Page 66 of The Woman with the Wallet

And that it would work.

“Get over yourself, Miko,” I said with an eye roll that I hoped made it impossible for him to see how revved up I was getting at just the idea of being in bed with him again.

“Good, it’s settled then,” he said, stupidly handsome with the joy of his victory.

It was about three hours later when Miko and I both got back from the laundromat, since he dug his heels in about me not going alone, that Zeno approached, a muscle ticking in his jaw with his frustration.

“Miko, you’ve got to get him—“ he started, then exhaled hard, his head tilting to look up at the ceiling. “If you touch that, I swear to God, I will go deep into your search engine history and find every embarrassing search—like wondering what the insideof a real, live pussy might feel like—and blast it all over your socials for all your friends and family to see,” he called back to Chuck in the dramatic frustration of a big brother being annoyed to his breaking point by his sibling.

“Need some peace to work?” Miko asked, his smirk indicating he knew the feeling Zeno was experiencing all too well.

“God, yes,” Zeno said, sighing hard.

“Alright. We’ll get going so you can focus. You got my number?” To that, Zeno shot him a bemused expression that said even if he didn’t, he could figure it out.

“Chuck, get your shit. We’re heading out,” Miko called.

“Where are we going?”

“Home to get some sleep,” Miko said, and it was right then that I noticed just how worn out he looked. I felt the same fatigue deep in my bones.

“Your home?” Chuck asked, nearly overturning his chair in his rush to get over toward us.

“Just… leave it,” Zeno grumbled when Chuck’s duffle caught the edge of his desk, sending a stack of shit tumbling to the ground. “And go. Please. For the love of God.”

“I’m picturing, like, a lair,” Chuck said as Miko half-shoved him out into the hall.

“Thanks for doing my laundry, you pretty little thief, you,” Zeno said with a smile that would have charmed the panties off any other woman in Manhattan. “Oh, and I give it half the night.”

“Give what half the night?” I asked as I moved into the doorway.

“You being able to keep your hands off of each other,” he said with a knowing little smile before turning and heading back to his desk.

That was some amazing hearing he had.

The sad thing was, I was worried he was right as we all made our way outside, piled back into the SUV, and made our way to Miko’s apartment.

“Itislike a lair!” Chuck said, eyes about popping out of his skull as he looked around with the enthusiasm of a little kid.

“Yep,” Miko said, his tiredness making his usual charm wear thin. “This is you,” he said, opening the door to his office that also served as the guest room. “The couch pulls out. All the bedding is in the closet. There’s a closet hall. Towels are in the closet.”

“Nice. Nice. Where’s Max sleeping?”

“In my room,” Miko said.

“Oh.Oh.Nice. That’s cool, man,” he said, making Miko puff his air out through his nostrils, the closest he could get to a laugh, given how dead on his feet he was.

“Help yourself to anything. But do not, and I repeatdo not, leave this apartment.”

“Go out there and get myself killed? No, not me, man.”

“And don’t go on any of your socials talking about where you are, either.”

“Got it,” Chuck agreed, rocking on his feet, still excited.

“We’re gonna catch a couple of hours. Then we will order something in for dinner,” he said before putting an arm around my hips and drawing me into his room.

“Just gonna take a quick shower,” Miko said, already stripping out of his clothes right there in front of me. And, I guess, I’d seen all of him now. There was no reason for him to feel shy.

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