Page 91 of Relapse

“Probably.”

The apartment shifts immediately.

Dagger grabs his jacket off the back of the chair while Noir slides his rings slowly onto his fingers near the balcony.

The atmosphere in the apartment shifts completely.

Softness gone.

Back to Severance Point.

Back to violence waiting outside the apartment walls.

Then Dagger looks toward Noir.

“Stay here.”

Noir immediately scoffs. “Fuck that.”

Dagger’s jaw tightens slightly. “She can’t be here alone right now, for all we know Dante has eyes on this place too.”

“I’m right here, you know,” I mutter from the couch.

Neither of them acknowledge that.

Rude.

Noir grabs his jacket off the balcony chair anyway. “I’m fucking coming with you.”

“You don’t need to.”

“And you don’t need to walk into possible bullshit without backup.”

The tension between them pulls tight for a second before Mina finally cuts in from beside me.

“Oh my god,” she groans dramatically. “You both hover like divorced dads at a school pickup.”

Dagger ignores her completely.

Mina rolls her eyes and waves one hand lazily through the air. “You can both go. I’ll hang out with Blair. We’ll be fine.”

Both men look unconvinced immediately.

“I’m fully capable of babysitting an adult woman you know,” Mina adds.

That finally seems to settle it.

Barely.

Dagger crosses toward me before leaving, fingers hooking lightly beneath my chin while his eyes search mine carefully.

“Please, little relapse. For once, just stay inside.”

“You say that like I’m some badly behaved dog.”

“You literally try escaping every six hours.”

“That’s because this place feels like a luxury prison.”