“Don’t,” she repeats. “I don’t want his blood on me.”
My jaw flexes. “He’ll do it again.”
“He’ll do it anyway,” she snaps back. “He’s Rico. He’s a cockroach. You kill him and you don’t fix what he did. You just make me the girl who got someone murdered.”
Rico tries to smile like he thinks this means he wins.
Darling’s eyes slice into him. “You should be thanking me,” she says quietly, and the contempt in her voice is worse than a slap.
Love hits me like a sickness because she’s choosing herself, her soul, her line. She’s choosing not to let him stain her, not even indirectly.
It makes me ache in places I didn’t know could ache.
I release Rico fully and step back.
I yank the door open.
Magic, Vice, Six, and Carmen are right there, like they’ve been listening the whole damn time.
Carmen’s eyes are bright, furious and sharp, and she steps forward like she has the right.
“What are you doing?” she snaps.
I don’t look at her first. I point at Rico.
“Get him out,” I order. “And if any of you touch him, you answer to me.”
Six’s face twists like he swallowed gasoline. “Prez, he stole from us.”
“I know,” I say.
Carmen moves in, voice cutting. “He threatened the club.”
“I know,” I repeat.
“And you’re letting him walk?” she demands, outraged because I’m not acting like she expects.
I finally look at her, voice flat.
“I’m letting him go.”
Carmen laughs once, cold. “That makes us look weak.”
“No,” I say. “It makes us look controlled.”
Her eyes narrow. “Controlled,” she spits. “You mean controlled by her.”
Darling stiffens behind me, and I feel her like heat against my back. I shift without thinking, blocking Carmen’s line of sight to Darling, and Carmen sees the instinct in it. Her mouth tightens.
Rico clears his throat, rubbing it, eyes bouncing between Carmen and me like he’s trying to figure out which one will finish him later.
“Real generous,” he says hoarsely. “Guess I’ll be on my way.”
Six leans in close to Rico, voice low and poisonous. “You run your mouth again, I’ll cut your tongue out.”
Rico swallows hard and nods too fast.
Magic grabs Rico by the shirt and hauls him toward the stairs.
