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So she hasn’t. Of course, that just means I got really good at watching her without her knowing I’m there, but though I held onto this phone—stubbornly transferring the line over the years just in case—I never honestly thought I’d see her phone number popping up on the screen.
I stare, not believing this is really happening.
Royce clears his throat. “Hey, Link?”
Just like how Royce is one of only two people who can push me without me pushing back, it’s the same for calling me by my given name instead of the name given to me. He’s earned that right, and he’s the only one who ever dares to shorten my name from ‘Lincoln’ down to ‘Link’, except for—
Ava.
I squeeze my phone so tightly, I nearly crack the screen.
“Watch the club,” I order. “I got to take this.”
“Sure thing.”
TWO
FIREFLIES
LINCOLN
Pocketing my business phone, I shove my body out of the booth, loose tie swaying as I start to push my way through the crowd.
It doesn’t take more than two bodies stumbling away before the Playground recognizes that Devil’s on the move. They clear a path for me, all while I’m muttering, “Shit, shit, shit,” under my breath, hoping like hell that the phone keeps ringing.
I have two missed calls by the time I stalk past the guys at the door. Nodding at them, I step out into the night. There’s still a line of wallets and fresh meat waiting to get in, but they all seem to have something else to look at when I turn my dark glare on them.
Four steps away from the club is all I can spare before I jab my thumb at the screen, dialing the number back. If she doesn’t answer… if I missed talking to Ava for the first time in years because I couldn’t fucking hear myself think over the pulsing music, I might put a bullet through the DJ just to get out my frustration.
Ava doesn’t know it, but she saved his life tonight by answering on the second ring, because the moment I hear that it’s her, she has all of my attention.
Her voice is shaky and breathy as she gasps out, “Hello? Link? Is that you?”
Link…
A lump lodges in my throat. I swallow it roughly. “Yeah. It’s me.”
“Oh God, it’s Ava. Ava Monroe. I… I don’t know if you remember me—”
Remember her? The woman I’ve obsessed over for nearly half my damn life? Who haunts my dreams, stars in my nightmares, and is the closest thing I get to finding any pleasure in this fucked-up world when I stand outside of her place, watching her through the window, knowing that so long as she’s safe, everything I’ve ever done—everything I’ve everlost—is worth it?
“I remember you, Ava.” It comes out short. I don’t mean for it to, but I can’t help myself as I demand in my gruff voice, “What is it you need?”
Because one thing for sure: if she’s calling me now, she needs something. Whether it’s from Lincoln Crewes or the Devil of Springfield, I don’t know—and I couldn’t give a shit. Whatever she wants, it’s hers.
And then she says, in a voice that’s closer to a broken sob, “I need your help,” and nothing else in the world matters.
You don’t riseup through the ranks of an organized crime family before starting—and leading—your own syndicate without having a knack for taking control. Forcing myself to set aside the fact that this is Ava…myAva…on the phone, I go right into ‘boss’ mode.
Keeping my questions to the point, I get as much information from Ava as possible before she dissolves into sobs that have my trigger finger itching. I promise her that I’ll be right there, then wait until she hiccups “okay” before I kill the call and pocket the phone.
There are no contacts in that one. I’ve held onto it for the last fifteen years in case Ava ever needed me, and now that she has, I switch to my business phone.
In that one? When it comes to contacts, I havehundreds.
Most of the cops on my payroll are stored in my phone under nicknames. Call me paranoid if you want, but you don’t stay on top for long if you don’t see enemies everywhere you look.
If you go under the ‘P’ section, you’d find quite a few, though they might currently be retained on my dime. The nicknames are self-explanatory, too. Unless they have a specific use to me, I keep them pretty simple.
