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“Lix—”
“I will lay my ass on the couch in the middle of Minka Mayet’s living room, and that’s where I’ll stay for the entire week. I sleep naked, bruh. So do with that what you want. But I assure you, if your wife sees my cock, she’ll become my wife that same day.”
“You’re getting married next month, dickhead! But you talk about showing your cock to my wife?”
“I said she shouldnotsee it,” he argues playfully. “We’re playing a game of chess, Detective. I’m no pro, but I believe I just achieved checkmate. Be here, or you’ll pay the fucking price for your disrespect.”
“Uh-huh. Should I call youDadsoon, or…”
He snickers. “I prefer Lix. Or God. Orbaby-your-dick-is-massive. Your choice. Now why’d you call me?”
“Minka’s gonna be in New York tomorrow. Without me.”
“No shit!” His threatening tone is gone, replaced with a bubbly excitement. “I’ll have a room fixed up for her to?—”
“No.”
He stops, stunned into silence. “No?”
“No. She’s not staying at the house.”
“Uh… yuh.” He scoffs. “She is.”
“No, she’s not.” Like we’re six years old again, we bicker back and forth. “She has a hotel on Fifth Avenue. It’s booked and paid. She’s staying there, because that’s where she’s most comfortable.”
“Nooooo,” he drawls, stretching the word out. “Hotels are not comfortable. They’re sterile and formal and weird. Home is where family belongs. You don’t have to worry, I’ll get her from the airport and?—”
“You’re not listening to me, Felix! She doesn’twantto stay with you. She wants to stay at the hotel on Fifth Avenue. She wants to be alone, because her routine is about to be tossed on its head; she has to testify in court on a case that will hurt her heart, and she has the added worry about the cop killer thing. What she isnotdealing with isyou. She’s grown, she has an opinion, and this is what she chooses.”
“She doesn’t want to stay with us?” His voice turns oddly gentle. Vulnerable, even. Good lord, could it even besad? “She’s not playing hard to get?”
“She’s not playing hard to get. She likes her space, Lix, and she’s dealing with a lot of stuff. So maybe text her once or twice and make the offer for dinner, but then you leave it alone. She might be lonely by Thursday night, or she might be completely fucking spent from spending all day at the courthouse. Either way, where she sleeps and who she spends time with is her choice.”
“You’re being an ass.”
“No, actually, I’m not. I’m making sure my wife isn’t harassed by the very people who swear they love her. You’re not gonna bother her, are you?”
“I’m not gonna both?—”
“Say the words, Felix. In a full sentence. And end it with,I promise.”
“Jesus Christ.” He blows out a heady breath, unaccustomed to anyone,ever, telling him no or making demands. “I will not bother Minka Mayet while she’s staying in New York. Which just so happens to be the same city and state I reside in. I won’t annoy her, even if she’s vulnerable and traveling without her husband…”
“Felix?”
“I promise,” he growls. “For fuck’s sake. But what if I happen to be driving by the courthouse at, say, midday Thursday? Which is usually around the time a judge would call for lunch. What then?”
I count my breaths and make an effort to not snap at the brother who never truly matured. Or perhaps, more accurately, was forced to mature way too fucking soon. So, to balance out the bullshit in his life, he chooses humor when he has down time. “If you just so happen to be driving past thecourthouse at the exact right time that my wife just so happens to be looking for lunch…”
“Yes…?”
“Then I’ll know you had her tailed and you put yourself there on purpose. Thus, violating the promise not to bother her.”
“Ugh! You’re being intentionally difficult.”
“I’m looking out for my wife and helping her through a particularly disruptive time in her life. Leave her alone, Felix.”
“Archer?” That one word, in Tim’s serious tone, has my eyes whipping up and stopping on a shadow near the next corner. A dude stands with his back to the wall. A black jacket covering his broad form, the collar up, and his hands in his pockets. “Focus.”
