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“Jameson.”
“Oh, fuck, my ribs.”
They’re all stabbing into my lungs. I didn’t think they were sharpened to knife-points, but I guess I was wrong.
Mason’s at the couch in about a second flat. He puts one hand on Robin’s head and slides the other one underneath me.
“One. Two. Three,” he says, and then he lifts me to a sitting position.
Easier to breathe that way.
Gabriel bustles back into the room. “Uh-oh,” he sings. “Painkillers wear off? Can you swallow?”
“Don’t be vulgar,” I tell him.
He rolls his eyes. I want to snatch the pill out of his hand when he holds it out in his palm, but it wouldn’t be worth it. I take it like a normal person instead, and then he and Mason do teamwork to sit me up on the pillows.
Gabriel resumes his place on the love seat, and Mason does a lap around the living room, bouncing Robin a little bit in his carrier.
“Anyway,” I say, like I’m in any position to lead this discussion. “You think the judge is an unhinged asshole, too? It’s not just me?”
Gabriel glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “You could’ve texted us about the stuff you found.”
“Why would I have done that when I could just burn his house down?” They start to exchange another look. “Hey. I didn’t burn the fucking place down. All I did was get a girlfriend. You should be thrilled.”
“Wearethrilled,” Mason says. “We’re so happy for you, Jameson.”
“Shut up.”
He ignores me. “It’s not overkill. I think the license would add a certain amount of legitimacy, but you don’t have to stay married.”
“I’ve always wanted a PR wedding.”
Gabriel stops working on his plans—for the venue, I think—and looks at me with a genuinely concerned expression. “I thought this was…” He waves a hand in the air. “Real, for the most part.”
What’s real is that I want to be with Lily every second of the day, and Lily should be finding the fastest way out. I want to marry Lily the way I want to be a successful businessman. For a crime scene, both things are fantasies. I might achieve them temporarily, but never in the long run.
“I didn’t propose.”
“Yes, you did.” Gabriel taps his phone. “By the lake at one of the family properties. You gave her one of mom’s rings.”
“What thefuck?”
“We couldn’t announce a fucking wedding without announcing the proposal. So we announced it.”
“There’s always a picture for those things. There aren’t any pictures of us.”
“Well, no. You look like you got into a head-on collision with a fist. We can stage some engagement photos when your face is better and run those in the lifestyle section.”
“You don’thavea lifestyle section.”
“Enough people owe me favors that I might as well.” Gabriel grins, pleased with himself. He probably has no idea that every time he smiles like that, it makes me want to spend a little more time not being a fucking criminal. At the same time, it makes me completely sure that evenifI get put in prison for the rest of my life, he’ll be okay. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks, prick.”
He clicks his tongue disapprovingly and bends his head over his papers.
I close my eyes and wait for the painkiller to kick in.
