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“Just do your work. Sign my name to whatever.” I jabbed a finger toward Fox. “See what you’re doing? Making me encourage forgety, forfeit, forgery.”
Fox just smiled.
“Okay, now I’m getting worried,” Lawson said. “How much have you had?”
“Not enough.”
“Put Fox on again.”
“Not a chance. Got to take care of him. That’s my job.”
“Please call me when you’re sober.”
“You got it.” I ended the call.
“Who the hell was that?” Fox asked, swaying toward me and grabbing my shoulders.
“My assistant. He’s… he basically runs the place, but”—he put his finger to his lips—“shh, don’t tell anyone.”
“You swear there’s nothing going on there.”
“No. I’m yours, remember?”
“Damn right you are.”
I let my head rest back against my chair. I didn’t seem able to keep it upright anymore. As I stared at the ceiling, I began to feel like the walls were closing in on me. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You mean like cut and run, go survive in the wilderness like I wanted to.”
“No, I mean go outside. I need some… breathe. Air. Fresh air.”
Fox grimaced. “Shit, are you going to puke?”
“No. Just… can’t breathe here.” I managed to raise my head, but the room spun rapidly.
“What was that about how well a Fontaine could hold his liquor?”
“Bullshitting you. Just like my fa… my… that bastard did to me.”
“I thought you didn’t like to be outside.”
I held out my arms to him. “Rescue me.”
“Anytime.” He lifted me up, then stumbled.
“You going to drop me.”
“No, never.”
We made it outside, and Fox attempted to set me down in a grassy area behind the cabin, but we got tangled up in each other and fell to the ground. Fox rolled over onto his back and looked up at the sky. “Damn. You sure can see a lot of stars out here.”
I laid beside him, tangling my fingers in his. “Yeah, you can.”
The stars had an extra shimmer, and everything seemed a bit fuzzy, but it was all beautiful, like the man beside me. I was glad I hadn’t said that out loud. Maybe I did need to stop with the whiskey. I frowned, realizing we’d left it inside. “No more drinks.”
“Not for now,” Fox said. I turned to look at him and pulled his hand to my lips, brushing them against his knuckles.
“Kiss me,” he said, and for once, I obeyed.
25
FOX
Darren’s kiss was softer, gentler than any we’d shared before. I cupped the back of his neck to keep him there, needing more, needing to feel him when he was soft and pliant like this.
When he pulled back, he looked dazed. “We, um…” He looked toward the woods. “Dangerous.”
“Yeah.” Drunk as I was, I knew it was too dangerous for us to fuck outside when we were now certain Ahmed and his men were nearby. “But I can still kiss you.”
“I like kissing you.”
I smiled. “Good. I have no intention of stopping.”
We lay there for ages, making out without any intention of taking things further, staring at the stars, listening to the sounds in the woods and to Darren complaining about wet grass. Eventually, I started to sober up. That wasn’t going to help me talk. I’d expected Darren to demand my story as soon as we got out there, but he hadn’t asked. I knew how much he liked control, but he was allowing me the time I needed—or else he was so drunk he’d forgotten. Somehow, I didn’t think it was the latter.
“I want another drink,” I said.
“Mmm,” Darren murmured.
“Are you asleep?”
“No. I can’t be. Don’t want to be hungover.”
Tomorrow was going to be a bitch. “Come on.” I held out a hand and helped him to his feet.
We slowly made our way back to the cabin, still not as steady on our feet as we normally would be and nowhere near as silent. I really hoped there wasn’t anyone else out there.
When we stepped inside, I walked to the table and picked up the bottle. It’s time. The voice in my head sounded suspiciously like X. Over the last few months, I’d started to think of my conscience as him since he was the primary person trying to keep me from self-destructing. I set the bottle down.
“What’s wrong?” Darren asked, reaching for it himself and taking a drink.
“I’m ready to talk now.”
“Then you should definitely have another drink.” He held the bottle out to me, but I shook my head. “No. I don’t need that. I just… I just need you.” The bottle started to slip from Darren’s hand, but I caught it.
“You probably shouldn’t put so much faith in me,” he said.
“Are you saying you won’t stay here and listen.”
“No. I want to listen. I just don’t… I don’t really know how to comfort anyone.”
“What about your sister? Did you comfort her?”
“I did my best.”
“And that’s what you’ll do this time. Now go lie down on the bed.”
