“Most of the community knows you, and a couple of them even like you, and you’d have a place to call home with that she-bitch of a cat. She can even make frenemies with Sweets! Aunt Lucia left her behind. She’s the sweetest little poodle. She’s blind in one eye, has a few teeth missing, and needs her anal glands expressed regularly, but she’s such a cuddle monster, you can’t help but fall in love with her.”
“No fucking way,” I said. “You know how I feel about dogs.”
He sighed. “They get too attached. They require an emotional obligation.”
“Correct.”
“Take this place, Peps. And take Sweets too.”
“Why?” I finally turned to him.
It seemed like he was steeling against something, but his voice came out soft. “We all call Vice City our home, Peps. Even Andrea and I live there most of the time. But can you guess what’s the most important word in that sentence?”
“Peps?”
“Smartass.” He grinned. “Most.Notall. We leave on occasion. We go home, to the place we created together. It’s a haven. A respite. A fucking spa in the middle of a concrete jungle. We’re worried about you, Peps. Your sisters left. Your father is in the hospital fighting for his life. You’re caught up in territorial wars all the time. You have a dangerous Russian stalker. Your passion is burning hotter than ever for the Faustis...” He took my shoulders and squeezed. “I’m worried...”
“Worried about me? Why? That all sounds likethelife to me, except for the sisters-leaving part.”
“Peps,” he breathed. “I’m worried that you’re in danger of becoming Edna.”
“Edna?” I repeated, knowing I had to have heard him wrong. We both loved her. She was our mentor. Our journalistic guru.
“Edna,” he confirmed. “Hold on. I love her as much as you do, but Peps… The job is her life, and so is her love for Marzio. She’s never gotten over him. She lives for a ghost now. Doesn’t that seem…sad to you?”
I wasn’t sure why, but in that moment Joe the Detective’s words hit me like a sledgehammer to the gut. “She pulls out the lonely in people,” I breathed out.
“Yeah, it’s hard tonotfeel it after you leave her, because it’s consuming, and it lingers.”
I took a step back and crossed my arms. I couldn’t move any further because Hoffa was digging her claws in again, probably enjoying my suffering. When I went to pick her up, she hissed at me, and I seriously thought about letting her go for a second. But if I was going to suffer through this life with me, so was she.
“Do I pull out the lonely in people, Clarke?” I finally asked.
“You’re starting to. Your life is starting to mirror hers.”
We both grew quiet and faced the building, the awkwardness of the conversation turning us away from each other. A couple of minutes later, Andrea made his way outside. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked tired.
Neil squeezed his hand and pulled him closer.
“Got Sweets all settled.” Andrea sighed. “For the time being. She’s going to miss Auntie Lucia.”
“Me too,” Neil said.
“Same,” Andrea admitted.
The silence between us grew thick. I didn’t want to deal with it. I was about to leave when a car came to a screeching halt behind us. The three of us turned to look.
Aren’s cab. He looked desperate and, not going to lie, a little dangerous.
“Get in, Ava.” He nodded to the back seat. “Your friends are welcome.”
I looked at them. Andrea made a motion with his head for Neil to go, and Neil made a pleading motion to me with his hands. This was what he wanted. A one on one with Tigran’s brother.
“Okay,” I breathed out, still stung but loving Neil enough to do this for him anyway.
The idea of me with an apartment and a dog, though?
No. Fucking. Way.
