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Ben smiled, but he didn’t disagree.
"You guys are not going to put me in a box for the rest of my life to keep me safe," I said firmly.
"Actually, I was going to stay in the shower with you," Jake said. "To keep me safe. You'll protect me, right?" He wiggled his brows.
"Me too," Cooper said. He frowned briefly, then added, "What is El short for?" He looked from me to Jake and back again. "I heard him call you that."
The side of my mouth drew back. "It's short for Elodie. That's the name I was born with."
He smiled. "That's pretty.” After a moment, he added, “Can I keep calling you Ivory? It sounds so badass."
I smiled back at him. "Please do. Especially in front of other people." I gave Jake a meaningful glance.
He shrugged. "I didn't think anyone was listening. And I was worried about you. And you were going to tell him sooner or later. And Ben already knows."
"I guess so," I agreed.
"I feel like I just got membership into some exclusive club," Cooper said. He looked awed.
Sometimes he was so fucking cute I couldn't believe it.
I laughed softly. "You got that the moment I won your auction. And let me fuck you." The connection I had with the guy was so damn strong it was almost scary. Especially since we'd known each other for a handful of days. The bond I had with Jake grew over time, and was irreplaceable, but this was no less real. And Ben… That was something I needed to think about later. And then there was Hutton.
All of this thinking about guys and relationships was starting to make my body throb with heat. Nothing would ever be simple again, would it?
"We should hurry," Jake said. "I don't know about you three, but I'm not in the mood to answer questions from the cops."
I wasn't worried about the police. They either worked for me or wouldn't believe me if I told them about Dagen. Either way, talking to them would be a waste of time.
"See if you can slip them some evidence or something," I said. "I doubt they'll figure it out before he tries something else." People like him and me were too good at covering their tracks. It was what we did. Sometimes I felt sorry for the cops assigned to cases like this. Many of them were decent, hard-working people. Many were paranormal like us. They knew they would never get to the bottom of this, no matter how hard they tried. And the innocent people caught up in it… That blood was on Dagen's hands.
"I'm guessing the guy who quit two days ago wasn't a coincidence," Cooper said. "I mean, that would be the mother of all coincidences. Right?"
"Coincidences are usually as real as Santa," Jake said dryly. "He's probably disappeared off the face of the planet. Either voluntarily or not so much."
"We can try to track him down when the dust settles," I said. The people in the shops and offices nearby should at least have some idea what he looked like. They wouldn't be much help right now though, not with police and ambulances crawling around the area.
"Would it be a good idea to check if the hairdresser or the computer place had a sudden change in staff?" Cooper asked.
"Absolutely it would," I agreed. "If I was the type to gamble, I would bet on it." I wasn't a gambler though. Everything I did was careful and deliberate. Okay, most things. I could be spontaneous from time to time. It helped to keep people on their toes.
"Do you want me to go and ask?" Cooper asked.
"No," Jake replied. "They know who you are by now. We'll send someone they don't know. But not yet. That's the first thing they'll be expecting us to do.”
"So they'd probably have someone waiting for us," Cooper said. "Unless this Dagen asshole likes blowing shit up."
"Generally speaking, blowing up your own businesses is badforbusiness," Jake said. "I don't think he would make a habit of it."
"Right," Cooper said slowly. "They probably figured the newsstand would be the most likely place we would turn up. For all the reasons why we went there first. And destroying that causes minimal damage to everyone and everything. I mean, what's a handful of dead humans?"
"That's about right," I agreed. Dagen wouldn't give a crap about collateral damage. Whatever it took to get to us. To get to me.
I hurried my steps as we approached Crimson. Partly because I felt exposed after the explosion. And partly because I looked like shit. The guys might get away with looking rough and dirty, but with me, it wouldn't go unnoticed. All right, lately it was becoming a more regular occurrence to see me with blood or juice, or whatever all over me. I didn't want it to become a habit.
"So when Jake said we were supposed to blow up Dagen’s shit," Cooper said slowly. "A few dead humans happen then too?"
"You got a problem with that?" Jake asked.
