Page 78 of Kings & Carnage

"She asked how long it would take for the other houses to finish the game," I said.

"We don't know," Neo said.

"I know," I said. "And that's a problem.”

"How so?" Drago asked.

"It could be months," I said.

Neo's gaze didn't waver. “So?"

"So we can't just keep her locked up here except for school for months on end," I said. “That's someFlowers in the Atticshit.”

Neo’s expression was blank. "What the fuck isFlowers in the Attic?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "The book? About the siblings who are locked in an attic and end up having sex and babies?”

"What the actual fuck?" Neo asked.

"It's a thing," Drago said. “An old thing. All the girls like it for some reason.”

"Don't act all shocked by sibling sex," I told Neo. “Or babies.”

We’d all been rolling the dice on birth control, Willa included, and I had the feeling Neo wouldn’t exactly be disappointed if Willa got pregnant.

He scowled. "Willa and I are not siblings.”

"I don't see that we have any choice but to keep Willa here," Drago said, returning to the point of the convo. "We already gave in on the school thing. Anywhere else is a risk.”

"Unless we get help," I said.

Neo narrowed his eyes. "What kind of help? We already have Rafe and his men.”

I wasn't surprised by the suspicion in his voice. There were a lot of things Neo didn't do and asking for help was one of them. Asking for help meant you owed someone a favor, and Neo didn't like owing people favors.

He liked it the other way around.

"The Blades and the Phantoms own Blackwell Falls," I said. "If they put out the word that we’re under their protection, Willa would be safe in town at least.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding,” Neo said.

I understood why the idea was hard to swallow. We were usually the ones offering protection. Asking someone else for it felt a bit like handing them our balls in a designer purse.

"It's not the worst idea," Drago said. “I mean, do I love the idea of giving the Blades and Phantoms leverage over us? Fuck no. But Willa's happiness is more important than our egos, and Rock’s got a point, we can't keep her locked up here for months on end.”

"And they wouldn't have leverage over us if we wiped the slate clean on their loans,” I added.

Neo finished the rest of his smoothie and turned to rinse the glass. "Now I know you’re high. “That's almost five hundred grand.”

"Are you saying Willa's happiness isn't worth five hundred grand?” I was pushing his buttons but sometimes that was how you got things done with Neo. The only problem was sometimes his psyche was like a big giant control room full of unmarked buttons.

You never knew what you were going to get when you started pushing them.

He turned to face me, his expression tight. "Are you saying you want my fist in your pretty face?”

I shrugged. "If that's what it takes. I'm just saying, keeping Willa alive isn't enough. We want her to be happy too, right? If we wipe the slate on the loans in exchange for protection from the Blades and Phantoms, Willa can at least go into town for coffee or food.”

"If you think I’ll stake Willa’s safety on the protection of the Blades and Phantoms you're fucking crazy," Neo said.

---