Текст книги "Deceiving Lies"

Автор книги: Molly McAdams

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

9

Kash

JUMPING OUT OF MY TRUCK, I put my hood up and kept my head low. I was well known in this part of town, as was Mason, starting back before we’d been made while we were with Juarez’s crew. People knew us for the gangs we had been in, and now people knew us because we were in the gang unit.

For the most part, the residents around here were cool with us. They knew our background, and knew that we tried to help them when shit went bad around here. Which was pretty much all the time. But that didn’t mean they didn’t start alerting the entire damn neighborhood that cops were nearby when they saw us either.

Looking around to make sure activity looked normal, I waited until I spotted the lookouts. When I was sure they were going about business as usual, not noticing me, and people weren’t running into their houses, I took off through an alley behind me. Turning on Second Street, I walked and rounded the corner at Maple before slowing down. Just before I hit Third Street, I ducked my head even lower and looked to the left as I brought my right hand up the back of my head and over. Just as I hit my forehead, I paused and tapped twice with my index finger before dropping my arm and continuing my slow walk.

Not more than four steps later, another pair of feet came up next to me.

“What up?”

I snuck a quick glance and tried not to smile to myself. Shawn. Little, gangly Shawn. Exactly the kid I’d been hoping for. I fucking hated that they were sending him out to confirm their deals, but at least he would scare easy.

“Nice night, yeah? Lots of stars out.” His voice shook as he looked back and forth.

I knew this game, and I knew it well. “If nights are what you’re into.”

Shawn tried to look in my hood at my response, and I dipped my head lower. “Yo, man. I think you’re on the wrong street if you’re looking for something else. The walkers are on Seventh.”

“Street’s right. I’m just not looking for stars, understood?”

“All we got are the stars out here, ya feel? I think you best find your way home.” He started to turn around, so I hurried to make my request.

“No price tonight. I don’t want stars. I want to see the Sun.”

“Sun’s not out, ya know?”

“I’m sure the Sun will make an exception.” Turning my head toward him, I quieted my voice so it wouldn’t carry over the street. “You say my name out loud, or you make me, I put Sunny and his boys away for this operation they got going on. And since you’re out here setting up drug deals, then that means you’d go down too. If you cooperate, then I don’t say a fucking word. Got me, Shawn?” His body started to tense so I spoke quickly. “You alert a lookout, and you’re all in prison, I’m not playing around. I want. To see. The Sun.”

Shawn worked at relaxing his body and turned to face me as he pulled his phone out. I lifted my head enough that he could see my face, but not so much that anyone watching us would be able to. His eyes widened momentarily, but he did a good job at remaining calm and searching through his contact list.

“I help you,” he said so soft I almost didn’t hear him. “I got your word I don’t go down for trying to sell to a jackbooted thug?”

I snorted. “As long as all of you cooperate. I came alone. Sunny’s boys can check me for wires inside. Now make the call.”

“Whatcha coming ’round here for anyway, Kash?” he asked as he lifted the phone to his ear and looked around the street.

“Don’t say my name out here. Just get me in to see him.”

Nodding, he waited until someone answered. “No stars, he wants to see the Sun. That’s what I said, but he said the Sun will make an exception”—he lowered his voice—“and I really think the Sun should, ya feel? Yeah. Yeah.”

“Tell them,” I prompted him, and Shawn looked at me like I was insane. “Tell them, but don’t say my name.”

“It’s K-money. Understood? Came alone, prepared to leave without words to others, but he wants to see the Sun.” He jerked his head in the direction of the house, and we began walking toward it. “Yeah, we comin’.”

As soon as we hit the steps to the house, I unzipped my hoodie and stopped when we reached the door. It opened, Shawn and I stepped in, and as soon as the door shut behind us, I raised my hands in the air and instantly had three of Sunny’s men around me.

“All that’s on me is the duty weapon in the holster on my right hip.”

Taking my hoodie off, lifting my shirt, patting me down, and disarming me. All were routine when coming onto their territory the way I was, and all were what I’d been prepared for. I waited quietly as they went through all their necessary steps of making sure I wasn’t wearing a wire, before they reluctantly handed my gun back to me and stepped away.

After I’d reholstered, I kept my hoodie off, partly because it was hot as shit outside and in the house, and also because I knew it would help keep Sunny’s boys calm if they could see my weapon.

