Page 19 of Breakdown
Chapter Four
PETER COUPLED AND UNCOUPLEDthe socket wrench nervously, glancing at the door for what felt like the hundredth time. Liv was late. There was a saying about Los Angeles traffic that Peter had found to be true, especially when he was waiting for someone: “You can get anywhere in LA in twenty minutes, but sometimes that twenty minutes takes four hours.”
Nik wheeled out from under the Camaro, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve. They’d closed the shop for the week, because of the trial, but neither of them could stand just sitting at home waiting. They’d been half-heartedly tinkering with the convertible ever since Nik got back from the Kritikos’ this afternoon, distracted and edgy, finding none of the comfort they usually gained from fixing up the old girl.
It hadn’t helped that when Peter took a quick trip to the corner store to pick up some more coffee filters, he’d returned in time to overhear Nik in the office. With thief’s practiced delicacy, he nudged the door open a crack. Nik was so focused that Peter probably could’ve kicked the door down and Nik wouldn’t’ve noticed him. He was singing Mia’s bedtime song into his phone, recording it. His voice was breaking, and Peter could feel his heart do the same.
“I will always love you very much, Mia,” Nik concluded quietly. He fiddled with the screen for a moment, saving it, scrubbing his hand down his face when he finished. Peter had crept away and taken another lap around the shop, and when he’d gotten back he found Nik working under the Camaro like nothing had happened.
“Do you plan on passing that to me anytime soon?” Nik asked, nudging Peter lightly with the tip of his boot.
Peter snapped the socket back into place. “Sure. Shit. Sorry.” He reached over to give Nik the wrench, and Nik clasped his hand instead.
“Break?”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed, hauling him up off the creeper and into a standing position.
“We are almost done the work on her, you know.” Nik kept hold of his hand, drawing him close. He slid the other to the small of Peter’s back. “What do you think we should do when we are finished?” He said it like he didn’t have a care in the world, like Peter hadn’t caught him leaving some small and insufficient memory of himself for his daughter in case this all went wrong.
Maybe it was the addict mentality, or the fact that he lived the majority of his years as a criminal, but Peter had never really considered, that therewasan after. That, if he didn’t manage to fuck this up, he had a lifetime with Nik: to fix up a hundred junkers, to sing Mia a hundred lullabies, to grow old together.
The thought of it made him dizzy and more afraid of the prospect of losing Nik than he’d ever been in his life. He took a deep breath, keeping his tone light. “We could give customization a shot,” he said. He laid his hand reverently on the hood of the Camaro. “It might be easier to start with something a little more recent, though. It was a pain in the ass finding parts for this old girl.”
“I think that is an excellent idea.” Nik kissed him chastely on the forehead. “As long as you are not thinking of trading me in for something younger and newer along with it.”
“You know me,” Peter said, slipping his arms around Nik.“I prefer the classic models.”
“That just shows good sense,” Nik agreed approvingly.
“Even if they are fixer-uppers.”
Nik snorted out a laugh. “Hey, I am pretty sure I am not the only fixer-upper in this relationship. I have put in a lot of hard work to get you road-worthy.”
“I’veput in the hard work, here. Just be glad I’m taking you along for the ride, Petrakis.”
“You are right,” Nik deadpanned. “It has been so incredibly smooth and easy.”
Peter laughed, and felt good for just a moment.
With a creak of protest, the back door announced what Peter was sure was his sister’s arrival, and the sound died on his lips. He was surprised to see Nina emerge from the storage room, her toddler balanced on her hip and Joey Guo—heir to the entire Triad smuggling operation in LA and unlikely suitor of Nik’s sister-in-law—trailing behind her.
