Page 124 of Stabby Little

"She needs fake crying lessons from Trisha Paytas," I drawl. "At least Trisha's entertaining during her mental breakdowns.”

That's when it happens.

Two men snatch my phone out of my hand and thrust it to the ground.

"Hey," I protest, rushing toward them. "That's mine."

One of the men rams a cloth over my mouth and the other stomps on my phone.

"Kobe Bailey." The first man raises a camera and snaps a picture of my face. "We got him, boss."

38

OLLIE

"You're really grinding my gears."

Sparrow's voice reaches my ears from across the apartment. I lift my head from the diamond painting I'm working on and turn to him.

"What did I do now?"

He reaches into the freezer and retrieves Gordon's hand. "I thought you disposed of this. We can't have this in the apartment."

I ignore him and go back to my diamond painting. "It's in the freezer. It's not bothering anyone."

"It's bothering me," Sparrow says, clearly annoyed. "I went to grab an Eggo waffle when I saw this next to the frozen peas. You told me you tossed this in the Hudson."

"I'm working right now. You need to bring this up another time."

Sparrow peaks at my lap. "You're coloring. Last I checked, that's not work."

"I'm diamond painting for stress relief." It takes everything in me not to snap at him. "I'm going through a lot right now. My mind is jumbled and I'm so burnt out I can barely think."

"Burnt out? All you do is hook up with hot guys at the Little Bunny Club and hang out with your dream Daddy. That's not a recipe for burnout."

"You don't know what burns me out. We all have different stress tolerances."

"You spent last Tuesday at Grant's." Sparrow puts his hands on his hips. "That's what you've fantasized about since you were old enough to have fantasies."

"We didn't hook up, if that's what you're wondering."

"Maybe you should've," Sparrow says sagely. "It would've eliminated your stress by taking a load off your shoulders. Then you could've gathered the courage to dispose of Gordon's hand in the Hudson."

"The hand is there for a reason." My fingers curl into fists. "We need it to blackmail the Diavolos if they find us. When they see the hand, they'll know what we're capable of and back off. We're not the timid boys they manipulated in the warehouse."

Sparrow waves Gordon's hand back-and-forth. "Earth to Ollie. The Diavolos are the most vicious mobsters in this city. The stupid hand in our freezer won't scare them. If anything, it'll prompt them to get revenge."

I take a sip of my juice box. "You're catastrophizing again. You know that's not good for your mental health."

"I'm figuring out what the Diavolos will do to us when they discover we have their underling's severed limb in our freezer."

"It hasn't happened yet, so there's no need to panic."

"You told me you threw this out weeks ago. This isn't something I want in the house."

I set my diamond painting on the coffee table. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to ditch this stupid hand." Sparrow rams it back in the freezer. "The river is five minutes away. Walk over and dump it in. No one will find it."

---