“Shawn said no stars?” one of Sunny’s boys, RJ, asked.

“No stars.”

“Not wearing a wire, and don’t want stars, why you here?”

“What, I can’t come around just to check up on you? See how your night is going?” I sneered and looked away. “I need to talk to Sunny. That’s all you need to know for now.”

Just then the door to the back of the house opened and Sunny walked out. Sunny wasn’t a big guy by any means, he was shorter than me by a good five inches, and didn’t have as much bulk on him. But this motherfucker was terrifying. It wasn’t the tattoos, because, well, honestly, I’m sure I had more than he did. It wasn’t the scar that ran down the left side of his face from his temple to his jaw that he’d received in a deal gone wrong years back. And it wasn’t his near-black eyes, which made him look dark and demonic and completely contradicted his name. It was all of it mixed in with this alpha-male, badass leader vibe he had that made men terrified to fuck with him.

Too bad I kinda thought I was a badass too. So instead of cowering when he walked into the room, I straightened and raised an eyebrow at him. We both eyed each other before cracking smiles and reaching out to shake hands and pull each other in.

“Hoping this is a good visit, Detective. K-money, huh? That was a good one, Shawn, quick. I’m impressed.” Sunny took a step back and crossed his arms. “Why do I have the unfortunate pleasure of having you hide out on my street, Kash?”

I smirked and matched his stance. “As I told Shawn, I won’t say a word about you, your men, your operation, or being here as long as you all cooperate. I just need to speak with you, I need a few favors.”

“And why would I do anything for you? I know your history, as far as I know, you’re back in the game of bringing crews down.”

“You and I both know I didn’t bring crews down. I stopped dealers. If that’s what you’re afraid of, like I said, I’m not here for that. I’ll leave here acting like I don’t know what’s happening in this house and with your crew.”

He laughed and brought his arms out before crossing them again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stars, Sunny, really?”

Nodding his head to one of his men, they all began laughing as the guy walked over with a plate full of cookies in the shape of stars.

I glanced up at the man holding the plate before turning to level my glare at Sunny. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be playing me right now. You do me this favor, then I’ll turn a blind eye to your operation. But don’t make me out to be a fool, Sunny, you know who I am, you know what I’ve done, and you know what I’ll do to you and all your men.”

“Then talk.”

“Alone.”

He studied me for a few minutes, the tension in the room continuing to grow as everyone waited for him to make a decision. Finally, with a nod, he turned toward the door he’d originally walked out of and called over his shoulder, “Let’s go.”

I followed him through the door, down a hall, and through two more rooms before he finally shut a door behind me and shot me a dark look. “The fuck is wrong with you, Kash? You trying to come in here and screw all this up for me? You don’t just walk into my house . . . into my operation . . . into my assignment. Jesus Christ, you could ruin everything by being here.” He gritted his teeth and ran his hands over his head.

“Are you done?” I asked and went to sit in one of the chairs. “I don’t have time for your dramatic fits, Sunny. I really do need your help. I wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t crucial, you know that, man.”

Sunny had been in undercover narcotics for closing in on fourteen years. He was the one that had originally gotten Mase and me in with right crowds so we were able to easily slide in with our first crew. I knew he was right, I knew he had every reason to be pissed at me for showing up here. If I’d still been undercover, me showing up on his street while in another crew could have just been grounds for a fight, but as a known detective, it was suspicious on Sunny.

He huffed loudly and took the chair next to me. “It better be. Talk to me.”

“Before we get into what I need, please tell me Shawn isn’t on stars.”

“Kash . . .” he said in warning.

“Look, Sunny, I was glad he was the one to come at me tonight. But the kid is, what, fifteen? Bad enough you have him as the one going out to set up the deals, but even you can’t sit back and watch him waste his life on meth.”

Sunny rested an elbow on the arm of his chair and massaged his bald head as he answered me. “I’m not, and he’s not. I don’t want him setting things up either, he’s a good kid . . . but he was determined to get in a crew. I’m sure you’ve seen that. Has been since he was a little runt. So I took him under my wing so I could keep an eye on him, but I haven’t let him touch the product. He wanted more responsibility, and it would have looked weird making older members do grunt work when we have him. I have to do what I have to do. I know you understand that.”

