“To find Lenny?”
He chuckles sourly. “You serious?” He huffs out a resigned breath. “She can have the fucking car. Ain’t worth shit, anyhow. Just want to know if Lenny’s okay. It’s not like him, taking off like that. Even after Ginny died, he always stuck around.”
“I understand you’re concerned, but I’m afraid I can’t have you showing up at the college just to cuss her out again.”
“What choice did I have?” Bobby snaps, taking a cigarette out of the pack like he can’twaitfor us to get the bus stop so he can light it.
“I’ll tell her to call you…once she’s gotten a new phone, of course. She has your number, doesn’t she?”
He scoffs. “She won’t.”
“I’ll make sure she does.”
“She don’t like it when you make her do things she doesn’t wanna,” he mutters. “But sure, go ahead.” Bobbyadds something under his breath that sounds like ‘cocksucker’, shaking his head as he stared through the windshield.
When a street sign flashes past, he suddenly sits up a little straighter, frowning.
“Where the fuck are you going?” he demands. “This ain’t the way.”
“Just have make a quick stop, Mr. Lee,” I say, giving him a disarming smile as I flick on the indicator and turn into a side road. “Don’t worry, I’ll have you on your way in no time.”
I don’t think my smile reaches my eyes.
I don’t think Bobby Lee notices.
If he does, he doesn’t care. I’ve given him money. Let him vent. I’m the closest thing he has to a friend, now that his BFF Lenny is apparently out of the picture.
Unfortunately for Bobby, I don’t need a friend.
I needed intel on Haven, a way to make things right with her. And Bobby just handed me an arsenal.
It’ll take time, but I’m nothing if not patient.
I’ll build her back up, piece by piece. Show her the respect she’s never been given. Give her the attention she’s always craved but never received.
And in the meantime, I have Kai to keep me occupied. He’s a useful distraction—all that pent-up rage and self-loathing wrapped in such a pretty, self-destructive package.
He’ll do nicely until Haven comes back to me.
Because shewillcome back to me.
They always do.
But first things first.
It looks like Daddy Lee’s in desperate need of a fix.
As am I.
Chapter 43
Bastian
My Tesla’s dashboard is a monument to entropy.
Empty coffee cups, most with the barest sip left in each, cluster in the cupholders. Fast food wrappers from places I don’t even remember visiting lurk in the footwell. Even the smell of body paint and Bobby’s unwashed clothes have been overwhelmed by the aroma of ketchup and fryer grease.
The car’s interior feels like a physical manifestation of the war being waged inside my skull. A battlefield littered with the corpses of good decisions violently run through by bad choices.
