Page 69 of Coup De Grâce
“I’m surprised it’s you,” I said, letting him know I was well aware who he was even though I couldn’t see his face.
He finally stepped out of the shadows and grinned at me, that suave look cutting across his face just like always. “Why? Did you think I would be pissed that you shot me?” Kavanaugh asked.
“The thought crossed my mind.”
“You know, I spent weeks in a fucking glass room with everyone watching me day and night. I should return the favor.”
“I wouldn’t blame you,” I admitted. “But it was better than a bullet to the head.”
“I do appreciate that,” he chuckled. He closed the distance between us, pulling me in for a hug. “Figured you might try to kill me again. Have any knives on you now?”
I slapped his back, my breath hitching in my chest at the realization that he wasn’t angry at me. I felt like a fuckingwoman, about to start crying because my friends were here. It was fucking pathetic.
“No knives, but I do have FNG, so that’s something.”
“I should have brought my newest creation, boss. You would have loved it. Get this, a typical umbrella, but with knives that fire from it like a gun.”
I hated to ask, but someone had to. “Why not just use bullets? They move faster.”
“Yeah, but this is an umbrella that fires knives!” he laughed. “I mean, how ingenious is that? Who would suspect a thing?”
“Um…TSA?”
He frowned thoughtfully. “Right, well, it’s still being perfected.”
“So, why are we at a vineyard?” Kavanaugh asked.
“Ooh, because I used to work here,” FNG grinned. “Pretty spectacular, right?”
“Sure,” Kavanaugh grunted.
That immediately caused a problem, which for once, I didn’t mind hearing about.
“Is that a sure, like you think it’s really awesome? Or was that a sure like you think it’s pathetic?”
Kavanaugh sighed in frustration. “It’s just a sure.”
“Yeah, you say that, but how can I be sure? I mean, your voice pitched down.”
“My voice didn’t pitch at all. It was just a monotone sure!” Kavanaugh argued.
FNG scoffed, shaking his head at his teammate. “Monotone is even worse! It’s like you don’t even care!”
“Because I don’t fucking care!” Kavanaugh countered. “We have bigger things to worry about than whether or not you worked at a vineyard and whether or not that’s really fucking cool.”
“How can you say that? We’re in a foreign country. Literally in my old home, and you say you don’t care?”
“I don’t fucking care!” Kavanaugh shouted. “You know why?”
“Why? Tell me. I would loooove to know!” FNG said mockingly.
“Because I just flew overnight to get here. I’m tired as fuck. I’m dirty, and I don’t have any clean clothes because the airline lost my bag. I stepped in shit on the way out here, and in case you haven’t noticed, our boss is about to have his head chopped off by some elusive group of men who have it out for him. So, there are just a few things more important than whether or not working at a vineyard was pretty fucking awesome!”
He heaved in the darkness as FNG stood silently, studying him with great care. This wasn’t the sort of meeting one would hope for. In fact, it was exactly as I expected it would be. Fucked up and completely insane.
“I suppose you may have a point,” FNG finally said. “But I still think you could have put just a tad more enthusiasm in your voice.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” Kavanaugh snapped. “Now, where the fuck is Thumper?”