I frowned because I did. Sunny and I shared a look that said everything. Neither of us liked the situation, but what could you do other than blow your cover? And Sunny’s was a lifelong cover, not something you could easily jump in and out of in a year and a half or so like Mason and I had.

“Enough about how I’m running my crew, tell me why you’re here.”

I got comfortable in my chair and folded my arms over my stomach. “Did you catch wind about Mase and me getting sent to Texas, and why?” When he nodded, I continued. “I met a girl there, and it’s a fucking long story, but short of it is . . . I’m in love with her. I’ll be in love with her until the day I die. She moved back here with me, knows all about my past undercover work, and knows about the job that went wrong that ended up sending us to Texas.”

“She got a drug problem?”

“No, Sunny, fuck.”

I rolled my eyes and kept my outward emotions turned off as I told him the rest. In the last few days, everything had changed. I’d done all I could to find her without the department’s knowledge. It’d been difficult, between going to work and doing my own investigations without letting anyone else catch wind. But it was about to get a hell of a lot easier. Starting today, Rachel and I would have been on vacation in Texas for Candice’s graduation, and then California to visit with her family for two weeks. When Chief asked if I wanted to still take the time off, or if I’d needed the work as a distraction, I’d chosen the time off. No one would be expecting anything from me, and I would be free to look for her more than I had been. He’d nodded and told me he understood it was a difficult time, that if I needed anything, to let him know.

I didn’t need a goddamn thing other than my fiancée back.

I’d gone to see living relatives that Juarez and the other boys had, and I’d spent days on the streets, talking to people. But I knew I was missing things, and that’s why I was coming to see Sunny now. He had a massive operation in Tampa Bay, the only reason it was still running was because he was a cop, and we weren’t about to shut him down because he was working at taking down suppliers that went much larger than Tampa Bay . . . that went much larger than Florida. So he knew pretty much everything there was to know, and if he didn’t know it, he knew who to talk to in order to find out.

“She doesn’t have a drug problem, but she was abducted two weeks ago right out of our bedroom. Mason and I were working a double homicide when it happened. Department has leads, but nowhere to go with them, and they haven’t gotten any closer to finding her than they were on that first day.”

“Shit, Kash. You serious?”

I stared at him, unblinking, not responding.

“Man, I had no idea. I can’t remember the last time I watched the news, and I haven’t checked in with the department in months. Are you—I mean, damn. Are you okay? I would be losing my shit.”

“Already have, and, no, I’m not okay. My future wife’s gone. And I just watched a video of her being tortured . . . a couple days ago, we received her hair covered in blood.” Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed it back down. I was supposed to stay off the case, but her hair had been in a box made out to me. Mason and two other detectives had had to actually cuff me when I’d opened it in order to restrain me. “I’m not fucking okay. But I’m going to find her, and I’ll do whatever it takes. I think you understand how serious I am if I’m sitting here asking you for favors. I’m willing to do whatever.”

Sunny studied me before leaning in and saying softly, “A man that looks like you has nothing left to lose. Your eyes are dead, Kash, but you still have a job, you still have a family, you could still lose everyth—”

“No, if I’ve lost her, I’ve already lost it all.”

He sucked in air between his teeth and shook his head hard once. “Okay, how far gone are you willing to go?”

“Back to how I was undercover.”

“All right, then tell me what you need help with.”

I explained the spray-painted message left in the bedroom, the phone calls made to the department, the torture they’d been putting her through, and what they’d sent us. I told him about the demands the kidnappers had been making, and how well they’d been covering their tracks.

“I’ve gone to visit the family of some of the guys, but most of them have no contact, they’re scared of them. I know most of the guys had some women, some had baby mommas, and some had regular whores, but I can’t find any of them. I was hoping you knew something we were missing, or you’d be able to help me find some people who could persuade some of the crew to talk.”

Sunny drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair and dropped his head back as he thought for a bit. “I’ll have to get in touch with some people to find out more. For the most part, I left that gang alone because the two of you were headed in when they started getting bad, there was no reason for me to really pay attention, you know?”

“Yeah. I’d been afraid of that.”

“But I do know there’s a walker over on Seventh Street. RJ was hitting it for a while, and she was here getting her hits, they just called it even. What I’m getting at though, is she was a talker. So I know she was the main bitch of one of Juarez’s boys. She’d be buck-ass naked in my living room, just got done with RJ and getting ready to go walk. All the while she’d be talking about her man being in prison and how she was walking so she could support herself and their kids. Can’t remember the guy’s name though.”

