Alexei ate too. Then he disappeared and came back with a laptop. “This is why I left. To fetch this. If you had not been riding like a reckless idiot, I would have told you.”
Saint laughed, arealbelly laugh that made the fucking moon shine brighter.
I pointed my fork at him. “Don’t be a cunt.”
He laughed harder and I rolled my eyes while secretly living my best life. I had no idea where they’d been or what they’d done in thefour hoursthey’d been off radar, but if this was the result, I’d take it.
I drew the laptop towards me while Saint took the dirty plates to the sink and washed them.
Alexei’s hands twitched. He turned his back on Saint and slid closer to me.
Close enough that I bit his neck. Sue me, I was only human. “Is this the encrypted whatsit?”
“Yes, Cam. It is a whatsit.” Alexei opened it and pressed some buttons. An interface that made no sense to me lit up the screen. “I have software that will allow us to listen to every bug we have placed in the Crows’ compound. See?”
He pointed at the row of boxes I now realised belonged to each of the bugs he and Mateo had planted. “How are you going to listen to them all at once?”
“I am not. We will set keywords and phrases to flag our attention and only listen when it is pertinent. We might still miss something, but it is better than silence.”
“Most things are.” I kissed the mark I’d left on his creamy skin. “Pretty sure listening to these bastards talk shit is going to wind me up, though.”
“You are not doing it. Rubi will help me. Saint when he is not busy. Embry when he is well. Did you speak to him?”
“About what went down with Rocco? No. He was too out of it. I just made sure he wasn’t in pain anymore.”
“He should be okay for a while. I will check on him tomorrow.”
“Will you come to the Sambini meet?”
“Why?”
“Because you speak Italian.”
“Mateo does not?”
“Spanish.” Saint took a seat beside Alexei and peered at the laptop screen. “Like his deadbeat dad. Did you hack into their cameras too?”
“Not yet. I was going to tonight. Maybe start looking at bank accounts too.”
Saint’s interest perked up even more. “Show me?”
They put their heads together. Alexei leaned into Saint while his arm threaded casually around the back of the chair. If I’d been a teenager who could’ve got away with it, I’d have snapped a picture because it was fucking beautiful. Fresh warmth bloomed in my heart. I shared a unique alchemy with each of them, but the three of us, like this, was almost more than I could cope with.
I escaped to the shower. Saint had been in there before me, but you wouldn’t have known. He’d cleared the screen of all moisture, wiped the floor, and hung his towel on the heated rail at perfect right angles.
My sweet boy.
Shame I was going to mess it all up again.
I stepped under the hot spray, glad the hole in my shoulder was now healed enough for me to let the water pummel my aching muscles without hanging one arm out. Riding my hog had felt so fucking good, but I was paying for it now, like I would for months until my body was back to normal.
As if I had any clue what normal even was anymore.
I closed my eyes, swaying on my feet, but alone in the bathroom without Alexei or Saint to borrow strength and equilibrium from, I didn’t enjoy the dizzying sensation that plagued me. Anxiety crept in with no obvious trigger.
Fuck this.I washed up and shut the shower off, and the speed at which I dried off and fled the bathroom was almost comical.
I had clothes in Alexei’s bedroom. Ignoring the pull to the kitchen, I slipped through the open door, bracing for the dark to swallow me up, but Saint and Alexei were already there. Saint was watching TV through hooded eyes. Alexei’s head was in his lap. I expected his sharp gaze, but I didn’t get it.
