Page 31 of Matched into the Mob

I couldn’t resist some snark, though. “You lied.”

He sighed. “About what?”

“You said you’d sit.”

“Am I not sitting? My butt is on the mattress.”

“But your feet aren’t on the floor.”

“So what’s that? Half sitting, half lying. That’s not a thing, Matt!” He took a breath. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Oh yeah? Fill me in, big guy.” Yikes, bad choice of words ‘cause I was thinking about him filling me.

“You don’t want to discuss your work with Dane.”

There was no point lying. “True, but back at ya. You won’t tell me why you bit me and left a mark that’ll remind me of you every time I look at it… until the day I die.”

Was that the purpose of the bite? So Ranger would be with me always and I’d never forget him? Shoot, maybe I’d stumbled onto the truth or part of it.

I sat up, my shoulder rubbing against his. “One question each. Me first.”

He shoulder bumped me. “How come you get to go first?”

“My rules. Please keep up, Ranger.”

There was a quick intake of breath before he said, “You remind me of my brother.”

“Flint.”

“Mmmm, but I also have a younger one.” He fiddled with the comforter.

“Oh, middle child syndrome.” Classic. I knew the type.

“No.”

“Yeah. Your older bro got the attention, the one who outshone you, whereas your younger sibling was maybe quirky or creative and your folks didn’t discipline him as much. By the time they got to their third son, they were like, ‘He can do what he wants, whatever.’”

“My turn.” He harrumphed, his testiness telling me I was close to the truth.

“No, I haven’t asked a question yet.” I had to jump in or he’d pepper me with bullet-like queries. And not just one. “Why mafia, and why do you break the law and kill people when you could just go straight?”

“Ding, ding, ding. That’s three questions, so not allowed.” He sniggered. “And go straight? You’ve been watching too many old movies.”

I waited, my mind churning, because just yesterday if I’d gotten deets about La Luna Noir, I would have woven it into myexposé,but now Ranger and I were sharing maybe home truths. Nothing was as clear as before I met him.

Damn, I was letting my emotions interfere with my work.

“Most of our dealings are what you’d consider legit.”

“Most? Ding, ding, ding. And the rest?”

“Nope. My turn. Why did you go undercover in The Obsidian Circle?”

I nibbled a nail that was annoying me. “Because they’re bad guys and the local cops either ignore their antics or they’re taking bribes.”

“Dane isn’t like us… like my brother. We have a code of ethics.”

I sat up and leaned on the headboard before facing him, but that left me dangerously close to his lips. “Answer me this. Have you ever killed someone?”

---