AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sit in silence, waiting for him to get to the punchline of the joke. When it doesn’t come, I question him.
“Did you miss the part where it’s 3:15 in the morning?”
“Consider it an early start to your day.”
“Echo isn’t open on Mondays.” Even if it was, it wouldn’t still be open this late.
“Don’t worry, Daniel. I’ll let myself in.”
“Is Mav aware you’re just letting yourself into one of his clubs?”
“I’ll let you break the news to him when you go and fetch him for me.” I can hear the hint of humor in his tone, undoubtedly tickled with how much this is gonna burn Mav’s ass.
“Yuri.” I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my eyes. “In what world would Maverick go anywhere with me? Are you forgetting the whole ‘rival drug kingpins’ aspect to our relationship? I’m pretty sure he’d rather opt for a shot to the dick.”
“I’m confident you’ll convince him, Daniel. After all, it would seem the two of you are practically family.”
Shit. It’s like someone sent out a fucking memo about these two. Who would’ve thought having my favorite person in the world return home would equate to such a clusterfuck?
“59 minutes, Daniel. Don’t make me come looking for you two.” The line cuts out, effectively killing any traces of my good mood that remained.
“FUCK!” I shout, repeatedly slamming my hand against the top of my steering wheel.
Okay, let’s be rational. Yuri’s not going to off us over some bullshit interaction between Mav and my sister. We make him far too much money. He probably just wants an excuse to listen to himself talk. Yuri’s a peacock. He needs an opportunity every now and then to preen. I’ll go get Mav, we’ll let him flex for twenty minutes or so, and we’ll go home. In the grand scheme of things, I’m sure we’ll be fine.
CHAPTER 35
NOW
NICKY
We are not fine.
In fact, wherever fine falls on the scale, we’re on the opposite fucking end of it. Taking a pull of the cigarette I nabbed from Mav—after already splitting a blunt with him—I allow the tingling sensation of the menthol to gather in my lungs as I fidget with the jagged, blood-drenched hole in my suit pants.
Once upon a time I wouldn’t be caught dead putting any of this shit in my body, but times change, and, all things considered, there’s worse vices I could have given my line of work. I exhale, the smoke billowing out before dissipating into the surrounding space, leaving me a clear view of the freshly stitched knife wound in my right thigh.
Yuri somehow obtained copies of the same pictures the Feds had given me. The whole situation’s got him convinced that if Mav and my sister are involved, then that must translate to mean Mav and I are collaborating in some way to take him down. While we both maintained the images captured were nothing more than Mav attempting to piss me off by making a play for her, Yuri didn’t seem convinced. The entire notion is ridiculous.
Don’t get me wrong, his suspicions regarding us joining forces are spot on. They just have nothing to do with Mav’s ties to my sister, and everything to do with the fact he’s a fucking psychopath that has to be stopped.
Mav played the whole thing off flawlessly, though has little to show for it other than a matching knife wound to his left thigh. The doctor Rico brought finishes stitching Mav’s leg, tossing him his own bottle of antibiotics as he moves to stand.
“Two a day for ten days to avoid infection.”
“Appreciate you.” Mav bumps elbows with him as a show of thanks while Ty pulls the blood-covered latex gloves from his hands before packing up his medical supplies to leave.
He passes me on his way to the door, his fist bumping mine along the way.
“I’m billing you extra for this ungodly hour.”
“You’re worth every penny.”
“Damn straight, I am. Say hi to JP for me.” I nod, throwing up the peace sign as he continues on toward the exit. “Rico, be good, brother!”
“Likewise, Ty!” he shouts back, though I can feel his eyes still burning into the side of my head.
Mav hobbles around the chair, slinging his leather jacket over his arm before making his way toward the stairs leading to his office.
