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Continuing away, I turn and use the pace of my walk to warm my body. I let the blood flowing hotter take away the sting in my shoulder. I breathe cold air down deep until I feel it in my lungs, then I exhale again and study the white fog that races ahead of me.
March means spring is coming. The grass still frosts overnight, and three a.m. is still cold on a man’s lungs. But the sunny days are coming. The warmth is teasing us.
Soon, Minka might switch out her jeans and yoga pants for sundresses. Her heels for wedges. She might wear her underwear around the apartment instead of pyjama pants, and she might look up to the sun and let the rays kiss her skin.
Fuck, I need to get home and slide into bed beside her.
Lowering my head and increasing my pace, I cross one block in silence but for the hum of traffic pottering by. I keep my bad arm plastered to my chest to support my injury, and the other, down by my pocket. Music echoes from the bar at the end of the block, Tim’s place still thumping, though surely readying to close up soon.
Streetlights create shadows that keep my senses busy, and when I swear I hear the footsteps of another man behind me, I keep going. Keep moving.
I’m not incapable of taking care of myself. But if I pull my service-issued weapon on a civilian and Lieutenant Fabian hears about it, especially since I’m still supposed to be on medical leave, I’m gonna be in trouble. And I don’t much care for the paperwork involved in that sort of stuff.
With half a block to go, I hear someone else’s breath. Their footsteps on the concrete. A rock, crumbling under their shoe.
A third of a block to go, I discreetly move my hand closer to my gun. I slow my breathing and focus my senses.
Then a hand clamps on my good shoulder.
I spin with lightning-fast speed and pull my gun from its holster at my side. I flip the safety off and cock the weapon. Then I point it—and growl when my brother’s smile tilts a little higher, as though the thought of bullets in his head excites him.
“Dammit, Felix! You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you.”
“I knew you wouldn’t.” Placing his palm on the side of my gun, he gently brushes me aside and steps to the left to lean against the building we stand in front of. Dropping his hands in his pockets and crossing one foot over the other, he acts at ease, while my heart still thunders with adrenaline. “Missed you, bro. How’s married life?”
“Mind your fucking business.” I turn away and continue walking. “Go back to New York, Felix. If I see you again, it’s my job to arrest you.”
“For what crime?” He shoves off the wall and follows me with quick steps. “What’d I do wrong?”
“You shot and killed two police officers,” I spit out. “You shot me. You kidnapped a child and pointed a gun at her head.” Screeching to a stop, I twist back and snarl when he comes close. “You pointed a gun at Minka. For that alone, you’re dead to me.”
Considering for a moment as my white, fogged breath races between us, he settles on a shrug. “The last, I can accept. To threaten a man’s wife was shitty of me. But the rest…” he flashes a wide grin. “There were no crimes reported. Those cops died in the line somewhere else that day. The kid was safe the entire time. And I didn’t shoot you. My guard did, and he’s been dealt with since then.”
“Go away, Felix.”
“Dad’s dying.” When I attempt to turn around and leave, he grabs my sleeve and yanks me back. “He’s dying, Arch, which means when he’s out and we have no one sitting at the head of the table to take his place, we’re all dead.”
“Soyousit in his seat.” I tug my arm from his grip and twist when he reaches out to grab on again. “Ask Micah. Or, hell, wait a few years and give Cato a swing at it.”
“We need to be united,” he growls. “You know this as well as I do.”
“Or maybe the rest of you can leave New York too. Leave,” I repeat slowly. “Find a new life. Stop doing the stupid shit you do, and find a real job that doesn’t come with the risk of twenty-five to life in maximum-security prison.”
He snorts. “You think I should become a cop too, Arch? Turn straight, meet my best friend in the academy, become the lieutenant’s little charity case so he takes pity on me?”
“No one pities me, Lix.” I turn again and walk away. “But I pity you. Born into a life you didn’t want, but you were never strong enough to get away.”
“I like my life, asshole.”
“Uh huh.” I walk closer to the bar, but I’m not stepping in there and having Felix follow me. Nor am I stepping into Minka’s building and risking him knowing where she lives. Maybe he already knows, maybe he’s done his homework. But on the off-chance he hasn’t, I don’t intend to make it easy on him. “You like it so much, you’re terrified of what happens if Tim and I don’t come back to save you.”
“I’m trying to provide a unified front.” On fast feet, Felix charges around me and stops on a dime so I’m forced to do the same or risk running into him. “When our old man dies, the vultures start circling. If they topple me and Micah, you know Cato’s next. If we’re gone, you know they’re gonna come for you and Tim as well.”
Leaning closer, he sneers, “You need us as much as we need you. And before you get cocky and think you’re exempt from that shit, just remember what happens when one of us marry and make a family.” His eyes flicker between mine. Burning. Angry. “If they make it past New York and come looking for you, you best hide your pretty doctor. Otherwise, she becomes their brightest target.”
My lips peel back into a feral sneer. “You’re threatening my wife?”
“I’m telling you the truth about how this is all gonna play out. If Micah, Cato, and I fall, you, Tim, the beautiful Minka, and even Fletcher and Emeri go next. Whoever we lovedies, Archer. You know that.”
