I walk in and Bob leaps up on me. I give him some loving, feeling bad for leaving him, but I wanted him here for Elodie. Bob’s great at sussing out the bad eggs. If he didn’t like Elodie, there’d be big trouble.
“What d’you think, boy?” I say, letting him lick my cheek. “How was she?”
“Scared to death of him,” Alf calls out.
The boys are on the couch in the lounge, Cade with his head buried in some mechanics book and Alf’s on the floor with his Lego set sprawled out on the coffee table. Looks like he’s about to start working on Marvel’s Avengers Tower. Since he got sober, he can’t just do nothing. I’ve never seen the man chill for longerthan five minutes before he has to leap up and get to work on something. I bought a Lego set for him as a joke, telling him he has the energy of a kid so he might as well play like one, but surprisingly it tamed him. It’s the only thing his mind can focus on. And I mean for hours. It’s nice. Not to have him running rampant all the time, having all of us always treading on eggshells. My own head calmed a bit from the change in tide.
I plop down on the sofa next to Cade and stretch out. “Really? I don’t see how anyone can be scared of this big melt.” I give Bob another scruff under his jaw.
“Well, she was. But he seemed to like her. Didn’t try to bite, at least.”
“That’s a good sign.” I turn to Cade. “How’d pickup go?”
Cade doesn’t lift his furrowed brow from the book. “Light work. Guy was already unconscious when I got there. You?”
I ruffle through my curls. “Same old. Paranoid minion fuckers asking a million questions.”
Even though we’ve worked with Drago and his minions for years now, we’ve never really got on. We’re civil, but we don’t exactly go out partying together. They’re annoying as fuck.
“You got it all though, right?” he asks, as if he’s not the one who bagged it all up, labelled, double-labelled, and then tagged it all for me.
I huff. “Yes, boss, I got it all.” Honestly, you forget one teeny tiny kidney for one job and suddenly I’m inept. Eager to change the subject, I turn to Alfie. “How’s Sleeping Beauty?”
“Sleeping. I assume. Haven’t checked on her since after lunch. Higgins ordered a drip for her. He’ll deliver it tomorrow.”
I turn to Cade. “You?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know what to say to her.”
“So,” I say, frowning, “you’ve left that fine piece of ass alone all day? She’s probably bored out of her mind! She needs a little entertainment.”
Alfie shrugs, not looking up from the Lego pieces on the table. “Honestly, she’ll probably sleep every chance she gets. She’s worn, battered. She needs a lot of rest from whatever she went through. Her body’s an absolute wreck.”
Caden huffs and slams down his book. “Boohoo. She better have her shit together soon. Her next job’s up in three days.”
“She’ll be able to work a computer, Cade, chill.”
Cade huffs and goes back to his book.
Alf adds, “You need to get her some clothes, by the way. Had to dress her in yours.”
“Mine?!”
I gasp. “Outrageous behaviour, Alfred.”
Cade ignores me. “Why mine?”
“We were already in your room.” He shrugs.
“Yeah,” I say, “it’s not like she’s your fiancé or anything. Gosh.”
Caden groans. “Fucking great.”
“Just order some for her. Or get Maggie to,” Alfie says.
Caden thinks for a moment. “She hasn’t earned anything yet. I’m not giving her anything until I know what her intentions are.”
Alf rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to his bags of Lego and instructions.