“You know hers?”

“Yeah, um . . . damn it . . . uh, Serena?”

“Ah, Deon’s woman.”

Sunny snapped and pointed at me. “Yes!”

I should have known when Sunny said she was a talker. “Deon would kill her if he knew she was working corners on Seventh Street. But that won’t help me much right now.”

“No, but don’t forget she and Deon got three kids. Before RJ finally got tired of putting up with her, she made him take her to the prison every Sunday to go see Deon. I’d bet she still goes to see him, and RJ knows where she lives. I would say she’s worth a visit, if you understand what I mean. She’s not someone who can keep her mouth shut.”

“All right, I get it.”

He stood and leaned close to me. “I’m sorry about your girl, man. I really am. I’ll help you with what I can, I’ll make some calls and I’ll see what other people know about Juarez. But don’t show up at my house anymore like this, people are going to start thinking something’s up, understood?”

“Completely, I appreciate it.”

We exchanged numbers before he opened the door and yelled for RJ to join us. After finding out where Serena lived, and a few more displays of authority for his territory by Sunny for the members of his crew, I left the same way I’d come. Quiet, and hidden by the shadows.

10

Rachel

MY EYES FLEW OPEN and I heard the sound of heavy breathing fill the small room. Trying to keep my breathing even so I wouldn’t give myself away, I barely turned my head from where it had been smashed in my arms to look over toward the door. Terrified of what I might see, and who might be there, I almost cried out in relief when I could make out Taylor’s form doing push-ups.

I stayed quiet as I watched him silently work out and wondered if he did this every night while I was sleeping. He had to be doing something, because his massive frame never seemed to change over the course of my time here in this room, and a part of me felt bad that he was resorting to this rather than using the equipment in his room.

“Go back to sleep,” he said roughly, never once stopping from the crunches he was now doing.

Instead of following his command, I let my earlier curiosity bubble out. “Do you do this every night?”

“Yep.”

“Why don’t you use the equipment in your room?” I bit my lip as I waited for his response, remembering how this conversation had gone over last time.

“I already told you.”

“But I could stay in there with you, and then when you’re done, we could come back here.” Did I sound as desperate as I felt to sleep on that bed?

He stopped suddenly and turned to look at me in the dark. “Are you trying to make something happen? Do you want to put yourself in more danger than you are already in? Unless we have to, we aren’t leaving this room,” he snapped, and I flinched.

“No,” I whispered and felt my cheeks burn at the tone in his voice.

“Shit”—he sighed and crawled toward the mattress—“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that, but I don’t understand why you keep pushing the issue. I know you know the danger is real. I can see the fear in your eyes every damn day, so I don’t get why you keep bringing it up.”

“I feel bad that you’re making yourself so uncomfortable to make sure I’m safe. And I know that’s stupid, I shouldn’t feel bad because of what you did. But then when I think that, I can’t figure out for the life of me why, if you would steal me from my home and my life, would you suffer so much to make sure I’m safe?”

Taylor just stared at me, and when I thought he wouldn’t answer, I turned my head back into my crossed arms and shut my eyes.

“Because you didn’t do anything to warrant this, and you deserve to have someone protecting you in this fucked-up situation.”

My head snapped back up and I turned to look at him, my mouth open to ask him—again—what I was doing here, and why I was here; but I knew those were questions he wouldn’t, or couldn’t, answer.

“Just go back to sleep,” he pleaded, cutting me off and crawling back to his spot on the floor before starting up his crunches again.

What kidnapper says something like that? What kidnapper protects his captive for that matter? Everything that had happened so far was flashing through my mind, and none of it made sense. His presence alone was terrifying, but I wasn’t sure if that made me feel safer from the others, or if I still feared him. The way he’d been so quick to apologize when he’d yelled at me just added to the confusion and mystery that was Taylor.

I didn’t understand him, and at the time, I didn’t know if I ever would. But as I had been so many times in the week since he’d shown up with new clothes and other things for me, I was thankful for him.

