Chase’s pale eyes go wide as he spots what she’s carrying. Namely, the tray of treats in her hands. “My favorite Uptown Girl. What did you bring me?!”
Gage shoots him some side eye. “You? Give me a fuckin’ break.”
Teasing, Chase ribs him. “Haven’t you heard? Minnie and I are friends now, alright. Deal.”
“You’re delusional, since when?!”
Apparently, Chase never told Gage about his little visit to Minnie on his behalf.
With a shy grin, Minnie tilts the large tray to the side slightly, giving them a look at the goods. “Sweet and sour this time. I hope you like tart, frosted lemon bars and gooey brownies…”
She squawks when the two men surround her in an instant, eager to break into the desserts she’s brought.
Marlin groans in dismay, still holding his hand of cards. “Ya’ll better eat those pub burgers Imma ‘bout to grill. Else, there will be some ass whoopings.”
No pub burgers or desserts survive the day, because even Red can’t deny he likes the treats she brings.
Chaos, as it were, always finds a way to get its mess to shatter peace. It just comes in the most unexpected of manners one afternoon while Minnie and Gage walk through the park near her library, weeks later.
Minnie is still trying to understand how Marlin and Chase don’t blame her for their own incarcerations, the way Red clearly does. She’s still shocked by the fact that both men have readily accepted her without reservation.
“That’s easy; youaren’tthe reason we went to prison.” Gage brushes a strand of pale hair out of her face. His thumb caresses her cheekbone softly. “We werecareercriminals, princess. We had plenty of things to atone for. You were just in a list of acts that put the nail in the coffin. That is why we don’t blame you.” His mouth plants into a firm line. “Except Red. He’s just. He’s just a shit. You’re from Uptown Gold and he’s from Harrow’s Row. He takes it personally for whatever scummy reason. Jealousy, probably. He’s always been that way, hating people for what they have.”
She opens her mouth to argue. But still-
He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about that anymore. Even if we did go to prison because of you, we fuckin’ deserved it. We deserved to pay for the emotional trauma we caused you. And the other people that day.”
He has his hands in his pockets, looking up at the sky as they pause by the pond. There are a pair of swans, hovering in the middle of the water. Minnie uses her phone to take a picture of them, smiling.
“Hey,” Gage says out of the blue, sounding wary. His hazel eyes are keen on her face now, searching. His look travels over her body briefly before he seems to come back to himself. His expression is difficult to read, as if guarding his emotions. “There’s,uh.Somethin’. I need to talk to you about somethin’ serious, Minnie.”
His tone puts her on edge.
“You’re creeping me out,” Minnie replies, putting her phone away. A breeze shifts through her hair. “Don’t be creepy.” A breath of laughter touches his lips at her words, but his eyes remain shadowed like an autumn forest at dusk.
“The other day, I got a visitor. Not a good one.” The words tumble out with a distinct level of discomfort. “Your father. He must have gotten my address from that Police Captain he’s buddies with. Go figure.”
Minnie’s eyes widen in shock and more than a little bit of horror. Her father, in theHarrow’s Rowneighborhood? In his Jaguar? She places a hand at her throat the way her mother does when she clutches her pearls, saying wryly, “Good heavens. Was he looking to get his car stolen?”
Gage scoffs and rolls his eyes. “I’m sure his cop pal would have gotten it back for him in no time. Butnah, that’s not why he came around.”
A thought occurs to her, making her heart lurch. “Red didn’t answer the door, did he? Oh, goodness, he wasn’t shirtless, was he? That inked shrimp.” She covers her face in secondhand embarrassment. “He’s horrid. I can only imagine the things he would have said to Daddy.”
With his voice drier than a desert, Gage says, “I mean. I think your father deserves Red, honestly. And that’s sayin’ somethin’, ‘cuz I don’t think most people do.”
The loyal daughter in Minnie rises up in the defense of her father. “He’s not a bad man, Gage. My father simply worries about me. Especially after what happened. Can you imagine how he must have felt like a failure back then? His daughter was abducted in his car when he stepped into a store, for only a few things…a lot of men might take that personally.”
Gage’s jaw shifts about, as if he’s stubbornly trying to think around what she’s just said. She knows he doesn’t agree with her. He isn’t a fan of her father, and she can’t say she blames him, based on what her father has done up until this point. “Look, I think once he warms up tothe ideaof you, things will get better-”
He makes a bitter little crooked smirk, gazing out at the water. “I think you might need to hold onto that thought.”
Minnie watches him, feeling unsettled by this sudden shift in mood. “…Gage, what did he do?”
He looks uncertain, as if chewing on words he doesn’t want to say aloud. “Your father came to my place and offered me money. A lot of it. He brought a check and a pen. He was ready to do business right then and there.”
Her mouth goes dry. What does he mean, her father offered him money?! This isn’t leading anywhere good fast. “…and why would he do that?”
Gage’s jaw works roughly. There’s a harsh tilt to his mouth, belaying his displeasure. He curses under his breath, rubbing a hand over his face. “Minnie, don’t fly off the handle.”
