Page 95 of Cash

“He did.” Brick turned off the water with a smirk. “He might be your friend more than mine.”

“Trixie,” Brick said suddenly. “Wait, is Trixie okay? Fuck, I forgot all about her—”

“She’s fine,” Jules promised. “She was good and doped up when we left her.” He grabbed a bath pouf from the side of the tub, dipped it in the water, and then reached for some body wash. “Tried to wake her up, but she didn’t even remember us bein’ there. But she’s good, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.” Brick sighed. “Shit. Sorry. I couldn’t remember. I know we talked to her, and then… nothing. It’s all fuzzy until I woke up in that shitty room. Wait, what day is it? It was just Saturday, wasn’t it?”

“It’s Sunday.” Jules lathered up the pouf and reached for Brick’s arm. He gently started to wash him, a worried frown creasing his lips. “You were gone all night, baby boy.”

“Holy shit.” Brick’s stomach dropped. “My phone. Where is my phone?”

“Erasmus got it. He had one of our guys back home to do some cellphone voodoo and found it. Finchie and them dumped it at the hospital.”

“Okay. Thank you. I need to call my mom. I haven’t talked to her, and I need to…” Brick cringed as another memory crashed into him, and he remembered the rage and disgust he felt when Roland had threatened her. “God.”

“Hey, what is it?”

“Roland.” Brick hissed brokenly. “I wanted to kill him. I wanted to. If you hadn’t come in when you did, I think I was going to. I really, really don’t think I was going to stop.” Tears slid down his cheeks. “Looking back now, there’s even this crazy part of me that wishes I had taken the gun from you and done it myself.”

“Hey, hey. No.” Jules dropped the pouf so he could reach for Brick’s face. “Baby boy, no. Listen to me. That ain’t for you, okay?”

“What?” Brick blinked rapidly, fighting back more tears. “What are you talking about?”

“That ain’t for you. Going down that kinda path, all right?” Jules held Brick’s gaze. “It’s one fuckin’ thing when it’s you or the other guy. When it’s literally life or fuckin’ death, you do what the fuck ever you gotta do to come out on top. But doin’ it with anger, doin’ it with a dark heart, that shit changes you.”

Brick wanted to argue, but the broken look in Jules’s face gave him pause, and he stopped to listen.

“I’m so fuckin’ sorry for all of this,” Jules went on. “I don’t want this for you. You’re fuckin’ incredible. You’re smart, you’re fuckin’ funny, and you have this awesome fuckin’ light in you like nothin’ I’ve ever seen. I saw it the day we met, even with you bein’ all pissed off about your yard. There is such a joy in you… I ain’t never met anybody like that before, and I’ll be damned if anything happens to snuff that out.”

Brick sniffed, his resolve not to cry weakening. He laid his hand over Jules’s, and he kissed his wrist. He didn’t think anyone had ever said anything so sweet to him, and he was afraid to open his mouth to thank Jules because he just knew he was going to sob if he did.

“You’re gonna be okay,” Jules swore. “We’re gonna get through this shit. It’s over, all right? It’s finally fuckin’ over, and I am here. Daddy is fuckin’ here, and I am never gonna let anything happen to you ever again. You’re mine, you know. And I’m gonna keep you safe. Always.”

Still trying to resist the urge to cry, Brick managed quietly, “I am pretty amazing, aren’t I?”

Jules beamed. “The fuckin’ best.” He took Brick’s hand and kissed it firmly. “Which is why you’re not gonna be runnin’ around murderin’ anybody. I get you were angry. You were like a fuckin’ wild man. I know you had just been through it, but you leave that shit to me, okay?”

“You mean, that alleged shit, right?”

“That’s my boy.” Jules leaned over the tub to kiss Brick’s brow. “It’s gonna be okay. Whatever you need, I’m here. You wanna scream? Go for it. Wanna cry? I’ll grab tissues and hold you all night long. Wanna beat up somethin’? You can beat on me. Who knows. I might fuckin’ be into that shit.”

Brick’s pulse fluttered, and he tried to smile. “What if I want to get drunk and cuddle and watch more Tiger and Rose?”

“Your wish is my command, baby boy.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Brick’s smile was more genuine as Jules got back to bathing him, and he actually did feel a little better.

It was over now.

Right?

“So.” Brick watched Jules working the pouf slowly down his arm and back up to his shoulder. “I think it’s safe to say that Finchie is no longer a problem.” He ignored the echo of a gunshot in his memory and kept on talking. “And you guys got the ledgers back, right?”

“Yup.” Jules made his way around Brick’s chest to his other shoulder.

“What happens now?”

“Gotta wait a few days for the heat to die down. Cutter is gonna tidy up shit at the crime scene with Fanny. I got it all covered, all right?”

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