PAIN THREATENED TO CRIPPLE ME as I impulsively struggled against the handcuffs. I screamed against the gag when Blake moved the blade from my left arm, and slowly ran the scalpel down the inside of my right. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I watched him begin to methodically move the blade over my stomach, a smile on his deceptively handsome face the entire time.

“Not my Rachel,” he whispered. “You don’t deserve her beauty.”

I continued screaming, my body wanting nothing more than to escape the intrusion. But Blake’s weight on my hips, and the sickle curving around my throat, prevented any movements other than my arms, which were chained to the iron headboard.

Blood trickled steadily from my arms onto my shoulders and in my hair. I tried begging him to stop, but all that came out was wordless screams. My vision was darkening as I watched the deep red liquid pooling on my stomach. I needed to stay awake; I refused to let myself believe I would die like this. Kash would find me, I just had to keep repeating that to myself.

“Not my Rachel,” he repeated again.

His arm moved up, and I gave up on my futile attempt at shrinking back into the bed as he moved the scalpel from my hairline to my jaw, the blade staying close to my face, but never coming in contact.

“You could have been mine. You were always meant to be mine. Why couldn’t you be her?”

Another muffled scream tore through me when the blade pressed into my chest.

“Wake up! Stop—fuck! Wake up!”

“Stop, please! Get off me!” I screamed, and thrashed wildly. Another curse came from him when I connected with his face again.

“Wake up!”

My eyes flew open and blinked quickly against the blinding light in the room to find Taylor directly above me. He’d grabbed at my arms to pin my wrists down above my head, the other was pressing down on my hips to keep me from bucking against him.

“Get off me,” I pleaded hoarsely. Taylor’s form blurred as tears gathered in my eyes, and eventually fell.

When I could see him again, I noticed his dark eyes fixed on my chest, a look of horror on his face. Slowly, his eyes went up to where my arms were being held down. They widened marginally, and bounced back and forth a few times before coming down to rest on my face.

“Please let me go.”

His face morphed into an expression I didn’t understand as he released me and sat back on the ground. I quickly pulled at the large shirt I was wearing to cover my chest. The V-neck collar wasn’t deep and usually hid the scarred MINE; but I knew with it being stretched down, he’d seen it just then.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice gruff. “You were screaming this time, and I—I just . . . I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“This time? W-what do you mean this time?”

“I hear you beg me to stop. Every. Night. The same words you screamed when I took you and kept you from escaping. I won’t hurt you,” he assured me. “I know you don’t believe me, but all I want to do is keep you safe.”

My body stilled for long moments, and I subconsciously rested my hands over the scars on my chest and stomach. I just stared at him for long moments, watching as indecision played over his features. It wasn’t hard to understand why being kidnapped had brought back continuous nightmares of Blake. I just hadn’t known I talked in my sleep. Kash had never said anything. But, then again, he was all about avoiding anything that had to do with Blake.

Taylor stood and walked over to the light switch on the wall, and my body began shaking. I needed the light right now. I needed to be able to see everything. And I needed to stay awake.

It took me three tries before I managed to blurt out, “Will you tell me something about you?”

Turning, he eyed me warily before walking back toward the mattress, and sitting in front of it. “If that’s really what you want to do to make you fall back to sleep. You know I won’t answer if I can’t, so don’t push those questions.”

I swallowed roughly and nodded my head. Taylor had only talked to me like this twice so far; but both times I’d started asking the wrong questions immediately, and he’d shut down. Right now I just needed my mind to get off Blake and what had happened almost a year ago, so I would do anything if it meant Taylor kept talking.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“How long have you lived in here?”

When he answered, his voice sounded worn out. “Eight years.”

“Don’t you have a girlfriend? Or a wife . . . kids . . . anything?” When he didn’t respond, I asked hesitantly, “Is that a bad question?”

“No to all of the above,” he finally said. “No one should have to deal with my demons.”

“What demons?” I asked quickly, and cringed as I waited for him to shut down our conversation.

“They’re just something I’ve brought on myself throughout the years.”

I studied his face as I replayed his tortured words over and over again. “I don’t believe that,” I said later. “I don’t know why . . . and part of me can’t believe I’m about to say this . . . but I know you’re not a bad person.”

He scoffed, and when he spoke again, the tortured strain was gone from his voice. “If I’m not a bad person, then why are you here? Better yet, tell me why you’ve been having nightmares of me every night.”

