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Louisa looked at the note again, then shrugged. “I’m not worried about someone murdering me with breakfast.”

I did not like the implication. And that was the point.

The fact that she could stand there in the middle of her studio, joking about free breakfast, made the unease settle deeper instead of passing.

Mind yerself, Liam. There’s more here than ye know.

I didn’t say anything else, but I was already cataloging exits, eyeing her locks. Already deciding I wasn’t letting this go. I’d need to pay a visit to my old classmate.

I boycotted that creepy breakfast, and when I couldn’t find any cookies in her cabinets, I went out for cigarettes.

I’d had to walk a couple of blocks to get a pack of smokes, and by the time I had one in my mouth, my thumb was striking desperately against the spark wheel. I’d gotten myself worked up.

I stood under the store awning and leaned back against the brick of the building, letting the nicotine work through my bloodstream.

I was leaving in January. Christmas. New Year’s. And then I’d be gone. I needed to get my head on straight.

I was not Louisa’s keeper. Louisa didn’t want a fucking keeper.

I shook my head thinking about Hasan eating the breakfast. He needed to step the fuck up. Ortiz had too much on his plate, and if Hasan was out, I’d need to give Miller the backstory before I took off or plan to kiss sleep goodbye.

I smoked two more cigarettes while I called my mom, and then I called Eilidh. She needed some holiday shifts covered at Swan Dive, and I caved and told her about the breakfast delivery.

“Do you think it could have been someone like Mike?” I asked her. I didn’t want to scare her unnecessarily.

Eilidh scoffed. “Not Mike. He’s out of town anyway. You sure she’s not seeing anyone, Liam?”

The question dropped on me like a pile of bricks. I’d never asked her.

Maybe that’s because it isn’t your bloody business, my boy.

Since she’d moved to Boston, I’d figured out that she and Hasan weren’t regularly hooking up the way a couple would. We spent a lot of time together, and I’d never seen them so much as kiss, but I figured they still fucked around occasionally, or had in the past. Has hadn’t brought any other girls around as long as I’d known him, and the guy was charming as hell. He could definitely pull.

I hadn’t really considered that she might have someone else. Or more than one guy she was sleeping with. Or someone she ended things with who maybe wasn’t happy about it. With the hours she worked, she could have a whole other life Has and I didn’t know anything about.

Bile rose in my throat. Was she fucking Mike? The guy who wore a trench coat every day in high school and frosted his tips in the locker room?

It was conceivable. We hadn’t even brought up Nathalie’s name since before Thanksgiving, even though I still saw her in class. Lou probably assumed I was still hooking up with her since I’d never told her anything different.

Plus, his weirdness probably did it for her.

“No. I’m not sure. She hasn’t mentioned anyone, but she could be.”

“I doubt she’d talk to you or Hasan about it if she was. You know?”

Fuck. Eilidh was right. Has and I weren’t safe places for her to be open about her other relationships. We were too gone for her. She was transparent about wanting to have them, but that didn’t mean she wanted to rub them in our faces.

“Has she mentioned anything to you? On the nights she works, I mean?”

“No, baby, but don’t overthink it. I know that’s what you’re doing.”

“I’m out of here in a couple of weeks, Eilidh. Dad’s not here this time… I’m just worried about leaving all of you.” I knew it was stupid, but I felt like I was abandoning my post. My mom, sisters, Eilidh, Lou.

“We’ll watch out for her and for each other, Liam. Women have been taking care of women for centuries.”

I cleared my throat. “Christmas Eve at your place or are you headed on a trip?”

“At mine again this year. Talk soon.”