Page 84 of Skin Deep

I came close to finishing the story but stopped when she set plates on the table and we sat down to eat. She’d brought Gus some slices of banana.

“Spoiled,” I said, shaking my head.

She shrugged, taking a big bite. “We eat together. We become a pack together.” She blew on her fork before she stuck it in her mouth. She handed Gus another piece of fruit. “The police came?”

“Yeah,” I said, almost shoveling the food in my mouth. It was good. “Then two guys with knives somehow got involved. Lach and Kelly both got cut.”

“The Craigs?” Her eyebrows pulled tight.

I smoothed them out before I took another bite. “Kelly thinks so.”

“Do you think they are responsible for the shooting?”

“Hard to tell. Kelly has a bunch of fires going. And your cousin—” I moved my face just in time for an explosive sneeze.

Her eyes flew to mine.

“He was here, too. He saved my sister.”

She felt my forehead. Satisfied that it must have been cool to the touch, she nodded and took it down. “He is not who you think he is,” she said. “He is, on the surface. He is all the things you are thinking. He does what needs to be done. But his mamma’s spirit has space in his heart.”

We became quiet, finishing up. She asked me if I wanted to share a piece of cheesecake, and right as we started, my phone rang. I picked it up on the second ring. It was Lach.

“Take your two Gs and get out,” he said. “Now.”

My two Gs—meaning Georgina and Gus.

“Grab his leash,” I said to her, grabbing her arm. I snatched the gun from underneath the table. We hid them in places that were not obvious but convenient. Mostly underneath tables. An easy grab. I started to move toward the front door, but I kept talking to Lach. “What’s going on? We have two unmarked cars on the street.”

“I don’t give a fuck if it’s the Queen parked on the street. Get out.” He turned toward someone and started talking.

Georgina grabbed Gus’s leash from the peg and snapped it into place. Her eyes were trying to gauge the seriousness of the situation through mine. I looked out the window but only caught sight of Lach’s car.

“We’re parked across the street.” He flashed his lights. “The police are already eyeing us. They’re starting to walk toward the car. Get dressed while they do. Our addresses don’t reflect the new house, so when we tell them who we are to you, that’s going to get them to knock. Tell them G was called to see her mam and you’re leaving. That’s why we’re waiting outside. Let them escort you to the car. We’ll be right behind you—then you’ll follow us to a safe house. Two minutes, Harry Boy.” He hung up.

“Harrison?” Georgina said as I took her by the arm and started bringing her up the steps. “What is going on?”

“Get dressed, baby,” I said. “Two minutes, if that.”

She started to throw on clothes, not even bothering to really look at them. She was going for warm. I flung a sweatshirt over my sweatpants and was done. The only things worth something to me in the house were her and Gus. She seemed to feel the same way. She was done by the time I was. She stuffed her feet into soft boots at the door and I stuffed mine into a pair of tennis shoes.

“You have an extra gun?” Still holding onto Gus’s leash, she bent down a little and used the same hand to grab a bag that had been left at the door. It was full of a few new things she’d bought for him.

I grabbed a gun from under the table in the living room, handing it to her just as the knocks came at the door. Two policemen stood on the other side. One of them was the fresh-faced cop who’d been trying to flirt with Georgina.

“My brothers,” I confirmed, nodding to the car. “We have a small family emergency.”

The officer nodded and backed up to let us out. I locked the door and they watched as we got into the car and pulled off. Two blocks out, I pulled over and Declan pulled on the side of me. Lach nodded from the passenger side and then Declan took off. I did right after. My phone rang and Georgina answered it.

Something hot flooded my chest when she did. We were in this life together. I set my hand on her thigh and squeezed.

“Ciao,” she said, putting the phone on speaker.

“G?”

“What is going on, Lach?”

That sent another warm rush through my chest. My brothers were in love with her. My sister would just have to get over whatever shit she had going on inside of her head. Georgina wasn’t who Keely thought she was. And I realized how unfair I’d been to her in the beginning because of the way she looked. It was my own shit that I needed to work out. Losing the chance to play ball, then the girl who went with the dream, messed me up for a while.

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