They didn’t speak much, Jimmy content to let Cold bathe him over and over until the water ran cold. He was relaxed, and he finally felt clean, his skin tingling as Cold got him out of the bath and wrapped up in a fluffy robe.
Jimmy caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and immediately grimaced. His nose was swollen and bruised, and his lip had an impressive puffy scab. “Wow, I look like shit.”
“Nonsense,” Cold murmured, gently urging him out into the bedroom. Swaddled in his own robe, he got them both into bed and pulled Jimmy up onto his chest. “You’re beautiful.”
“You’re delusional,” Jimmy chuckled, rubbing his tongue over the scabbed-over place on his lip with a sigh. “Ow.”
“I’m sorry, Jimmy,” Cold said quietly. “Last night... it shouldn’t have happened. You should have never been put in danger.”
“What happened?” Jimmy asked, peering up at Cold with a frown. “What went wrong?”
“Onions,” Cold spat disgustedly.
“Huh?”
“Onions,” Cold repeated. “My entire plan fell apart because of onions. It was a human error that I could not have possibly accounted for. It would seem that Mr. Potolsky is quite allergic and was feeling a tad peckish that afternoon. He ordered room service and began to have a severe reaction since the kitchen staff neglected to remove the offending onions. Suspecting an attempt on his life, the U.S. marshals locked down the hotel. No one in, no one out. This included Thirdsies, who was trapped down in the kitchens before he was able to complete his task.”
“He was going to plant the bomb in the kitchen?” Jimmy asked, wrinkling his nose.
Cold stared.
“Jules told me,” Jimmy explained hastily. “But it was only gonna be a dud, right?”
“Yes,” Cold said. “But now with the hotel on lockdown, we had no way to get Thirdsies out or to get Mr. Potolsky to leave. It was only a matter of time before Thirdsies was caught, and we lost our chance to take care of Mr. Potolsky. We had to force everyone out of the hotel...”
“The fire,” Jimmy realized. “He started the fire.”
“Yes. Thirdsies is quite proficient with even the most basic household chemicals, and I fear in his panic, he was a little overzealous with his mixture.”
“Overzealous!” Jimmy scoffed, his tears quickly returning. “All those people died, Rod!”
“I know,” Cold soothed, petting Jimmy’s face tenderly. “I did not intend for so many people to die, and while I regret the innocent loss of life, there is nothing I can do about it now.”
“Was it worth it?” Jimmy asked bitterly. “Did you kill Mr. Potolsky?”
“Not personally, but yes, he is now dead.”
“You killed Gary,” Jimmy said numbly, the violent images flashing again before his eyes. He started to feel dirty again, shuddering down in his bones. “And you killed Cristian.”
“Yes. And I would kill them again if I could,” Cold said with a faint hiss. “I’m sorry you had to see it, but I am not sorry I did it.” His expression softened briefly. “I don’t want you to know what kind of monster I really am... but I did it because I love you. They hurt you. And I wasn’t able to stop it.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jimmy insisted, equally touched and horrified by the depth of Cold’s love. “I know Jules took me to that diner because it was out in public and there were people all over the place! I should have screamed; I, I should have fought back!”
“Gary may have killed you just to spite me if you had resisted,” Cold said calmly, “without any concern to a diner full of potential witnesses. He was a very rash man, a fool, and truly my only regret is that he died so quickly.”
“What happened to our guys here at the house?” Jimmy asked with a sudden urgency. He didn’t even know any of their names. “The guards? Are they okay?”
“They’re fine,” Cold soothed. “The Luchesis hit most of them with tear gas, trying to take the house by surprise. Once Jules fled with you, the Luchesis had no more reason to stay, and the guards were able to drive them off.”
“And the dogs?”
“The dogs are all fine, too.”
“Fuck.” Jimmy sniffled, snuggling his face into Cold’s shoulder. “I didn’t know if they were alive or dead, I didn’t... I can’t stop seeing them all now... the bodies, the blood. The glass falling everywhere.” He closed his eyes as if he could will the images away. “Was, was that Tamerlane?”
“Yes,” Cold replied, cupping the back of Jimmy’s head and petting his hair. “He was across the street, waiting for my signal. He knew I wanted to kill Cristian myself, but I didn’t care about the others.”
“He made those shots from across the street? Through those dirty little windows?” Jimmy was actually quite impressed though he was still horrified. “It was such a tiny room! What if he freakin’ screwed up?”
