“I liked that kid,” he said. “Mouthy. Always trying too hard. Reminded me of you.”
“I was never that green,” I protested automatically.
He snorted. “You were a fucking lime, Jersey. We both were.”
I huffed, but it knocked some of the ache sideways.
“It’s not on you that he’s gone,” I said. “Don’t start building a shrine out of guilt.Wewere there.Wewalked him into it.Weown that.”
“Yeah, well,” Miami said. “You ever noticed how our brains don’t give a shit about who owns what when it comes to blame? They just start handing it out like party favors.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Across the room, 8-Ball brokethe rack. The crack of impact snapped over heads. Two solids dropped right off. Of course they did. Blackjack swore under his breath.
“Think Roman’s really going to make a move?” Miami asked. “Beyond swearing oaths and making speeches about blood and loyalty.”
“He said he would,” I said. “He told Blackjack he’s got fail-safes. People close to Tesauro who are actually his. He’s going to yank their leashes. Make a spectacle somewhere that’ll drag Tesauro out into the open. They’re all probably sitting in some glass-walled office right now making spreadsheets about it.”
“And we’re just… waiting?” Miami made a face like the word tasted bad. “Sitting on our hands in the meantime?”
“Planning,” I corrected. “Getting ready to kick them over when it’ll matter most. We go too early, we just annoy him. We wait too long, he gets bolder. We’re in the middle, where everything sucks.”
He grunted.
“What’s Liberty say?” he asked. “Beyond the ‘I’m pissed’ part.”
“She’s holding ground,” I said. “Compound locked down. Girls armed. Eyes on her own fronts and on the ledger. She’ll ride when we do. She wants a piece of Tesauro’s face just as much as we do.”
“Valkyrie seems… loyal,” he said, trying the word out in his mouth like he wasn’t sure if it fit someone in a different patch.
I looked down the bar again before my brain couldtell me not to.
She was listening to something Tanya was saying, expression edged with amusement. The safe key on her chain glinted when she shifted. Her jaw had that stubborn set it got when she was trying not to show how tired she was. Like if she just held herself at the right angle, the weight sitting on her wouldn’t show.
She must’ve felt me looking again, because her gaze flicked over, met mine for half a second. Not long. Just enough to register. Just enough to jolt.
I forced myself to look away and study the wood grain of the bar instead.
“Yeah,” I said. “She is.”
Miami made a low sound in his throat that I didn’t like.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said. “Just enjoying the view.”
“Of what?”
“Of you,” he replied. “Making heart eyes at a woman in a different cut and pretending you’re not.”
“I’m not making heart eyes,” I said. “I don’t even know what that looks like.”
“You want me to draw you a picture?” he asked. “Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you scanning a room full of armed men and landing on her every time like your neck’s got a homing beacon.”
“You’re imagining shit,” I said.
“Am I?” he asked.
