But is it too much?
Before I get lost in this moment, and decide to not leave at all, I get out of the bed and go back to the living room to grab my backpack from the couch. I unzip it, and pull out the small box that Orville gave me. Then I spend the next hour hiding little cameras around his house. Kitchen. Living room. Bathroom. Bedroom. The one in the bathroom takes the most time to install because I can’t figure out where I want it to go. The best angledoesn’t have anywhere for me to hide it, so I have to go with what will work. If he finds it… this won’t be fun for long.
When every camera is in place, I drop onto his couch and pull up the app that Orville installed on my phone. I am certain if Jaxon finds out that he did this, he’ll kill him. Which is why he made me pinky-promise not to say anything.
Though… maybe he’ll find it romantic, on my part, at least. Who knows?
What is wrong with me? Why do I care what Jaxon finds romantic?
Because I miss him.
It’s hitting me hard. Being here. Smelling him. Seeing how he lives. Knowing he’s been so close, but hiding from me… it hurts. It’s so fucking much, and now I’m angry.
All the cameras pop up on the screen, and I see myself sitting on his couch. The light glints off the tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Well, at least the quality is good.”
I close out of it and get up, then wander around the house. I open cabinets, the fridge, drawers… it’s all mostly empty. Just enough for him to get by. It’s sad, yet something tells me this is how he wants it. Jaxon is the kind of guy who gets what he wants and he doesn’t suffer.
I go back to the bedroom one last time. I look under the bed—nothing.
I dig through his drawers and the only interesting thing I find ismypanties in his drawer. Well, I assume they’re mine. They look familiar and are in the right size… and it’s just the thing he would do.
I never once, not for a single second, believed Jaxon was cheating on me. Sure, there was that situation with Mindy but that was fear talking. I was scared. But I don’t think I ever actually believed it.
Going through his closet is the last thing I do. I shove hangers aside and look through clothes. There are nice things on the far right—button downs and slacks and a few ties. On the left are T-shirts, jeans, and some sweatshirts. I pull a sleeve up and bring it to my nose. Once again my eyes fall closed. I tug it from the hanger and stuff it into my backpack, and then I leave.
All that’s left to do now is wait.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jaxon
“I don’t typically do this, just so you know.”
Fionn’s Irish accent is thick, but he’s easier to understand when he’s talking slowly, like he is now. He’s relaxed as can be, sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, the radio on low, the window down so he can blow cigarette smoke out of it.
I’m not sure what we’re doing here, but he assured me it’s where we need to be. And though he isn’t an asshole about it, he makes it known that it isn’t an option.
“Then why are you?”
I’ve already wondered if this was a set up. Why the fuck is this guy helping me? I don’t know who he is, never heard of him before, but all I can assume is he’s some high up guy in some important Irish mafia ring who doesn’t like whoever the Marcellos are, and I’m a reason for him to look into them.
“Harvey had one opportunity.” He holds up a finger while bringing the cigarette to his lips with his other hand. He blows out the smoke slowly, dropping his hand. “Just one opportunity to use my name. That was the deal. And he used it on you.”
“Why the fuck would he do that?”
“Dunno,” he says, taking one last drag before flicking the cigarette out the window. “Whatever he saw musta scared him, I suppose.”
“He did look like a pussy.”
He turns to me with a smirk. Then he chuckles.
“Aye. A pussy.”
I’m curious about what the fuck earned him an opportunity with this guy, but I don’t ask. Because there’s movement from the alley—a side door opening—and Fionn sits up straight.
“There.” He points forward, toward the door. Someone steps out, then someone else. The light from inside is enough to show that one is much shorter than the other, smaller in stature, making me think it’s a woman while the other is a man.
