Page 40 of Lost Kingdom

“Um…”Shit.Why is she so pretty? So forgiving? So wildly fucking insane to think there could be a way to justify the things I’ve done? “Why medical examiner?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Straightening out again, she cracks her soda open and beams behind the lip of the can. “I don’t know if you caught it during family dinner and all the sex talk, but my dad is an anthropologist. He started in the field and then moved into forensics. For the last fifteen years, he’s been a professor at Copeland U. He retired last year, and now he spends all his time at home with my crazy mom, but for my whole life, he’s studied bones. While Katie was off dreaming about the universe, and Eli was getting artsy, Duane was playing sports, and Liam was doing his thing… Well, all of my siblings have their own thing, and all of those things were fostered and developed with love and care. But while they were doing that, I followed my daddy around everywhere he went. If I could be in the lab with him, that’s where I was. If he had a case and brought his notes home, I was reading over his shoulder.”

“Hardly appropriate for a child.”

She grins. “But it was how I found my passion. I knew what track I would take all the way back in my freshman year of high school, so I tookall the AP science classes I could and I studied hard. I had a boyfriend, but he was driven and had his own goals. So instead of getting in each other’s way, we encouraged and supported. I got into the college I wanted, and moved through the med program as quickly as I could. I was singularly focused, which is how I’ve come to be Minka Mayet’s second. And she’s the youngest chief medical examiner in this city’s history. Perhaps even the country.” She stops and searches the room. “I should Google that.”

“Later.” I reach across and grab her chin, forcing her eyes back to me. “Medical examiner is not anthropology.”

“No. But I was reading his case notes, remember? The mystery intrigued me. The drive to find answers roped me in. The fact they were dead and their voices had been taken from them drove me to listen harder. Ultimately, I’m my daddy’s little girl, and I wanted to grow up to be just like him.”

“And that’s how you ended up here, walking in people’s blood and studying…”

“Flayed penises. My turn.”

My stomach drops. Every fucking time she looks at me the way she does, so innocently asking questions she never should know the answers to.

“Is there a part of you that wishes you could be what your name represents? Set me aside. Copeland City. Archer being a detective. Felix being Felix. Do you wish you could be the one leading the family the way your father intended?”

“No. I didn’t want it when I was younger, and I don’t want it now. I’ll never truly escape, because my brothers are still part of that world, and there are gonna be times when Felix needs us to be a united line of five. For his safety, he’ll need that. And for him, I’ll step up and be who my name represents. It goes with me everywhere I walk, and like it or not, the Timothy before me created a reputation that grants me power when I’m in New York City. People know I’ve refused my place amongst those ranks. They know I’ve said no, but I guess they figure I could change my mind at any point, so they still, and will forever, treat me a certain way.”

“Like call youBoss,” she teases again, spinning her fork. “Do you like it when they do that?”

“I’m… impartial. I don’t care either way. But I appreciate thatifI need to exert power, I have it. And I like that I’ve made my stance clear, which means I can live here, and I can be with you, and this can be a relatively normal life.”

“Is there a point in the future where you feel you may need to exert certain reputational power?”

“Yeah.” Sighing, I drop my chin and nod. Subtle. Small. But there’s no hesitation. “Even if I hate the man who came before me, Iwillhold on to the power he created me with. I’ll keep the name I was born with. I’ll make deals when I need to, and I’ll procure documents when I must. I’ll control men who can control the world we exist in. And I do it all in the name of protection. If the people I care about are safe, then I’m just Bartender Tim.”

“And if someone is threatened?”

I set my fork down and straighten on my stool. Then I search her eyes andknow, this is the life Timothy brought me into. “If someone I love is threatened… If at any point they experience fear, or pain, or worry because of my world, then I’ll become the man I was bred to be. I’ll take care of business and if I have to, I’ll put people in the ground. I’ll ensure your safety, Aubree. That’s all anyone needs to know.”

“Y-you mean ensureeveryone’ssafety.”

“Hmm?”

“You said… You…” She wraps her hand around her soda and frowns. Questioning, but momentarily silenced. “You meant to say you would be that Tim to ensure your family’s safety. But you said?—”

“What I meant to say.” I place my fingers under her can, guiding it up. “I’m obsessed with you. Like a common fucking junkie just hanging out for his next hit. It’s been that way since you first sat your curvy ass at my bar and paid more attention to your books than you did to anyone else who thought to try their luck. There are no limits I won’t go to keep you safe. Even if those limits piss you off.”

“Uh…”

“What do you wanna watch tonight? And what does Chester look like? I’ll keep an eye out on Saturday. I’d like to introduce myself.”

14

AUBREE

WEDDING BELLS. BATMAN SMELLS

“Alright. Seriously.” Minka peeks into the hallway somewhere in the back of Eli’s wedding reception building, where dressing rooms are provided for wedding parties to change in and brides don’t bring bad luck upon their nuptials by being seen too soon. But then she closes the door to ensure we’re alone. Which means she’s gonna say things I don’t like. Or things that rhyme withschmafia. “As your best friend, and as your boss, it’s my duty to ask what the hell is going on between you and Tim? Because I get that you’ve always been kinda friendly and all that. I get that he’s been feeding you since the dawn of time, and you’ve had nights in his apartment in the past. And there was the thirty-seven feral cats thing, and?—”

“I think there were twelve, actually.” I sit on a delicate stool and stare at myself in the vanity mirror to make sure I’m dressed. Ready. Makeup. Earrings. I check to ensure my lashes stay where they’re supposed to be, and my teeth remain free of the luscious red lipstick I slid on only minutes ago. I pat my hair and tilt my head to catch the streaks of pink peeking through the blonde. “And chocolate cake.”

“Aubree! Are you sleeping with Tim?”

I turn in my seat and tilt my head the other way as I look mybossup and down. “Not an appropriate question for an employer to ask her employee. There’s an imbalance of power that makes it impossible for me to share, or not share, information without coercion potentially being involved.”

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