Page 79 of Rules to Love By

“I know. It’s usually Lucky’s gig. But he had some big important phone call he had to take, so you get me.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“You don’t yell at Tris because nothing is wrong.”

“We were just talking about the diner.”

Kreed set a plate of pie in front of him, along with another fork.

“God, I’m stuffed.”

“Always room for pie. I take it you haven’t made any decisions about it?”

“About pie?”

“Funny.” Crossing his arms, Kreed leaned on a nearby counter and waited.

For a moment, Marcus wondered if he could get out of the conversation by eating pie until he exploded, but he sighed instead. “I don’t know if there is anything I can do, even if I wanted to, and I don’t know that I do.”

“Because?”

“Because Johnathan kicked me out, and I don’t know what Aunt Iris actually wanted.”

“So you need a lawyer.”

“You may have noticed I’m having a hell of a time sheltering and feeding and clothing myself.”

Kreed pulled something from his jeans pocket and pushed it across the counter. A thick cream business card with gold-and-black lettering looked richer than anything Marcus would ever be able to afford.

“What’s that?”

“A lawyer.”

“I just said I can’t—”

“My sister, to be more precise. She’s not the sort of lawyer you need, but she knows one, I have no doubt, and she’ll fix you up.”

“How would I pay for it?”

Kreed had crossed his arms over his barrel chest again, and put his waiting face back on.

“I can’t ask you to do this,” Marcus said at last.

“You haven’t.”

“How would I pay you back?”

“Not asking you to.”

“You barely know me.”

“Marcus, even before you arrived, Tris told us so much about you, it was like we did know you when you finally showed up. We know what you did for him when you had a lot less than Lucky and I have now. You keep going on about how relentlessly helpful we are—”

“Because you’re like a juggernaut.”

Kreed grinned. “Thank you. But stop for a minute and think where Tris might have ended up if you hadn’t been the same for him.”

He didn’t have to. He’d thought about it often enough when he hadn’t heard from Tris for days on end. When he blew off shifts at the diner. When he finally showed up dirty and tired and hungry. Something of that hell must have showed on his face, because Kreed leaned forward to catch his eye.

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