My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“Exactly. Don’t ever let yourself believe that I’m not as bad as your nightmares are portraying me. I assure you, I’m worse.”

I watched Taylor stand again and quickly walk over to shut off the lights. Darkness engulfed us, and all I could hear was him settling down in his spot against the door.

“I don’t have nightmares about you,” I said softly. The phantom pain of Blake’s blades was making it hard to breathe. Each labored breath seemed shallower than the last.

“What?”

“The man who haunts my dreams was evil. You . . . you’re not a bad person.”

The sound of Taylor moving back toward the mattress filled the small room. “What do you mean? Who do you dream about?”

“Just . . . not you.”

“Those scars,” he said after a few moments of silence. “Where did you get them?” When I didn’t respond, he spoke again . . . his voice strained. “I’d seen your arms, but I . . . I thought it was something different.”

“You thought I’d done this to myself,” I guessed, and took his silence as acknowledgment.

“Who did that to you?”

I sat there for a long time without answering his question. Taylor didn’t have a right to know about my life, and yet, some part of me wanted to tell him. “A man that I’d grown up with and had trusted. Something changed in him though, he became obsessed . . . he was evil. And, to put it simply, he wasn’t accepting of the fact that I refused to be his.”

“Is he who you dream about?” he asked. The darkness in his tone caused me to shrink away from him.

“Nightmares,” I corrected him. “I have nightmares about him. I dream about Kash and my life before you entered it.”

It felt like all the air was sucked from the room at my attempt to hurt Taylor. It was ridiculous, but an apology was at the tip of my tongue. I hated that I felt bad for hurting him . . . but I knew my earlier assessment was correct. Taylor may have done bad things, but he was not a bad person.

With a heavy sigh, Taylor moved back across the room. He didn’t say anything, and neither did I, but I felt his eyes on me until I eventually fell asleep.

“WHAT COLOR DO YOU THINK I SHOULD USE?”

One of Taylor’s eyebrows shot straight up, and with his dark eyes, strong features, and large arms crossed over his chest, I suddenly felt stupid for asking him. But I was bored, I needed someone to talk to, and he was the only candidate. Candice would’ve helped me pick out a color, so this beast was about to help me pick out one now.

“Well?” I prompted and gestured toward the six nail polishes sitting on the bed.

“You’re serious?” Despite his deadpan expression and tone, I didn’t give up.

“Uh, yeah.” It’d been over a week since the night Taylor had woken me up from my Blake nightmare, and in that time, something had changed between us. I don’t know if it was telling him the smallest bit about Blake, or if it had to do with Taylor mentioning his personal demons. Whatever the reason, we talked more every day. While it made the days go by faster, I was also struggling to remember why I’d ever been afraid of him. That alone should worry me and shoot up red flags; but I could see the torture he struggled with internally, and I knew this whole situation was the last thing he wanted for either of us.

He huffed and uncrossed his legs before switching which one was on top. “Isn’t it enough that I buy you those, and braved buying you tampons last week?”

My cheeks flooded with heat, but I squared my shoulders and stared him down. “Well if I was home, you wouldn’t have had to worry about that! It’s not my fault you weren’t prepared for having a woman locked up for this long.”

His face dropped and turned an odd shade of white for his normally tan skin. “I’m sorry—”

“I know you are, and I know you don’t even have to do what you’ve been doing. So thank you, but could you just humor me, and help me pick out a color? Please?”

“Sure,” he said softly, and didn’t bother standing as he crawled over to the mattress. His brow drew together as he studied the different colors, and picked them up individually, before picking up two at a time and setting one aside.

I laughed softly and raised my hands in surrender when he glared at me.

“This one.” He dropped the electric blue polish in my lap and sat back but stayed close to the mattress. “You’re trying to turn me into a girl,” he grumbled and ran his hands through his shaggy hair.

“Um, not? You just have to put up with me because you signed up for the job of taking care of me. Lucky you.”

He grunted and watched as I started with my toes first, and then made my way to my fingernails.

“You having fun watching me?”

“I wouldn’t say fun is the right word, but it’s something to do. And your concentration face is cute.”

Rolling my eyes, I let the cute slide, even though I would have normally punched Mason’s or Kash’s arm if they had called anything I did cute. Not now, though. I’d take the cute title and wear it proudly if it meant being near them.