Page 64 of The Devil We Know

“I had an associate of mine pay your friends a visit.”

“Yes, I remember that,” I answer with a nod.

“Well, let’s just say she’s a master of disguises.”

I pause with one leg in my pants and look over at him with my eyebrows raised as I say, “Then how the fuck am I supposed to know who I’m not supposed to kill?”

He smiles at me broadly and shrugs, and I shake my head, cursing under my breath as I finish putting my pants on.

My boots appear in front of my face as Jessica hands them to me. I take them with a smile and sit in the chair to pull my socks on. Then, she says, “Is it safe for me to assume that these friends are my ticket out of here?” Seamus nods, and then she asks, “And how am I supposed to know that I’m leaving with the right person?”

Seamus smiles even more broadly as he says, “Oh, they have a password.”

She quirks a brow at him, her lips twisting as she asks exasperatedly, “A password?”

He nods, looking quite proud of himself, and finally, I ask, “And what might the password be?”

He laughs and then says, “Fucklicker.”

I chuckle, nodding appreciatively at one of Tony’s clever insults. And then Jessica parrots, “Fucklicker?”

I laugh again, tying my boots and then rising to my feet. I walk over to her, stooping down to look her in the face when I say, “That’s right. Fucklicker.”

Seamus laughs again, and then she looks between us and says, “You all keep proving the rumors about you to be true.”

I incline my head at her and ask rhetorically because it amuses me, “And which rumor might that be?”

“Your penchant for acting inappropriately in high-stress situations.”

“Oh, yeah,” I reply. “That’s definitely true.”

Seamus speaks up. “Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. And frankly, oftentimes, a few misplaced jokes can flip a situation back into your favor.”

I look over at him and nod in agreement. “It’s actually happened quite a few times for me.”

“You two are impossible,” Jessica sighs.

I smile and respond, “As you have reminded me many times.”

She smiles at me fondly and then sits on the side of the bed to tend to her own shoes, and I turn back to Seamus and ask, “Am I going to get any talking time, or is it going to be right to the fights?”

“I think some of them are intent on skipping any kind of discussion. Especially since those men are dead dead, and you obviously killed them.”

“And Kaian?” I ask worriedly.

“They’ve accepted that he was working for me. And that if it hadn’t been for your interference, none of that would have happened.”

“Good,” I reply with relief. “The last thing we need is two of us in trouble.”

I turn to Jessica, now standing beside me, her hands fidgeting in front of her nervously. I hold my hand out to her and ask, “Are you ready?”

She eyes my hand warily before finally placing her hand in mine, and she whispers, “Yes. As ready as I’m going to be.”

I step in closer to her, leaning in, pressing my lips softly against hers before pulling back and looking in her eyes. “Don’t forget your promise.”

She frowns, glaring at me, and for a moment, I think she’s going to tell me to go fuck myself. But instead, she swallows and then answers, “I’ll remember.”

I walk toward the door, pulling her along with me, and then motion for Seamus to go ahead of us. He opens the door, exiting out into the hallway, and I push Jessica out in front of me as I shut the door behind me.

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