Page 41 of His Sinful Need

He is his father’s son, is Bricker. And it just breaks my heart more each day. I look forward to going home. I shouldn’t have agreed to come in the first place. Neverwouldhave, if I’d known—

Bricker glances up as though he can read my mind. There’s a challenge in his eyes, like he’s daring me to back out now.

As if I could. Every day that goes by makes me more determined to keep Bricker Soldano safe through this job. Make sure he comes out unscathed. And it’s not just because I owe his father, or because crew loyalty is second nature to me.

It’s because Bricker himselfmeanssomething to me, almost despite myself.

“Okay,” he says, spreading out the blueprints again and ignoring the sighs from the crew. “Let’s check the bank floor again.”

A small groan goes up, but everyone falls silent as Bricker keeps rifling through the papers. He sweeps half of them to one side, then, brow furrowed, takes them one by one and stacks them.

“Where is it?” Bricker’s voice echoes through the silence, tighter than before. “Come on, guys, who’s got the goddamn layout?” He looks around the group, but all he gets are blank stares in return. “Who had it last?”

Instinctively, we all look at Rook. He often borrows the maps and blueprints, trying to drive things into his head. He has trouble with his left and right under pressure, he once confided in me. The kid shrinks now under the weight of all those stares. His hands tremble where they rest on the table, fingers twisting together.

“I don’t have it,” Rook says, voice shaking. “I swear, I put it back this morning.”

“Go check,” Bricker sighs. The tension dissipates a little. I can just about read his thoughts.Dammit Rook, always forgetting things.

But over at the tech table, Rook gets redder and redder as he searches through the papers there. “It’s not here,” he says. “But I told you, I never kept it. I put it back.”

“For fuck’s sake, Rook,” Van snaps.

Rook, angry now, snaps back. “My notes are gone, too. So if someone took em, it wasn’t me, was it? Because I wouldn’t take my own damn notes.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Van surges to his feet. He jabs a finger at Rook, who rears back as though struck. “Captoldyou not to take any physical notes. Now the map is gone, and so are your notes? What are you, a goddamn—”

“I’m telling the truth!” Rook cries. “I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

But Van scoffs, curling his lip as he turns to Bricker. “For all we know, he’s passing information on to the Feds.”

“Hey.” I level Van with a hard stare, and he stills. “That’s a serious accusation.”

“Stay out of this,Castellani. This isn’t your fucking crew.”

“I’m part of the team, Delligatti, whether you like it or not—and I don’t like bullies.” I meet his glare head-on. Van may have a good mind for tactics, but he’s too quick to turn on his own, and I don’t like it. I don’t understand it, either. Even Bricker seems puzzled from time to time by Van’s attitude, suggesting he isn’t usually like this.

Not until I arrived, at least.

“You can got get—” Van starts.

“Enough!” Bricker’s voice is loud, but I can hear the edge of exhaustion, too.

A muscle ticks in Van’s jaw, but he stays silent. Smart, for once.

Bricker sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “The layout’ll turn up. As for tonight, drinks are on me.” He attempts a smile. “We’ve been working too hard, that’s all. We need a night off.”

The collective exhale just about gusts the rest of the papers off the table. Things aren’t fixed, not by a long shot, but at least we have a reprieve. Bricker looks at the old clock on the wall. “In fact, let’s call it now,” he says. “It’s beer o’clock somewhere.”

It’s only three in the afternoon, but I can’t fault him. As the crew files out, I linger behind. Rook hesitates in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder at me.

“Go on,” I tell him. “I’ll be there soon.”

Rook nods, and slips out the door. Once we’re alone, I turn to Bricker. “You need to rein in Delligatti.”

Bricker steps into my space, close enough for me to feel the heat radiating off him, feel the gust of his breath as he opens his mouth to bitch me out.

And I remember how it felt to kiss those lips.

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