“Unfortunately.” I waved her off. “At least Maya wasn’t evil. She was just lost. If nothing else, you know she loved you; otherwise, she wouldn’t have given you Elias.”
Her eyes grew teary. “I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
I shrugged. “You’ve had a lot hit you all at once. It’s going to take some time to process all of it.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “I guess so. In the meantime, I think we’ve got just long enough to watch the first TMNT episode.”
Here’s to hoping I was a fan.
I was also hoping that the funeral tonight was cordial. That Colter Briggs didn’t try anything. The last thing I needed was a war on the border.
Chapter Six
CORA
The insideof Lost City Bar and Grill wasn’t much better than the outside. I suspected the health inspector completed his inspection with a salute and cash bribe as he drove past.
Leather-clad men were gathered around worn tables, and a couple of waitresses were flirting more than they were working. I mean, I got it. Good tips required flirting, but some of them were overachievers.
Bars weren’t really my thing. I did go out from time to time, but I really didn’t have a ton of friends. Maya and I shared friends. She was my baby sister. Where I went, she went. Once she started spiraling, all my attention was on her. One by one, they got tired of Maya’s drama.
When I moved to Chicago, I tried to make new friends, but I didn’t want to party. I didn’t want to date. Plus, it was way more expensive than I realized, and I spent most of my time working. Getting a job at Georgiou was great, but I don’t know… maybe I was just checked out at that point.
Someone brushed against me, and I looked up. A bearded man, maybe in his sixties, glared at me. Based on his patches, he was a Grave Son. A cranky, creepy one.
I hugged myself and moved closer to Jason. Now I wished he hadn’t told Thomas to stay in the car. He’d argued with Jason with good reason, but Jason had reasoned that he didn’t want anyone to have the impression that he’d brought muscle for a fight.
Jason told Thomas tonight was about honoring my sister, not an ego fest. It was sweet and thoughtful, and I could have hugged him.
I didn’t. But I sure could have.
It would have been a horrible thing to do. I don’t know that I ever would have wanted to let go.
Movement caught my eye, and I froze.
A massive, dark-haired man with a clean-shaven face pushed away from the table where he’d been standing. His sleeveless white T-shirt and leather vest showed off arms that could probably bench press a motorcycle. He seemed to recognize me and headed over, extending his hand when he reached us. “I’m Kane Black. You must be Cora.” His voice was deep and gravelly. It seemed to match his size.
Up close, the left side of his face bore the unmistakable scars of an explosion—puckered, twisted skin that ran from his temple down to his jaw.
I shook his hand. “Hi.” Next to him, I felt like a runt of the litter of Oompa Loompas.
“Your sister was a friend. She was sweet and kind and funny. I’m sorry you lost her so young.” He was giving his condolences, but nothing about this felt like a funeral.
The bar was dingy and dirty and dark. Maya had her problems, but she was full of laughter and light. Then the darkness that was Colter had eaten her alive.
“You knew her well?”
“Colter is my best friend, so Maya and I hung out quite a bit.”
Best friends? “Oh.”
His eyebrows knitted together. “We’re friends, not twins. Maya didn’t?—”
Before he could finish, the back door opened, and the loud bar somehow grew louder.
Another large man walked in, vest stretched over a black T-shirt. He wasn’t quite the mountain Kane was, but people still parted like the Red Sea to let him through.
The moment he saw me, his lip curled, then flattened into a weird smile.
