That’s not inaccurate. “You know things are better when kept small and…intimate.”
What he says next totally takes me by surprise. “You’d better protect him. Protect him with yourfuckinglife, Jace, or I willneverforgive you, and you will bedeadto me, brother or not.”
This makes sense and I drop my act. “I will. I promise.”
“Do you love him, or are you just using him?”
“Loving him and using him are not mutually exclusive, baby bro.”
“Goddammit, Jace—”
“Yes, I love him. No, I’m notjustusing him, but he knows he’s being used and he’s okay with it because it serves his purposes, too. His eyes are wide open. He is a full and willing partner in this venture.” Well, he is now. Maybe he didn’t start out that way.
“What happens after?”
Indeed. “We’re still talking about that. We want to focus on the task at hand, but I have no intentions of letting him go later. What form our relationship takes after that will be up to him.”
Technically.
“I want to talk to him. Alone. Now.”
“That’s not going to happen, Carter. Not yet. I’ll arrange something in a few weeks. Besides, he’s not here right now.”
“Then give me his number, and—”
“No.”
“Jace—”
“No. Either you trust me to own the pet, or you don’t. If you don’t, we don’t have anything else to talk about. If you wanted to worry about the pet so badly then you should have tried to figure out a way to get him to come home with you when you left. But you didn’t, and he’s lived an entire lifetime since you officially owned him. I recommend you focus on your pets, and let me focus on mine, ’kay?”
“Swearto me to protect him.”
“I will protect him. I promise.”
Another ragged sigh. “I didn’t want to leave him behind. I didn’t know how to make him follow me. I think he thought he was protecting me, but I never stopped loving him. Never stopped worrying about him.”
“I know. He still loves you, too, but he also knows that chapter’s closed. He doesn’t hold it against you.”
“Bradenton Rexley hinted there’s a new PAC or three looking to fund Cunningham.”
Goddammit.“So?”
I hear the evil, bastard smile in his voice. “Well, since you froze me out and refused to loop me in, I wrangled myself an invite to the private meeting through my own sources. See you there, big bro. I wouldn’t miss this foranything. If you don’t want me fucking this up, I suggest you add me to your plan and give me the deets, or I’ll do to you what I did to you and Gene’s plan to take off to Paris for a weekend that time when you were in high school.”
Fucker hangs. Up. On. Me.
“Motherfucker!” I scream and force myself not to throw the goddamned phone.
* * * *
Eddie
I don’t understand why Jace is enraged when I return from my scouting mission, and I’m terrified for a moment I did something to cause it until he pulls me in for a hug, apologizes, and explains his conversation with Carter, which apparently ended just moments ago.
“So now what?” I ask.
He groans. “I call him back and talk to him and loop him in. Otherwise, he will blow it.”
