Page 25 of The Truths We Seek

Maybe more than a little.

“What are we doing about Quinn? And Shae?” I ask him, knowing he likely already has plans in place.

“Tonio will be with Shae when she’s home, like always, and Eddie is going to come back in now that you’re home to watch over Quinn. I’ve had him picking up for you and checking in on HellScape.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll love having her very own BFG back. Though, you know she’s never going to not call him Bruno right?” I can already picture her face and it’s enough to make me laugh. A somber thought steals the joy from me, but I know I need to ask the question that popped into my head. “What about Tommy?”

Just saying his name is like a twist of the knife in my heart. He meant a lot to Quinn, but he meant a lot to us too. His loss is one we’re all going to feel for a long time. Especially Mama Marino. Her thing with Tommy was very much a don’t ask, don’t tell, worst-kept-secret kind of thing. I know Meyer hid her away after everything with Trent, but again, I’m out of the loop.

“Mama’s handled it all. The service is in a few days. He’ll be buried in the family plot. Mama wanted everyone to be home for it, so somehow managed to get the morgue to keep him on ice until we knew what was happening with you and Shae.”

“Keep him on ice… who are you, The Godfather?” I ask with a laugh and it makes them both chuckle in response. The clown is officially back in business, baby. “Does Quinn know?”

Meyer shakes his head, glancing at Rory before looking back at me. “Not yet, we didn’t want to overwhelm her, all things considered. But since it’s only a few days away, we probably should tell her.”

A sound draws my attention to the door and I jolt in surprise at seeing our girl standing in the doorway. Apparently, she’s becoming a silent ninja too, because not one of us noticed her come in. She stands there with her hands on her hips, head tilted, sass out for all to see, and quirks a brow at me when I smile at her.

“Tell me what?”

CHAPTER NINE

QUINN

I should be excited for today. Shae is finally coming home, and God knows I’ve missed her so freaking much, but it’s all overshadowed by tomorrow.

Tommy’s funeral.

Meyer and the guys told me about it last night, and I was more disappointed in myself that I hadn’t even thought about his funeral since they told me he was gone. Knowing that Meyer’s mom handled all of the details… it’s just another thing to add to the list of things I feel like I should’ve done and fumbled. But adding to my guilt meter right now isn’t going to make much difference, so I’m just piling it on there with everything else about this entire fucked up situation.

Just when I think I’m doing a little better, the universe drop kicks me out of nowhere and shoves me right back down. I don’t know who put Mercury in the microwave, or which planets are misbehaving, but if the universe could give me a break right now, that’d be really nice.

I hit the stop button on the treadmill and head over to the weight rack. I might have spent a little time last night trying to distract myself from everything by going down fitness rabbit holes. Being in the situation I was in with Trent isn’t something I ever want to experience again. I’m going to ask Rory if we can restart my defense training, but I need to be fitter. Stronger.

So I rack up the weights on the barbell and follow the video tutorials on a few different lifts, trying to get a feel for them. I’m watching myself in the mirror to try and make sure that I’m matching the woman on the video when I notice a shadow appear beside me.

Racking the weights, I glance over and a smile takes over my face. “Bruno! You’re back!” I bounce over to him and hug him. He startles at the movement, but pats the top of my head when he recovers.

“Yeah, I’m back,” he says in that gruff, gravelly tone that I hadn’t realized I’d missed once I release him. “Boss wants me back with you for the foreseeable future.”

I put my hands on my hips, a little frustrated that Meyer just conveniently skipped telling me that my living shadow would be coming back, but I also know that he wouldn’t have done it without reason. Trying to accept the reality of their world, while pushing back my reactive responses, is proving to be difficult, but I’m not a child.

Even if having a babysitter feels like I’m being treated like a child, that doesn’t mean I should act like it. Making a note to ask Meyer why Bruno is back later, I nod at him with a smile. “Well, welcome back to the boring world of me.”

The alarm on my phone goes off to tell me to leave the weight rack and get my ass back on the treadmill, but I pause, turning back to Bruno. “How well trained are you in self defense?”

He huffs, almost like he’s offended I’d question his abilities. “Well enough to keep you safe.”

“Good enough to show me some moves?” I ask. I know Rory will likely help me train again, but Rory is just one guy. I could come up against anyone, learning from different people might teach me different things.

Bruno folds his arms across his chest and observes me. “If the boss signs off on it, then yeah, I can do that. I trained forces before, I’d just need to adapt some stuff to suit you.”

I grin wide and clap my hands together once. “Awesome, I’ll speak to Meyer. Thank you, Bruno.”

The corners of his lips twitch upward when I call him Bruno. I know it’s not his name, but calling him anything else just feels weird now. And I think he actually kind of likes it. Secretly.

Deep, deep down.

“Sure thing, Little Bird.”

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