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“Do you have a plan?” she presses gently. “A long-term plan?”
“I...” I hesitate. My plan has always been to get revenge on Moretti and his men, but that doesn’t exactly provide the stability or safety Charlie needs. “I don’t know,” I admit finally. “I’ve been so focused on keeping us one step ahead of… what I need to keep ahead from… that I haven’t thought too far ahead.”
“Well, maybe it’s time you did,” Emily says softly, rocking Charlie, who has now dozed off in her arms. He looks so calm, so peaceful; I’ve never seen him like this before. “You’re not alone anymore, Nick. You have Charlie and... maybe you don’t have to do this by yourself.”
Her eyes meet mine, and there’s an unspoken offer there — help, support, an ally in this chaos I’ve found myself in.
But letting her in would mean opening us both up to so much risk.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you need to slow down, stop for a while, let Charlie rest and recover from everything he’s been through, at least. If you stay in town, you won’t be taking care of Charlie alone. You’ll have help. You’ll have me.”
Chapter Nine
Emily
“I can’t believe he said yes,” Sophie says.
“I can’t either,” I breathe.
“What a way to become a mom — at gunpoint. How do you feel? Are you as excited as I am? Maybe even a little turned on? I mean, he could’ve shot you. That’s hot.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Why are you excited? You don’t have to do anything.”
“I know. So I finally get to be the person I was always meant to be: the crazy, booze-drinking aunt… or at least close enough.”
“You’re insane.”
“You love it,” she says, her breath puffing in the chill night air as we speedwalk back to our cars, which are parked just around the corner from the house that Nick and Charlie are crashing in. She takes out her keys, then fumbles with them and they clatter to the pavement. “Fuck. These things are slippery. So, what time do you start your new babysitting gig tomorrow?”
“Your keys are slippery? Sure they are. As for your question, you would know the answer if you didn’t immediately go for the whiskey bottle as soon as Nick cut you free.”
“I was horny, and I nearly died like fifteen times tonight. I’m entitled to a drink or seventeen.”
I hold out my hand. “Keys.”
“What? Why?”
“You’re drunk.”
“Do you think I might be immortal? Because of all the times we cheated death?”
“Whatever it is, I don’t think you’re sober enough to drive. Keys, Soph.”
“You drank, too. Why am I the only one who doesn’t get to drive?” She says.
I pause. It’s true, I had a little bit of something to drink, because I nearly died tonight, too, even if the whiskey I drink burned and tasted so smoky and bitter that it made me want to spit it out, it still helped to calm my nerves. But I stopped at two sips, while Sophie grabbed the bottle and disappeared into the kitchen for a while as Nick and I hashed out the terms of our agreement. An agreement that I’m not really sure about, and don’t think Hunter is sure about, either; the only thing I’m positive of is that he is bringing Charlie by sometime tomorrow near the end of my shift, and Hunter seems happy to have the chance to take a break. I hope that I’m able to help both of them be a little more rested, healthier, and happier.
And maybe I’ll be able to find out more of Hunter’s story. There’s something about being around him that raises feelings inside me I thought I wouldn’t feel for a long time after Jay and everything he’s put me through.
“I only drank a little. Two gulps, compared to your, what, twenty minutes? When you came back with the bottle, it was almost half empty.”
She nods. “It’s true. I’m a tank.”
I take out my keys and gesture to the passenger seat of my car. “And tanks don’t drive. Get in, I’ll take you home and I’ll pick you up tomorrow, give you a ride back to your car in the morning.”
“You will? You won’t be too tired?”
