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Minka’s shout carries across the restaurant so everyone trying to enjoy their breakfast jumps.
Instantly remorseful, Minka leans closer to me and whisper-hisses, “Tim is your brother?”
“Half-brother,” I mock-whisper back. “He’s the oldest. His mother died of suspicious circumstances, too.”
“I’m just…” She’s breathless. “I’m so… Jesus, Archer! I’m sorry. Is your father still a free man?”
I nod and reach across to steal a slice of her toast for myself. “The law won’t ever put him away. I know that, and he knows that. Tim knows it, too. So we stick to this city and stay away from the rest. Our father knows where we are, of course, but he doesn’t come looking. And if he ever did, we have a friend who would let us know before he arrived. In a decade and a half, he hasn’t come once.”
“And Tim?” She searches my eyes. “You were beaten and dumped, so I can see how you got out. But how did Tim get out?”
I shrug. “He just… turned up a couple months after I was booted. Followed me somehow, knocked on my apartment door, walked his ass in, and fought me every time I told him to go away.”
“He fought you?”
“Literally,” I snigger. “With fists. With words. With complete and utter disinterest in disappearing from my life when I told him to. Eventually, we stopped arguing, and instead, we sat in this very restaurant, ordered breakfast, he shared his toast with me, and now we live a co-existence where we, apparently, share fiancées.”
“He and I never…” She shakes her head. “We didn’t…”
“I know.” I set my toast slice back on her plate and pick up my spoon. “And having him next door to your apartment does my heart good. If you have to live near some asshole, I’m glad it’s him.”
“He’s so grumpy in the mornings when I wake him for coffee.”
I choke out a freeing laugh, and leaning closer to whisper again, I tell her, “He’s killed men for so much less.”
“Oh god.” Dropping back, Minka presses her hand to her face. “Am I now implicated in all this? If I snitch, am I dead?”
I snort. “No. The people who should know, know. And those who don’t need to, don’t.”
“Does Detective Fletcher know?”
“Yes.” I set my spoon back in my bowl and grab my coffee. “Fletch is my best friend besides Tim. He and I have to depend on each other to survive. We have to count on each other, which means we have no secrets.”
“Does Aubree know?”
“Fuck no. She’d freak out and shave all her hair off.”
Finally, a soft snicker makes it out of Minka’s throat. “She’s half in love with your br… your br…”She can’t say it.“Tim. Did you know that?”
“I figured, seeing as how she’s always looking at him with the googly eyes.”
“But he doesn’t feel the same way in return?”
I consider that, but all I can manage when attempting to picture Aubree and Tim together is a shrug. “I’d say he knows not to mess with someone like her. She deserves innocence. She deserves better, so he keeps his hands to himself and fucks around with women who are a little less… special.”
Pissed, Minka narrows her eyes. “So what am I?”
“What?”
“You fucked around with me,” she snarls. “You didn’t keep your hands to yourself. So you consider me a throwaway not worth more?”
“You want us to be more?”
“No! But I’m not disposable either, Archer!”
“I consider you a fucking siren.” I say the words without thinking. Without truly considering the repercussions of bringing her into my world. “I consider you a woman I saw get off a plane, and Ihadto follow you to find out more. I saw you, Minka, and I realized I’ve never wanted a woman until I wanted you.”
I take my coffee and use it to wash down the words I shouldn’t be saying. Declarations I’m a fool to make. “I think you’re tougher than Aubree,” I finally settle on. “You can handle the grittier side of life.”
