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Breathing in the warm scent of Bricker Soldano is more important right now.
We doze for a while longer before Bricker gets restless. “RIP my couch, I guess,” he sighs, peeling away from me and looking at the stained leather. But he doesn’t seem to care all that much, setting off immediately in search of food.
He raids the fridge, emerging with eggs and potatoes as well as bacon this time, and I wipe down in the lower-floor bathroom before starting a pot of coffee brewing while he cooks. “We’ll need it,” I say at his unspoken question. “You and me, we’re gonna be up late, going overeverything. Agreed?”
He sets the pan on the stove and gives a nod. “Sure as shit won’t be sleeping through,” he says. “That nap wasdeep. I’m good to go all night.”
Good to go all night. My mind suggests things it shouldn’t. We forgot, together, for a while, and the events of yesterday and even todaydoseem further away now, fading into the background. Bricker’s mood has improved. He’s joking and teasing as he works, hip-checking me out of the way when I try to help.
And all I can smell ishim. Him, all over me, and I know my mark is all over him, too, and I love that notion despite myself. Because crazy as it is, and despite the fact that we’re from different Families, despite the fact that he’s young enough to be my son, despite the fact that his father was…well, who he was…
Despite all that, I’m falling for Bricker Soldano.
But we have work to do, so my feelings have to come second, and in the meantime I’ll breathe him in and let that be enough.
Bricker sets our plates on the table and I pour us each a cup of coffee, black for me and doctored with cream and sugar for him. We eat for a few minutes before Bricker says, “You were right, you know. About how important it is to learn from mistakes.” He reaches across the table, wrapping his fingers around my wrist. His eyes are clear and steady on mine. “And I needed to hear that. So thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Bricker smiles, slow and sweet, and the look in his eyes makes me shift in my seat. I clear my throat. “So what’s the plan?”
“We start from the beginning,” he says, taking his hand away from my wrist as he picks up his fork again, “and we figure out who fucked us over. As long as it takes. And then we fuckthemover. Blood for blood. Agreed?”
I see Rook in Bricker’s arms again, see the fear in his face.
The fear inboththeir faces.
I lift up my coffee cup and clink it against his. “Agreed.”
CHAPTER28
BRICKER
It’s a late,latenight, filled with so much work that I actually fall asleep right there at the dining table, face down, somewhere around four. I wake to the sound of Max making breakfast for us both—a spinach and mushroom omelet, no bacon side—and he gives me a warm smile when he sees me stir.
“Well, good morning, sunshine.”
I have to peel a note off my face. I think it stuck to my drool. The first thing that comes back to me is why I’m here at the table, and I remember Rook’s weight in my arms, the slump of him, and all the dread and the grief comes flooding back.
But in the middle of that black hole is a tiny light, reminding me ofMax’sweight on me last night, his cock against mine, the almost-painful orgasm I had as he worked me, the way he kissed me as I came…
“Morning,” I say, sitting up straight. I feel a little shy, somehow. That’s not like me. But Max seems comfortable with the cozy silence as we eat, and after that, we decide to drop by the hospital again to see Nico and Giddy, and maybe ask a few questions if the rest of the crew is still there, too.
Later on, we agree, we can go put some heat on PacSyn.
But as we walk up toward the now-familiar entrance of the hospital under gray and grumbling skies, I spot Honeybee some distance away, talking to a guy I don’t recognize. Her body language is tense.
“She doesn’t look happy,” Max says, echoing my thoughts as she turns away from the man. “Who’s that guy?”
He’s thin-haired and skinny in a way that tells me drugs are more important to him than food, and I don’t like the aggressive way he steps around to be in Honeybee’s eyesight again. “Don’t know him,” I reply. “But something’s definitely off. Let’s get in there.” I’m already moving toward them when Max grabs my arm to stop me.
“Wait,” he says. “The way she’s glancing around like that—she doesn’t want an audience, and I don’t think he’s going to get physical. If it’s nothing, we don’t want to go in heavy. If it’s something…”
“Youstillthink Honeybee had something to do with this?” I wish I could sound more contemptuous about the idea, but the way this guy is leaning in, and she keeps glancing around…
It’s not that she’s looking for help, either. She just doesn’t want to be overheard.
“Fine,” I relent, though I don’t like the idea of leaving her alone with that stranger. I know an asshole when I see one. “We’ll watch how it plays out. Follow him, maybe.”
