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I tilted my head towards the bleeder. On any other night, I would have loved to talk more with him. And by talk, I meant using my knives.
But this other man had captured my short attention span, and I couldn't let go without seeing if he'd be the best fit for what I needed.
"Can you take care of him? I'm going to pull — " I let my voice trail off since I didn't know his name.
"Mitchi," he said. "Mitchi Rhoden."
"Me and Mitchi are just going to sit back while you finish up. Then I'm thinking we'll go get something to eat and maybe make a plan or two. Sound good, Daddy?" I leaned my head back to let him see how happy I was. This wasn't something done of guilt. I was fully aware of the choices I made and how they benefited our family.
Daddy kissed my forehead, then moved to the table to get his supplies. "I'll do whatever you need, baby. I was going to be patient tonight to wait my turn, but given the chance, I'll gladly play without the guest of honor. You and Mitchi hang tight and discuss what you want to eat. We can pick something up since we told Emmy to take the night off."
I clapped my hands together, then stood to drag my new friend away from the splatter zone. As soon as we were far enough back, I sat down on the floor beside Mitchi as I watched Daddy get to work. He threw punch after punch to the guy's face. When he got tired of that, he grabbed the knife and began to carve random patterns into the exposed skin. It was beautiful to watch.
After giving him a few more minutes of my attention, I turned to face Mitchi. His eyes were on the carnage across the room, though you never would have guessed from the way his eyes shone.
"Tell me about yourself, Mitchi. I want to know all about the quiet guy brought to my butcher who managed to be spared by two of the most notorious killers in North America."
He half shrugged his shoulder. "Nothing much to tell. Mom was a crack addict. Dad drank too much. They fought all the time. Got put in a group home at a young age. It wasn't the best place, but it was a roof."
"And how'd you end up wrapped up with bozo over there?" I waved a hand at a more mangled looking version of the guy from before. Wow. Daddy really was ready to work.
"I needed to eat. And there was a recruiting period where they strolled the streets snatching us all up. I'd aged out of the group home and was living behind a dumpster in midtown. It was this or take a bullet."
"How long ago was that?" If I had to guess, I'd put him in his early twenties. But the guy my husband was roughing up claimed him to be new too. Question was, how new was new?
He dipped his head forward, as if he were trying to do the math. "It's been four years, six months, twelve days, and nineteen hours, give or take. I don't have a watch on me so I'm guesstimating based on the time we were brought in here."
Definitely early twenties then.
I stared at him. I couldn't help it. He was like a freaking boy wonder genius. The only other time I'd felt this way was when Daddy introduced me to Memphis that first time. He was all computer geek talk, and he made me feel like I was clearly living in the stone ages for my lack of knowledge.
Somehow, Mitchi gave the same vibe without being too obvious about it.
"I think you and me are going to get along really well, Mitchi. You want to come work for me?"
He froze, his entire body taut with tension. "You want me to come work for you?" His voice was cautious, like he couldn't be sure that's what I meant.
"Yeah, kiddo. I think you and I are going to be great friends." I turned to look across the room. "We just have to wait on Daddy to finish up."
At that exact moment, my husband pulled a gun from his waistband and shot the man in front of him through the head. "All done, baby. You hungry?"
I laughed at the ease with which he ended his beating as I stood from the floor slowly. "Sure am, Daddy. Mitchi here is probably hungry too, though we didn't pick a place yet."
Daddy shook his head, then pulled me to his chest for a quick kiss. "Don't worry. I know a place we can go. They've got great options for every mood."
"Perfect. Now let's untie our new friend. I don't think the wait staff will look too kindly to his current situation." I winked at Mitchi, then waited for Daddy to untie him.
Fifty minutes later, I sat in front of the most mouthwatering stack of pancakes I'd ever seen. Daddy pulled them closer to himself, then began to cut the pieces into triangles. I waited as patiently as possible for him to finish before I dragged the plate back and picked up the syrup.
"Tasty time," I mumbled as I drizzled the golden liquid over the sweet treat.
"Welcome to the family, Mitchi," Daddy said after he took a bite of his burger. "My boy seems to think you're a good fit, so I hope you're ready for what's to come."
Mitchi nodded his head. "I'm ready, sir. It's an honor to work with you both."
Oh yeah. This was going to be a great decision.
EPILOGUE ONE
