“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You want me to stick around, or you okay on your own?”
“You can take off.”
He chugged back the last of the beer. “A little birdie told me that you’ve taken to rolling around unarmed.” Dovie. My sister was always worrying about everyone but herself. He walked over to the gun that he had pulled on me that was placed on the counter. “You know how to use it?”
I just lifted my eyebrows at him. I had been in the Point for a long time now. I was in business with Nassir, and Bax was my best friend. Of course I knew how to use a gun. I just preferred not to.
“Okay, then. Good luck with your lady. I think you’re going to need it.”
I watched him walk out the front door and looked down at the gun. There was no denying that my life was changing. Some parts for the better, and many parts for the worse. The trick was just going to be finding the right balance. I took the gun and stashed it on the top of the fridge to keep it out of sight for now and made my way to the flight of stairs that led up to the master bedroom, which took up the entire top level of the condo. The lights were on, and when I walked in I expected Brysen to be on the bed watching TV or something. I actually faltered a little when the big room proved to be empty. I walked farther into the room, looking around like maybe I had somehow missed her, when I heard a soft noise from the open door to the master bath that was located off to one side of the space.
I kicked my shoes off and unbuttoned my shirt and went to go find my girl. She was standing in front of the mirror, a pair of scissors in one hand and a comb in the other. Her platinum-blond bob was no more, and her bright, blue eyes were locked on me when I crowded her reflection in the mirror. She set the scissors down and self-consciously ran her hands over her shorn hair. The army of little black stitches decorating the back of her head made my teeth clench as we watched each other silently in the reflective surface.
“This is the best I could do.” She sounded nervous and unsure.
It actually didn’t look too bad from the front. It was really short, angled close to her face with superstraight bangs across her forehead. The back was almost all clipped close to her head, except for a little part that was just long enough to cover the top of her injury. It was edgy and retro at the same time. She kind of looked like a modern-day flapper. She could pull off being the Bonnie to my Clyde any day of the week.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there today when they released you. I’ve been chasing my tail trying to find out who might have pushed you down the stairs. I should’ve been there to bring you home.”
She turned around and leaned back against the sink so I was looking at her and at my own reflection in the mirror behind her. I could see the way my eyes got darker just by being in the same room as her.
“Home? I don’t even know where I am, Race. What is this place? How can we even be here? I have a million questions and you haven’t been around to answer any of them. Not to mention I can’t turn around without running into Booker, and that isn’t fun for either of us. I hate this.”
All I could do was look at her because she should hate it, but I was doing my best. Her eyes dropped down and she took a step forward to grab one of my hands. I had forgotten all about my busted-open knuckles and the dried blood that was caked on the back of my hands.
“Your hands are all bloody.”
I choked on a laugh. “You have no idea.”
She scowled at me and I sighed as I moved around her to scrub off the blood. I was always doing that—washing the blood down the drain.
“My dad used this place to hook up with his mistresses. It’s far enough away from the Hill that my mom never knew about it. The property manager is shady as hell, so I paid him off and now there is no paper trail that can tie this place back to anyone in my family. I asked him to transfer the title over to your name. It’s not on the up-and-up, but for now, you and Karsen can stay here, even after we get this shit with your stalker on lockdown. I know you were worried about what was going to happen with your old man putting your house in foreclosure. Now you have a place to stay.”
I heard her make a little noise in her throat and then her hands were over mine in the sink and she was helping me wash the last remainder of this terrible night away. Her eyes met mine in the mirror, and I could see all the fear, all the uncertainty, all the questions she had shining out at me, but I could also see the gratitude, the hope, and something even deeper, and that’s what I was going to latch on to.
“I should have been there today.”
She shut off the water and rested her cheek on the back of my shoulder. “No. I understand you have a lot going on and that you’re trying to find whoever did this to me in the first place. I just missed you and feel better when you’re close by. I get that I have to share you with the Point.”
I lifted a hand to run it over her newly chopped hair. It might be short and a little crazy, but it was still soft and felt like silk where it clung to my wet fingers.
“You shouldn’t have to.”
She laughed and there was no humor in it. “In a perfect world, maybe, but so far not the Hill, not the Point, and nowhere in between is perfect. We just have to make the best of what we have.”
I curled my hand around her neck and asked, “Are we falling in love, Bry?”
She laughed again and pulled away from me. “Probably. Why wouldn’t we? Life is a mess, I have someone trying to kill me, and you’re right in the thick of a war on the city. What better conditions could you think of to fall in love?”