Page 122 of Love Thy Brother
I wouldn’t. Nope. Not happening.
The trap house was at the end of a dark road, a secluded semi-detached bungalow, the other house vacant with aTo Letsign outside, no streetlights.
“Alexei disabled them,” Cam murmured. “He’s with the others now, not that they’ll know it.”
“Saint’ll know.”
Cam chuckled and smashed his cigarette against a bollard before tucking it back into the box in his pocket. He crouched down, studying the house from the safety of behind a garage block. “Bedroom and bathroom at the back. Kitchen and lounge at the front, but they’ve switched it around, cutting their shit in the backroom, sleeping in the front.”
Rubi squatted beside him. “They sleeping now? Or have they got a rotation going?”
“Rotation?” Cam fired him a dry look. “Not everyone’s as regimented about their criminal activity as you are. Mateo reckons they spend most of their time playing Xbox and wanking.”
“Together?”
“Didn’t ask.”
All business, Rubi grunted, gaze fixed on the house. He hadn’t looked at me since we’d left the compound, soldiering up the second Cam called us to order, and thanks to my brother, I understood why.He’s pretending I’m not here. I fought hard to do the same, but it was tough. He was a foot away from me. Fuck, I could smell him. Feel the heat of his big body, though I was fairly fucking sure that treat for the senses was all in my head. “What’s your plan, boss?”
Cam gave me a subtle middle finger over his shoulder. “Sarcasm don’t suit you.”
“Yes, it does.”
Rubi sighed. “If you two are gonna squabble in front of baby Folk, I’m calling Papa Alexei.”
The notion was so ridiculous that even Folk, a man I was fast learning had attended the Saint School of Quiet, spared us a low laugh. “That’s my cue,” he said. “I’ll be back.”
He slipped away, moving too covertly for me to track.
Giving up, I crouched at Cam’s shoulder. “I hope you’re right about him, cos he doesn’t seem like an enemy you’d fucking want.”
“He isn’t.” Cam shot me a sinister grin. “But we don’t have to worry about that. He’s our brother now.”
Rubi rumbled his agreement, and I wondered what I’d missed. And why it was more than idle curiosity that made me want to know.
“When he comes back,” Cam said, “him and Rubi are gonna take the front. Me and you will hit the back. You still a dab hand jimmying a lock?”
“Is the sea wet?”
“Not when the tide goes out.”
“Incorrect.” Rubi made a buzzing sound with his teeth. “It’s just wet somewhere else.”
Cam scowled. “Don’t be a pedantic cunt.”
“I can do it,” I broke in before Rubi could retaliate. “How old’s the door?”
“Old.”
“Wood?”
“UPVC. Single lock.”
I snorted. “Ten seconds, if that.”
“Good.” Cam rose as Folk reappeared. “Don’t fuck it up.”
I wasn’t worried about fucking up a break and enter. Our dad had taught us to be good little criminals every moment our ma hadn’t been grooming any inherited misogyny out of us. I could jimmy any lock. Hot wire any car old enough to still have the right parts. Could I fight around the back of the house while Rubi fought at the front? Time would tell.
