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My head falls back with a laugh, one that’s filled with so much pure joy, something in me shifts and I know, I just know, I’ll never let them take this away from me.
Not again.
I inhale a lungful of smoke, the cigarette pinched tightly between my fingers as I scroll on my phone. People requesting appointments, comments to respond to, emails—it’s all too much. It’s overwhelming.
And right now, I’d rather be doing anything other than this. My mind has been on Eve and only Eve. Since I heard the front door of my father’s house slam, I knew she was gone.
I knew I lost her.
Then Chase called to tell me she and Oli showed up in the middle of the night with Oli’s hoard of animals.
I guess I knew she’d run to Oli. Where else would she go? But I didn’t think they’d come here, to Mammoth. To my house. My home.
Where’s she sleeping? Is she uncomfortable?
Probably.
It’s Eve. She hates bothering anyone, and showing up at Chase’s house unannounced is probably making her anxious.
Is she even sleeping? Or eating? Drinking enough water?
Shit. I sound like Chase.
Sighing, I run my fingers through my hair, lightly tugging on the ends as I set my phone on the counter. The bell above the front door chimes, and I glance over my shoulder, internally screaming at having to welcome a new customer. The Zippo in my pocket burns, begging me to pull it out, to bring the flame to life.
Thankfully, it’s just Kon, and I lean back against the wall, resting my head on it as I take another drag of my cigarette. Kon’s dark eyes narrow as he stops in front of the counter. He taps two knuckles on it as he says, “Put it out, Pyro. No smoking in my shop.”
Another long sigh leaves me. But I respect him enough to follow his stupid fucking rules. With a final drag, I tap the cigarette out in the small, makeshift ashtray, flicking the butt into the bowl, my gaze dropping to the pile of smoking ashes. Tension grows between us and I shift in my seat.
I know he’s seen her, been around her, talked to her. He’s keeping me updated, letting me know how she is. He’s holding back, though. I know he’s not telling me everything, that he’s keeping enough to himself to either not worry me or force me into breaking and calling her.
I appreciate it, appreciate him.
But it’s killing me.
The silence, the distance…
I can’t take it anymore.
“How is she?” I reluctantly rasp, already knowing his answer. Fine. It’s the same answer he’s given me every time I’ve asked him.
“Fine.” I roll my eyes. He folds his thick arms over his massive chest, his gaze palpable as he glares down at me.
“You done for the day?” he grumbles. My eyes lift to his, my hands clenching and unclenching on the countertop. I dip my chin in a slight nod. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
But I’m already on my feet, following him through the shop. I’m not sure there’s anywhere I wouldn’t follow him. Kon’s always led me toward the light—always guided me where I needed to go.
Since the day he pulled me from that soaking wet alley, cold, starving and drunk as fuck, he’s had my back, and for that, I owe him everything.
We pass the busy private rooms, the buzz of tattoo guns filling the hall, to the locked door in the back, and up the steps that lead to his apartment above the shop.
Shit.
It’s a mess.
Hurrying past him, I shove the door open before he can step inside and dive for my piles of dirty clothes and discarded takeout containers.
