Page 42 of The Heart

We drop to our knees, leaving our Nerf guns behind. We won’t need them for this.

We crawl in opposite directions, working our way around the couches until we’re each positioned behind one of the guys. Their weapons are down as they try to rid the shelf of string so they can get it upright.

I find Leena’s eyes, and we both smile, pulling out the handcuffs we’re carrying and nodding once again to signal our coordinated attack.

In no time at all, Leena has Luke’s wrists bound behind his back, I have the cuffs on Sebastian, and I’m wrestling the unsuspecting man to the floor.

Luke stares at Leena in confusion, and maybe a little shock, as she too shoves him to the floor so he’s back to back with Sebastian. I use the zip ties I’ve been carrying to hook their cuffs together and the two of us step back to face them.

They both glare at me, clearly seeing where this is going.

“Nuh-uh, don’t look at me. This is all on you.” I raise my hands, then make my way to the couch, grabbing my bag of chips from the side table and kicking my feet up onto the upturned coffee table, settling in to watch the show.

Leena crosses her arms, and their eyes trail up to her. They know they’re in trouble.

God, I’m glad I’m here for this.

“Colton told me where you went.”

“We told him not to te–” Luke starts, but she doesn’t let him finish.

“Don’t you dare ask your friend to lie ever again, and don’t get mad at him. I knew something was up, I made him tell me. You’re both shit at lying, and you’ve been sneaking around since yesterday.”

“Sweet–” Sebastian tries.

“Don’t yousweetheartme, Seb. I was worried sick about the both of you. How would you guys like it if I snuck off without you, then got myself hurt or killed? Huh? What if you weren’t there for that?”

Oh shit.

Luke hangs his head, and Sebastian squeezes his eyes shut.

“That’s what I thought. You both have to start trusting me. You didn’t tell me I killed The Jack, or how much danger we were actually in, you were all over me during the op and now you pull this shit? We’re done with this. With all of it. No more lies, no more secrets. Got it?” She stares down the two men who are looking fucking miserable right about now.

I almost feel bad for them.

Almost.

I agreed with them that Leena shouldn’t go with them today. But I didn’t like lying to her.

Which is why I told her when she asked.

They’re all quiet for a long moment. It’s Sebastian who finally speaks, “Get down here, sugar.” His voice is… gentle.

It’s still fucking weird seeing him like this.

Leena kneels beside them, and they shift in their cuffs so they can see her.

“We just... worry about you,” Sebastian explains, his eyes finding hers.

“Just like I worry about you. So please, just talk to me, let me know what’s going on and allow me to have a say in what we do about it. Okay?” She touches his cheek, and he leans into it.

“I’m sorry Leena, we should have told you where we were going today. And you’re right, you deserve to know what’s going on with the Deck. We’ll try not to be overprotective assholes.” Luke smirks at her.

“Try.” Sebastian emphasizes the word with a raised eyebrow.

“Thank you,” she says, and she really means that.

Leena takes one last long look at them, then stands.

---