They reminded me of two bulls who’d gotten loose. I gave one last Hail Mary yell for Lennox, sighing in relief when I saw her appear on the staircase.
Wearing pajamas and with tousled red hair, Lennox had clearly just woken up. She smiled at me but the display of affection was short-lived when she saw Eli and Vic.
“So, who threw the glove at whom?” Lennox asked. Vic barely acknowledged her quip. “Seriously, guys, if you’re going to duel, you have to do it right. Twenty paces apart, with a pistol, and I think there needs to be a damsel.” Lennox eyed me. “Well, Grace is playing that part well enough.”
“Hey,” I muttered with lackluster indignation.
Lennox stepped in front of Vic, completely cutting off his line of sight to Eli. “Is Bruce Banner anywhere in there?”
“Go away, Lenny,” Vic said through gritted teeth.
“Excellent idea,” Lennox exclaimed as she grabbed Vic’s hand. She attempted to pull Vic away, but he stayed in his spot. I watched her work in fascination. Where I’d been completely terrified of all the vibrating male energy, Lennox walked right into it. She was like a superhero to me.
Lennox huffed. “You eyeing him like that is making me a little jealous.”
“Go away, Lenny,” Vic repeated.
“Seriously.” Lennox placed her hands on her hips. “You guys gonna fuck or what?”
