Page 50 of Vicious Addictions

When we shake our heads, he glances at his Rolex and sighs. “It’s late. You’re both welcome to stay the night.”

I’m about to decline when Felix answers for me. “Thank you, Boss.”

Once we leave Crane in his office to make his calls, I don’t miss how Felix adjusts his collar.

“You alright there, Felix?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he declares while quickening his pace.

I stop him in his tracks by placing my hand on his shoulder.

“If we’re going to spend the night here, best we alert the housekeeper, Agatha, to prepare your room.”

Felix looks at the library door just a few steps away before bowing his head in defeat.

“Of course.”

“I’ll help you find her.” I smile a bit too widely to go unnoticed.

To Felix’s dismay, it takes us a good twenty minutes to find Agatha. When we finally re-enter the great hall, we come face to face with Crane once more.

“Everything settled with your room, Felix?”

He nods.

“Good. How about a nightcap before we call in the night?”

Not waiting for an answer, Crane struts into the library with us in tow, all smiles.

“See, sweet pea? That didn’t take long, did it?”

“Took long enough,” Mina mutters, arms crossed. “These jackasses couldn’t play chess if their lives depended on it.”

“Just give me a minute,” Remus snaps, staring at the board as if it were an unsolvable math problem.

“I’m out. Too many rules for my liking.” Rolo yawns, stretching out on the sofa with his hands behind his head.

“It’s a thinking man’s game,” Felix smirks. “And your cousins aren’t thinking men.” He shrugs off his coat, draping it over the back of Remus’s chair where he’s still sitting. “Mind if I take a turn?”

“Be my guest.” Mina grins, waving her cousin aside.

“Whatever,” Remus grumbles as he stands, making sure to shoulder-check Felix on his way out.

“How about you, lad?” Crane nudges me. “Fancy a game of cards?”

“The only card game I know is Poker, and for total transparency, I’m pretty bad at it.”

“Bluffing already.” Crane chuckles. “I’ll take those odds.”

I grin as I walk behind him to a table with green baize where cards are spread out in the center. But before I take a seat, I glance over to Felix and Mina as they quietly play their own game.

There’s something between them—an understanding.

And for some reason, it rubs me the wrong way.

For all intents and purposes, Mina is still two days away from her eighteenth birthday, while Felix celebrated his thirty-third last May. That’s a damn big age difference for two people who seem to understand each other so effortlessly.

“Your mind somewhere else, son?” Crane asks, watching me closely as he deals the cards.

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