“How would we do that?” Mac asks.
“I’ll have to find out where the transformer is for that block, so at least two of you will have to go underground and cut it off manually. Then the ones who are breaking in need to find out quickly if they have a generator, though I can search in their purchases, but that will probably take too much time since I can see here that Brent is attending a fundraiser for Senator Clarkson tonight. In any case, the power being out will give you all the time you need unless he has a generator. It’s a pretty safe bet that he has one, though it’s a pain to get one, but he’s the fucking mayor...so you need to find it, unplug it, and then do whatever it is you need to do.”
“We can do that,” I murmur.
“What?” Eian whirls around and pins me in place with a furious frown. “You’re not going.”
“Uh, yes I am. This is my investigation. I’m the one who’s going to take this to the commissioner?—”
“No you’re not.” He slashes a hand as if it’s final, but to hell with that.
“I’m going, Eian. You’ll have no fucking clue what you’re looking for, and no one’s supposed to be there. It’s only the basement and we’re going to be in and out in no time.”
“Colby...” His jaw bunches as he looks up.
“I’m doing this, Eian. You’ll be there with me and we’ll get what we need to put him away. You can’t tell me to stay this time because no one is supposed to see us and no one will.”
I stand my ground, not looking away from his eyes for a single millisecond. Problem is, he doesn’t agree, he just stays quiet, for an eon it seems.
“Brent is a dinosaur. He probably has a post-it note with the instructions to get into the site on his damn computer, Eian. It’s not going to take us long at all.”
That seems to do the trick. Eian sighs, though his shoulders remain tense, his jaw stubbornly set.
“You’ll follow every order I give without hesitation or question.” I nod eagerly.
“I will, but it’s going to be fine, I swear. We’re going to end this tonight, and tomorrow Luisa can leave the brothel and go back to her home. All of them can leave this fucking nightmare and I can...”
I trail off.
I have no clue what I was going to say because... I have no fucking clue what I’m going to do with my time after this.
I have Maggie of course, and spending every day with her sounds freaking amazing, but I don’t even want to look at the tangled mess that is my relationship with Eian, or what Eian wants from our relationship.
It’s not like we’ve had a lot of time to think about it, or talk about it. I suppose after this is all done, I’ll get that time.
Yay.
Okay, so the prospect of continuing this... relationship isn’t the worst. Fine, it’s too enticing, too perfect.
Two months ago I had Maggie, and I had the mysterious man who hired me to look out for some men doing bad shit.
Now I have so much more. Maybe it’s the idea that Eian might?—
He told me he loves me, I remind myself. I know how insane that is, how fast and reckless. What scares me is how little I care.
The only thing about Eian that makes me truly unsure about our potential future is the secrets.
I hate secrets.
Love keeping them, and I’m damn good at that, but I hate when someone I trust doesn’t tell me everything. It’s a... thing for me.
I understand why Eian has kept his aunt a secret, of course I do. But I still think that no matter how much I want to jump ass first into a serious, lasting relationship with him, I won’t feel safe enough to do it until I knowall of him.
“I can stop worrying about this,” I finish lamely after not saying anything for too long.
Eian’s brow is furrowed with obvious worry, and who could blame him.
“Let’s get this plan done, then,” Seamus says, and we finally break our stare-off.
