Alex glances between the two women. “I am so confused.”
I take a much-needed swig of my beer. “If you curse Aras with infertility, then he won’t have kids to begin with, Alex,” I explain. “So, the part where you mentioned his future generations getting cursed? That’s illogical since there wouldn’tbeany future generations at all.”
“But that would only happen if my curseworked, Ledge,” he has the audacity of saying.
I glare at him. “My God, why did I eventry? You’re fuckingdrunk.”
“Wow, thanks for pointingthatout, Sherlock Holmes,” Cignette muses, then continues to sip on her sparkling wine.
“This is ridiculously childish, I hope you guys realize that,” Varsha comments.
“Well, he started it.” Cignette gestures at Alex for emphasis.
“Yeah, go ahead and prove me right, why don’t you.”
I start to laugh, but it morphs into a groan when I’m hit with a sharp elbow to my rib. It takes a couple of seconds for me to draw a proper breath after that, but I don’t end up vomiting beer on Cigs’ hair in that time, so at least that’s good.
“That was impressive,” I whisper in her ear when I’m sure I can speak.
She turns just enough so that she can look at me. “Act sassy again and I’ll impress the fuck out of your midsection.”
I grin. “I look forward to it.”
“You guys think Jayce and Maverick would have approved of us getting tangled into this mafia ruckus?” Varsha asks, pulling Cigs and I’s attention to her.
“Fuck no,” Alex says, at the same time Cigs says, “Absolutely not.”
“I’m pretty sure they’re up there judging the hell out of us, cursing our very existences and what not,” I add.
Varsha chuckles. “I can imagine it. They’d be all…” She places her beer bottle on the ground, then straightens her back and folds her arms across her chest. “What the fuck is wrong with these idiots? Insufferable dimwits. Do you see that? They think they can outsmart themafia. Yeah, tough luck, amateurs. Foo–”
“Okay, stop,stop,” Cigs cuts her off. “First of all, that is aviolentexaggeration of Mave’s behavior. And–”
“And second of all, Jayce never used that many words in a sentence,” Alex remarks. “Heck, he never used so many words,period.”
“Well, I tried,” Varsha argues.
“It was…adequate,” I tell her. “Try harder next time.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Why, fuck you, Ledge.”
“I miss Jayce so much,” Alex voices, then scoffs and scratches the top of his head before downing the rest of his beer. “I know we survived the Lutkus estate fiasco, but I think we’d have done so much better if he was with us at the time.”
“I feel like if he were here, he wouldn’t have agreed to let us take on those kills to begin with,” I state. “Jayce was always keenly aware of the possibility of danger and potential casualties that may be involved in every mission we’ve taken on in the past. He just had an instinct for these things, despite us having trained together.”
“He always said you were all gas and no brakes,” Alex tells me, then smiles ruefully. “But he loved that about you. Said your impulsive behavior kept him going.”
I laugh. “I don’t know if I should take that as a jab or a praise.”
“It was Jay, Ledge,” Varsha reminds me. “Of course it was a compliment. It couldn’t have been anything else.”
“I didn’t know him like you guys did, and I’m so mad at our circumstances for that, but the short period Ididknow him for, Jayce was nothing but caring. Grounded and observant too, which is so rare in a person these days.”
I swallow the burning lump in my throat. “Yeah, he was the best.”
“He really was,” Alex says. “So was Mave. He cared so much for us all, even though he wasn’t always fond of some of us. He understood what needed to be done, and didn’t hesitate in doing it. I know he was in it for you, Cigs, but he did end up becoming a part of our family.”
Cigs clears her throat, and I feel her head bowing forward as she whispers, “I know. He was amazing, wasn’t he?”
