Page 27 of One Love

A small smile curls at the corners of my mouth as the word crosses my mind alongside Hallie’s grimaces. Before meeting her for the first time, that word wouldn’t have been in my vocabulary. Now it’s popping up in my head like a zit.

“Yeah, do a search for Harvey Cook and get back to me ASAP.”

“Sure thing.” The line goes dead as expected. Glitch knows I don’t chit chat. He learned the hard way that once I’ve said what he needs to know, I’m out.

When I go back inside, Shane is two minutes away from losing the battle. The phone is back in my pocket and the knife in my sheath when I shrug on my leather jacket and push my helmet back on my head.

All the while, I watch Shoo as he nails the guy’s bare feet to the wooden slabs planted on either side of the drain before Binx walks up with boiling hot water. I’d cringe at the sight, knowing the pain Shane is feeling is probably going to give him a heart attack, but any possible empathy I could have had was rippedaway from me the day they killed Murphy Gallagher. The only decent man left in this world.

Now, my world is bleak so, yeah, I really don’t give a fuck that he’s hurting.

This is why we’re told to choose our friends wisely. Because their fuck ups carry consequences.

Chapter Ten

J

“It’s a good thing you’re one of us, Fizz, or, I swear, I’d kidnap you and keep you locked in my apartment for all time.” Tab runs his meaty palm over his chest and stomach as he stands to take his dirty dishes to the kitchen. “Fucking love crew taco night.”

“You wouldn’t have tried my tacos if that’s the case, Tab.” Fizz laughs and finishes off her bottle of beer as Crank clears her empty plate along with his. She’s officially been banned from tidying up after one of our big meals together because the cook should not have to clean—and the rest of us pretty much suck at cooking anything more than ramen.

“Semantics.” On his way back to our large dining area, Tab ruffles Fizz’s hair lightly.

“Fuck off, Mountain Man.” She slaps his hand away. “Go get the van ready for us. One of Tommy’s men called in for a clean-up in Harlem. They should be almost finished with their job in the next hour.”

“Who the fuck is To—oh, you mean Babyface? You got it.” Tab salutes her, a wry grin on his face as he walks out.

I finish up the last of my taco, watching and enjoying the way my crew interacts. This made-family is something I never even dreamed of, yet, it’s something I couldn’t do without anymore. I can’t help wondering how Hallie is going to fit in.

It’s dangerous, sure, and my main focus was to keep her as far away from all my shit as possible, but that’s not really working for me anymore. Or her. She needs me, I need her, so this has to work out. I’ll make sure of it.

With the amount of death and destruction she’s had to encounter so far, there’s no longer a need to hide it from her.

“You still insist on calling the other capos by their real names, Fizz?” I can’t help but ask and it makes me smile.

“Only some of them. I can’t call George ‘The Butcher’ since Devon came on the scene, but I’m on board with calling Eddie ‘Snake Eyes’. And Tommy’s almost as old as I am now. Calling him Babyface doesn’t feel right anymore.” She stands at the same time as me and pushes her chair under the table.

“Fair enough. I do love that his crew call in advance when they’re working though.” And I really do.

“Me too. But they’re always messy. Getting rid of evidence on his crew’s jobs is something we have to be meticulous about.” She shudders and grabs her jacket from the back of her chair.

I laugh and shake my head. “Yeah, they like to get slicey. Have fun though, I’m gonna go catch up with Glitch.”

Who thanked Fizz profusely for dinner before taking it back to his cave.

Crank is washing up the dirty dishes as I enter the kitchen, having pulled the short straw this evening—literally. We don’t take it in turns to wash up because, frankly, I’d rather take a shit in my hands and clap. It’s pure luck every time, and I’m always the straw holder.

“What’re your plans tonight?” I ask as I place my now empty plate next to the sink.

“I’m helping Binx tune up his new ride before going over the map of death sites, just to be sure we have it right before going in.”

If I’d just asked Shoo the same question, I have no doubt he’d be explicit in explaining how he plans to jerk off this evening.

“Good. Thanks for doing that, Crank.” I begin heading out of the room.

“No worries, Boss.” He doesn’t look around or stop what he’s doing as he speaks, continuing to wash the dinner dishes.

The smell of tacos hits me as I open the door to Glitch’s cave and there’s still half of one sitting on his plate by one of his keyboards.

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