I made myself look at him. “What’s on your mind?”
“Deeks needs a boyfriend.”
I was good at concealing my emotions. Playing the grey man while I watched and waited for the world around me to catch up. But Rubi would’ve surprised me less if he’d asked me to marry him. My obsession with Decoy—withSeth—was years old, but it was my best kept secret. I’d told no one. Not even Rocco. And until this moment, I’d have bet what was left of my body that Decoy hadn’t told anyone either.
There was an unopened bottle of pop on the bar. Fizzy junk wasn’t my bag, but I swiped it to buy some time and opened it, tipping a mouthful of liquid sugar down my throat. “You need help finding him one?”
Rubi shook his head. “Nah, it needs to be you.”
As the words left Rubi’s mouth, Decoy tuned back into the room and whatever the hell Rubi was talking about. Uncharacteristic impatience clouded his face and he made a low sound in his throat. A violent sound that drew the attention of the others before he wheeled around and stormed out of the bar.
River winced and wound his arms around Rubi from behind. “Come on, boo. Making a joke out of this isn’t helping him.”
For a moment, Rubi was lost in the touch of his one true love. Then he shook him off. “It’s not a joke. Folk’s got a clean record and a DBS check. He’s a goddamnteacher. Even Miss Bitch Tits can’t argue with that.”
Okay. This was looking less like Decoy had spilled our history and more like something messier. Rubi didn’t talk trash about women. No one in the upper echelons of the Rebel Kings did, and the only female I could think of who deserved Rubi’s sharp mouth was Decoy’s ex-wife.
I screwed the lid back on the pop bottle. “I’m not a teacher.”
“Yes, you are. I heard you talking to Locke about teaching weans to swim after you left the army.”
“I was never in the army.”
“No?” A frown marred Rubi’s features. “I thought you were?”
“Marines. That’s the navy.”
“Same thing.” Rubi waved it away and leaned closer. “And you taught kids when you left, right?”
“It was a while after, but yeah. For a couple of months.”
“Then what?”
I lost my mind and Rocco saved me.“I bought a bike and joined the worst club in the world.”
At that, Rubi smirked. “Can’t argue with that. But you still had all the checks? To work with kids?”
“I think so. But it was years ago. Those things expire. And what’s that got to do with Decoy?” I felt safer saying his name now I couldn’t see him. My grey man powers were strong, but Saint and Alexei were as intuitive as I was, and their perception was natural. Untamed. If anyone was going to sniff me out, it was them. “Is his ex messing him around again?”
“Ain’t she just.” Real distress flared in Rubi’s gaze. “She took Ivy from school today and won’t give her back, and honestly, I don’t know how much more of this our boy can take. You see his face tonight?”
I saw Decoy’s face every night whether either one of us was here or not, but I settled for a shrug. “How can I help?”
Rubi explained his plan to me—the bare bones of an idea that was as ludicrous as it was intriguing.
The ludicrous won out, though. “That’s a lot of lying.”
“Be worth it, though, right?” Rubi pressed. “If it convinced a judge Decoy wasn’t doing this on his lonesome?”
“That’s your motivation with this? That he’d have a better chance at custody if he was in a relationship?”
“That’s what his lawyer said.”
That gave me pause. “A social worker said it to Rocco too when Lettie died and he had to give his boys up. But he was too messed up to do anything about it.”
“That why his kids stayed with his ma?”
I nodded, slowly, absorbing the pain that came with thinking about my best friend. With saying his name out loud. “He had a plan to get them back, but he never got that far.” Because despite everything the men in front of me had done to save him, Rocco had died, and so had his lovely mum.
