“And now I have to keep this secret from my friends forever.”
“Treasure first. Confirm what I think is in there. And then we’ll deal with the rest.”
He doesn’t move.
But he does keep petting Peggy. Scratching behind her ears and making her rub her head up into his hand. Stroking her silky body with his long fingers.
His hands aren’t tattooed. The ink stops at his wrists on both arms. But it dips below his waistband on his stomach and chest and rises above the hemline of his navy-blue cotton shorts.
And I realize what he said.
We.
Wewill deal with the rest.
Do not go there, Sloane. You know better.
There’s a knock at the door, and after a brief pause, Giselle’s voice comes through the door. “The Rocks sent food. If you don’t open the door, I’m eating all of it myself.”
Guilt slashes through my abdomen.
They’ve been my friends.
And now I know something that could destroy them.
“Don’t,” Davis says quietly. “Don’t feel guilty. You aren’t a pirate. You didn’t try to double-cross your first mate. You haven’t done anything wrong besides being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’ll make this right. However we have to, we’ll make it right.”
“How? How do we make it right?”
“Treasure first. And then the rest will fall into place.”
“What will Patrick do if he finds it first?”
He squeezes his eyes shut, and his chest rises like he’s taking the heaviest breath he’s ever taken in his life. “We still have things he doesn’t.”
“Like what? What clues do we have that he doesn’t?”
“Not clues. Money. Fame. Power.” He shakes his head. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I don’t—that’s last resort. I like to do things the right way. Not the privileged way.”
I head to the door and open it to find Giselle munching on a fried chicken leg that very likely came from Crusty Nut, Tillie Jean’s dad’s restaurant.
Giselle side-eyes me like she wants to tell me to come and get it if I don’t want her eating any of the food the Rocks sent.
“You more than earned all of it,” I tell her.
“Did you butcher the manbun?”
“Like a toddler turned loose with scissors.”
“Good job. You can have a breast.”
“This career is wearing on you, isn’t it?”
“Only some days.”
“You should really take that vacation. Everyone needs time off.”
“Humph.”
