I looked up from his bed and grunted. “Augustine.”
“Dominic,” he said curtly. “I’m glad to see you were successful.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” I said. “And don’t call me Dominic, only my parents, and my adoptive parents are allowed to call me that.”
“Surely you don’t want me to call you Dom.”
“I’d rather you didn’t call me anything, ever.”
Augustine’s nostrils flared, but he turned to look over his shoulder. “Come in, and close the door behind you.”
I watched as Will entered, looking even more nervous than when I’d first scared the crap out of him just by being big. Then again, I was kind of glad he found the murdering crime bossscarier than me. He did as he was told, closing the door quietly behind him and standing in front of it.
“Do not think for a moment that because this conversation,” Levi told Will, gesturing between himself and Augustine, “is taking priority, that you and I are not going to have a very detailed conversation about what is and is not within the bounds of your responsibilities.”
“I won’t say I’m sorry for helping,” Will said, but added no more, and I was glad. We had warned him he was not to mention that he’d figured out what Levi’s plan had been for himself before I had said anything to him. Apparently, in the frenzy of relaying orders and carrying out other tasks, Will had realized Levi had gotten his hands on more explosives, but more importantly, that one of the detonators was a dead man’s switch. Considering nothing had come of that order, Will had gotten nervous and managed to get hold of me.
He had been smart enough to realize that Augustine was with me and had waited until the man left to take a phone call before letting me know what he’d pieced together. Augustine had already figured out where the meeting between Levi and Los Muertos would take place, but not that Levi might blow them all to kingdom come. I didn’t trust Augustine not to let the situation play out like Levi wanted, taking care of his problems.
And I was going to keep it that way if I could.
“Augustine,” Levi said.
“Levi,” Augustine returned, as they stared one another down.
I waited a bit before meeting Will’s nervous gaze. “Do you ever get the feeling you’re stuck in a room with two people who are trying to figure out how to kill the other one without leaving a mess behind?”
Will went pale but said nothing, not that I expected him to speak up. He was clearly terrified of Augustine, and while the kid had more guts than he would probably ever give himself creditfor, I wasn’t expecting him to turn fearless just because he’d found a spine.
“Hmm,” Levi hummed thoughtfully, leaning back in his bed. “It’s hard to argue with that assessment.”
“Mm,” Augustine hummed back. “The ignorant have a wisdom of their own.”
“Alright, fuck you too,” I said with a frown.
“Give him a moment,” Levi told me softly. “He’s trying to figure out what to start with, but make no mistake, his goal is and will always be the throat. So, what’s it going to be, Augustine? Will you make a remark about the wound I received and how it was deserved after what I did? Will it be about the trouble I’ve brought down on The Family despite having shown years and years of quiet devotion? Or will you start even lower and comment on the ‘type’ of person I chose to throw my lot in with?”
“All that and more,” Augustine said quietly, but God, I could sense Levi’s attitude amused him. “But clearly, you are past the point where I could intimidate you with my anger or disapproval, as well as try to corral you by reminding you of your responsibilities to The Family. I won’t waste my breath, any more than you would waste yours on an apology I would never believe or you would ever mean.”
Jesus, having them in the room at the same time was something out of one of those creepy thriller movies Eli liked to watch. They were somehow the same person but completely different. I could practically feel the psychic tentacles from both of them, probing, stabbing, and poking at the other, trying to find the weak point to attack. The sound of mental guns being loaded and knives being sharpened was so loud it was a wonder anyone could think. No goddamn wonder Will was looking paler by the second.
“At least I can claim I was right, Dominic was capable of bringing you back from the edge of a complete and total disaster,” Augustine said, and I gave him a dirty look.
“I can’t tell if he thinks I’m useless or if he thinks you were really that fucking out of your head,” I said. “Which one was it so I can be offended for the right reason?”
“He exists in a perpetual state of doubt about other people’s abilities. You would have to prove yourself for years before he spoke of your capabilities without the slightest trace of doubt,” Levi said coolly. “But in this particular case, his personal judgement was reserved for my state of mind rather than your ability.”
“Alright, good, that’s what I thought,” I said, holding up the middle finger on my good hand. “Sit on it and spin, Augustine.”
“As interesting as that would be, I think I’ll decline for the sake of our sanity,” Augustine said dryly.
I jerked in surprise, looking at Levi. “Holy shit, is he?—?”
“I suspected he wasn’t particular about his bed partner’s gender, but never had confirmation until now,” Levi said, but I saw the slightest flicker of his eye down to his lap, not quite a whole movement, more a twitch. He was a dirty liar. He didn’t suspect for a moment that his dad was into guys too, but he was playing it off like he was a lot more knowing.
“And I never had the slightest clue that you knew,” Augustine said, and while I couldn’t read him as I could Levi, I thought he was surprised. “I hope you maintained discretion with that suspicion, around others.”
“I did not gossip with others that you, in fact, liked dick on occasion,” Levi told him dryly. “Not that anyone would dare say or do a thing about it. We aren’t in the era when you were still building your power base, Augustine. You will no more be unseated over a simple matter of bed partners, then I suspect wewill see any significant presence of Los Muertos in this city for quite some time.”
