He pushes to his feet. “Crime shit's what I do.”
“Stellan—”
“You want that key? You want to find it, right?”
“Yes, but?—”
“Then it's time to break the law, my sweet darling wife.” He pulls me roughly against him and buries my mouth with his.
It’s a good kiss.
It doesn’t make me feel any better.
“Home sweet home,”I mutter as one of Stellan's dangerous employees picks the lock on the back door of my childhood house. Our resident burglar is a young man named Prime Spadaro. When I ask how he got that name, he only shrugs.
“Mom wanted me to be unique.” The bolt on the back door thunks open, and he steps back with a flourish. “She probably didn’t expect it to work out quite so well.”
Stellan gives him a look. “You cover the occupants while we work. Understand the job?”
“No issues, Don Corsetti.”
I follow the pair of them into the familiar kitchen. A strange wave of nostalgia hits me first, but it quickly mixes with a bizarre nausea. Everything’s the same, but it's all different too. The cabinets were painted white, and the counters are way too neat. This place was always a mess when I was a kid. My mom was allergic to housework. Dad did everything up until he was killed. The table is different, but the floors haven’t been updated. It feels like looking at my childhood through a very long hallway.
“What's the matter?” Stellan stands very close, one hand on the small of my back. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine. It's just—” I take a second to get myself together. “Just feels weird being back here.”
He nods once. “You don't have to do this.”
“I want to.”
Prime strides into the kitchen. For a big, solid guy, he moves very quietly. I force myself to follow, and Stellan doesn’t stray far from my shoulder. It’s like he’s suddenly my protector, and nothing else matters. He sensed my discomfort somehow, and now he’s reacting to it.
I like that about him. Even though finding that key is the most important thing in his entire world right now, he’s still taking time to check in on me. His attention is addictive and dizzying. I find myself wanting more of it.
“Your house, you show us the way.” Stellan gestures for me to head up the steps. Prime goes first to make sure it’s clear but waits at the top for me to point out the master bedroom. He creeps forward and edges the door open with his gun.
The whole place is so much nicer than I remember. The walls have been painted, the banister refinished, and new photographs hang on the walls. Most of them show a young couple, but no kids. That’s good, at least. There’s a bike hanging on a rack in the hall and lots of mountaineering knick-knacks. I pick up an old, polished metal Buddha in one hand, hefting its weight, when I hear a gasp and a startled scream.
Prime’s standing over the bed, aiming the gun down at a shocked couple who clearly were just torn from deep sleep. They’re bleary-eyed and shocked with terror.
“Don’t worry, folks,” Prime says, beaming happily. “We’re not here to hurt anyone.”
“Please, take whatever you want,” the man says, shifting slightly to shield his wife. “Just don’t touch us.”
“Got no interest in you.” Stellan looms beside them, demonic and terrifying. If I woke up suddenly to a gun in my face and thatman looming near me, I’d probably lose my mind. “We’re going to look for something in your house for a while. You’re going to sit here in bed while my friend watches you. If either of you try to move, he’ll kill you.”
“Sure will,” Prime confirms cheerily. “Honestly won’t even hesitate, either.”
The woman lets out a horrible moan of pure fear.
“Let’s start in another room,” I say, tugging at Stellan. “Leave these poor people alone.”
He shrugs and follows me into the hall. I lead him to the second door on the left and step into what looks like an office. It’s slightly more cluttered than the rest of the house, but still very nice. I stand in the middle of the room and turn in a slow circle.
“It seemed a lot bigger when I was little.”
“This was your childhood bedroom?”
