Page 56 of Cruel Debts
I jerked my foot back and tucked it under myself, huffing quietly. "I don't speak to traitors and liars."
"Told you," Liam said proudly, though the pride in his voice was dull and not at all his usual tone. "Stubborn. Just like?—"
"Like Tank." Hawke's brows quirked as I looked up at him from under furious brows, daring him to say more. "Maybe weshould?—"
"We don't have the time right now," Liam growled, tossing his phone on the coffee table in front of him. "We'rebusywith ourjob,Hawke. You know this better than anyone."
"Yeah, well, maybe we shouldmaketime, man, I dunno." He scratched the back of his neck as he shot a glance in my direction. "For her."
I was still ignoring them. Iwas.But when the asshole who spent more time bullying me thanbreathingsaid they needed to make time for me, that they needed to do somethingfor me,I was all ears.
I could listen and still ignore.
Asher growled his answer. "We have to deal with the shit at home before we can deal with everyone else's shit."
"Tankisour home," Hawke said with a frown. Which was hilarious to me.
Of all the guys, Hawke had been the least eager to let Keehn in their little circle. He'd been the most resistant to making him a friend. But now, here he was, championing my brother's cause, after all these years, simply because . . . what? Was he feeling guilty, finally?
Had he finally started to regret his mistake?
"What the hell are you kissing ass for all of a sudden? It's not like youlikeher." Liam jerked a thumb in my direction, and I nearly forgot I was supposed to be ignoring them as a hiss climbed up the back of my throat. "Who are you pretending for? You were the first of us to move on after discovering he was gone."
"But I'm also the one who found out there was a fake," Hawke insisted, and the fucking curiosity just kept growing and growing. Had they been looking for him? Or had something justhappened to fall into their lap that revealed the forgery, the fake, to their eyes?
I couldn't ask, though. That would mean giving up on the vow of almost-silence.
"Both of you just shut up," Asher growled, running his hands through his hair. "I'm so tired of listening to it. The discussion is over. Done. Hawke, you have a job to do for the contract with the Guild. Get it done." He turned to Liam next, and the fucker didn't even say anything, just stared at him until he stood up, shouted his frustration, and stormed out the front door.
I looked at Asher, but he refused to meet my gaze.
Only when Hawke left, and only after the door had been shut for a few minutes, did he finally turn his attention on me.
I wasn't so sure anymore that I wanted to give him a second of my time.
"Pretty Bird?—"
"Don't call me that." Only someone who cared about me got to call me things like that. "What do you want, Asher?"
"I want you to understand."
"I understand just fine." Sure did. I understood he and the others had their priorities. And Keehn wasn't at the top of that list. I understood that they lied, they all lied, and they had no intention to correct that mistake had they not been caught out on it. And I understood that this was all just a job to them. Including me, and keeping me safe. Whether it was for Minnie, or my parents, or Keehn and their stupid fucking blood oath, at the end of the day, I was nothing more than a contract. A job. A thing to complete and then forget about.
The thought was sobering and sad.
"You know what, Asher? Just forget it. Just fucking forget it. I'll just do what you guys want of me—I'll sit in my room in this damn place, miserable and sad, and alone, like I always am, andI'll give you no more problems, and you can just do whatever it is you need to do, and forget about what I want."
Asher paled. "That's not?—"
"When your job is over and you catch this fucker who's causing you problems, then you can just ship me home and wash your hands of me. Once it's safe to turn me loose, I'll get out of your hair, and you won't have to see me ever again."
I meant it, too. I meant every fucking word.
Just not in the context that he expected it.
Sure, I'd be gone. They wouldn't have to worry about me or Keehn ever again. Mostly because I'd find him on my own. I'd finish what they should have, and when Keehn saw what had become of his friends, he wouldn't blame me for bailing, either.
He'd be so sad to find out just how disloyal, how lazy, how forgetful hisfriendsreally were.
