Page 187 of Ready to Cash Out

“You figured out where the bodies were buried, probably days ago. You’ve been keeping it to yourself, waiting for the right time to play it.”

“Yeah. And how long have you known? Since you saw the photographs?”

“Much longer than that.” Cold tapped the side of his glass. “I learned many years ago that information is a critical asset to maintaining power. With the right secret, you can bend entire cities to your will without firing a single bullet.” He smirked. “Or stabbing someone with a steak knife.”

Trev scoffed. “Technically, Juicy did the stabbing. I just provided the knife.”

“Still. You took the initiative to arm yourself. You’re a survivor, right?” Cold chuckled. “If I recall correctly, you said you were going to survive me.”

“Yeah.” Trev smiled.

“Do you feel that you have?”

“I don’t think you’re something I need to survive anymore.” Trev shrugged. “And maybe, heh, just maybe I understand you a little better now. Even the asshole parts.”

Cold laughed. “Is that so?”

“You lost a lot. Made you hard. Made you cold, no pun intended.” Trev shrugged. “You put up walls so nobody can get through. You were right when you said we were a lot alike. But I had my mom. At least for a little while. You only had Boris, who as far as I can tell was actually an absolute fucking monster, so…”

Cold tilted his head, staying quiet while Trev gathered his thoughts.

“I’ll never know why my mom decided to keep everything from me. Yeah, I can say it was because she wanted to protect me and keep me out of trouble. She loved me. And I could just as easily say the same thing about you and your mafia shenanigans. You did what you did to protect yourself, but you were also looking out for me. And Juicy. And even Jupiter.

“You didn’t have to do all that. Getting the Luchesi fuckers to back off or taking care of Juicy the way you have. You did that because you know they’re important to me. Could have done without the murder and the lying and all that extra bullshit. You have a really weird fucking love language, but… thank you.”

Cold smiled softly. “You’re welcome.”

“Are we gonna hug again?”

Cold made a face. “I’d prefer that we didn’t.”

Trev laughed. “Fine. I didn’t want to hug you anyway.”

Cold tipped his glass back, emptying it. “I’m sure Rowena would be happy to accept any and all physical affections on my behalf.”

“I’m sure she’s going to chain both me and Jupiter to the fucking bed so we can never leave.”

“That is entirely possible.” Cold nodded. “She’s very fond of you.”

“How about I leave Monday? That’ll give us the weekend to hang out and celebrate not being murdered or pretend murdered or any kind of murdered.”

“As you wish.” Cold rose to turn off the record player. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Thank you. We’ve come quite a ways from me stealing your silverware and trying to escape, huh?”

“That we have.” Cold picked up his empty glass to refill it.

“So.” Trev fidgeted. “What’s gonna happen with Champignon? You think he’s gonna be pissed you just cut him off from his Luchesi buddies?”

“Mm, we haven’t come that far,” Cold scolded lightly.

“What? No discussing your top secret mafia plans?”

“No.”

“Maybe I could help.” Trev grinned. “I am pretty smart, you know.”

“That you are, but you don’t really want to be involved. You have your heart set on a future with a sandy beach, as I recall.” Cold took a small sip of his drink. “Plus, you still have a prisoner to attend to. Or has he been upgraded from prisoner yet?”

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