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“It’s six a.m.”
“I’m working from home today. Actually, I’m not doing any other work for the firm at all. Call Medjine and Carlos and tell them I’m out for the rest of the week.”
“Phi—”
“Can you grab me the tort law book on the end table over there?”
Stitches obliges, but it’s not without an audible sigh. He hands over the Bible-thick book and then plops down on the sofa next to where I’m sitting on the floor. His collapsed body language, from his hunched back to his elbows on his thighs, tells me something’s bothering him. Something’s on his mind.
It takes only a few seconds for him to tell me what.
“We’ve become friends over the last two and a half years,” he says. “Wouldn’t you say? I’m not talking about me just being your bodyguard. You just being my boss’s girl. I’m talking me and you are friends.Goodfriends.”
I glance up at him, slightly surprised by the statement, though it’s true. Stitchesisone of my closest friends. We’ve had a couple rough patches, including the period of time where I was held in a safe house and Stitches was keeping Salvatore’s whereabouts from me.
But what friendship hasn’t? Stitches has put his life on the line for me countless times. He’s protected me almost as fiercely as Salvatore and my father…
He would readily die to prove his loyalty to Salvatore, his boss, but also his best friend.
Slightly puzzled, I give a small nod.
“Well,” he says, “from one friend to another, Phi… I’m worried about you. I have been for weeks now.”
“Stitches, you’re not going to do this right now. Not with Jon in jail—”
“What was that nightmare about? All the nightmares?”
Tiny gooseflesh chills onto my skin. I blink doubly fast meeting his gaze. “W-what nightmares?”
“Something’s been bothering you. I’ve caught you more than once waking up like you’re upset. I haven’t told Psycho all the details. All the times I’ve sensed something off. I wanted to respect your privacy as a friend. Plus, he worries if anything’s off, and he’s got a lot of shit going on right now with the Giancola and Kozlov stuff. I kept your secret. But I’m not sure if I can keep quiet much longer.”
“Can this wait until we bail Jon out? That takes precedence.”
“My concern is you’re gonna make yourself sick.”
“I feel fine. We have to concentrate on freeing Jon. Do you understand the severity of the charges Polk and his team are filing against him?”
“I understand Psycho would want me to look after his wife while he wasn’t around. Time for bed, Phi. Eat something and get some rest. You’re one of the best attorneys in the city, but you’re too emotionally invested.”
“Excuse me?! Are you saying I’m incapable of getting my husband off? That I’m so emotional that makes me too incompetent to do my job?” I snap, my expression pinched.
“I’m saying it’s a weak spot. Same as you were for Psycho when dealing with Lucius. He learned it the hard way when Lucius almost captured you. That’s why he sent you to that safe house. It’s for the best we hire an attorney that isn’t emotionally invested in his freedom. That can approach the case through a strictly legal lens.”
My breaths sputter out of me as I attempt to scold him and then come up short. How can I when deep down I know what he says is probably true?
I drop my face into my hands and force my lungs to steady. After a few more regular breaths, I’m confronted by the reality of how on edge I am.
I’ve been so entrenched in my research, so many signs have gone unnoticed. Beyond my aching eyes and exhausted body, there’s a persistent flutter of unease in my stomach. My head throbs in a migraine that’s so acute, I’ve only managed to concentrate through sheer force of will. When I attempt to hold up my hand, I discover it shakes on its own.
The final straw is catching my reflection in the wide window on my left. As morning sunlight pours in and brightens the open space, I’m a disheveled mess on the floor.
I haven’t even changed out of my Valentine’s dinner top and skirt from last night…
My shoulders slump and I sigh. “I’m scared, Francis. What if I lose him again?”
“Don’t think like that. Don’t let them get in your head. It’s gonna work itself out.”
“No, you don’t understand,” I say, my voice shaking with emotion, “I can’t lose him again. Ican’tdo it again.”
