I set the food down on the coffee table and sat. Five minutes passed before I heard the water shut off.
Another five before he walked out. I was sure he was hoping I was on a time limit and would leave. I wasn’t.
He rubbed his jaw with his hand and eyed the table. “You brought food?”
I nodded, “It’s what people do sometimes of a night they have dinner, real food, not a protein bar.”
He didn’t deny it. Just grunted, crossed to the table, and sat down across from me.
I looked around the room again. No photos or signs of life. The gun safe was the only thing that looked used, knowing Vinceit was the probably the only thing he had made sure was moved in.
“These places could be decorated, you know,” I said.
He shot me a look, while reaching for a box off the coffee table.
“A lamp. A chair that isn’t designed by military contractors. A bed that doesn’t look like it cries itself to sleep.”
“I sleep. I shower. I grab a gun and leave,” he took a mouthful of his food.
“That’s poetic.”
“It’s functional.”
I didn’t say what I was thinking, that it wasn’tliving. But I’d learned over the years, Vince only heard what he was ready for. He sat. Dug into the food without a word.
“How’re the boys adjusting?” I picked up my food.
He nodded. “Luca’s over-caffeinated and installing cameras in things that don’t need it.”
“Of course.”
“Rome’s meditating. Claims it helps him ignore how much he hates people.”
“That tracks.”
“Bastion’s brooding in the east wing like he owns half the fucking city.”
“He does.”
“Exactly.”
He took another bite, more out of habit than hunger. His knuckles still looked bruised. His jaw was tight.
“They’re good,” he added. “Mostly.”
“Villain suits them.”
“Yeah.” He tapped his fork on the container. “Better than the Academy did.”
“Only because this time, they’re the monsters in charge.”
That earned me a smirk. Brief, but real. When Vince hurt, it usually bled through other people. Sometimes it was harder to pull him back.
“And the girls?” he asked, after a moment.
Ah. There it was. The tether, the cord that pulls him back always had.
“Soph and Ceci are somewhere off the coast of Monaco. Or maybe Malta. Hard to say with those two.”
