My phone vibrates but I remain quiet as I allow Rhodes to get his fill. Finally, he sighs, swallowing hard.
“So what are we going to do, Pinky?” he asks.
My lips barely twitch as I reply, “Kidnap our man, of course. I just need to get some sedative from the cabinet.”
I am always prepared, even when I’m not sure why I decide I need to have something. The sedative will help calm an omega who doesn’t think he’s mine.
“Okay,” he whispers. “Fuck, I don’t know why I trust you, but I can’t help myself.”
“Koen was ambushed with the information he received,” I say. “There was no context, and it paints us in a very bad light. He loves us. I could see it in his eyes when he was yelling at us.”
“We broke his heart,” Rhodes breathes, rubbing his chest. “It feels like one, long, strangled scream into the void. His voice never breaks, and it never fucking stops.”
Fuck, that’s terrifying.
My phone vibrates again in an attempt to remind me there’s an unread message and I drop my gaze to read it.
Olsson
No. He’s drinking, despondent, and refuses to speak. Congratulations, you made my already grumpy best friend non-verbal. Are you going to fucking clean up your mess?
Me
I always clean my messes. Give me an address.
Olsson
Dude, you sound like the goddamned mafia.
Snorting,I shake my head. I suppose I do, but sometimes, bending the rules over a rail and making them scream my name is the only way to get shit done.
I’m not sorry for the things I’ve done. I’m remorseful that Koen was hurt by them. Those are very different things.
Me
Are you going to give me your address or are you going to make me work for it?
Opening another text chain,I shoot off a message to Fishman.
Me
This is what I need. You will suck it up and not ask for payment. Are you ready for the list?
Fishman
Fuck, why can’t I keep my damn mouth shut? Of course it’s on the house. Send me this list. I’ll even pitch in thirty percent of whatever you’ll need.
Damn.Fishman doesn’t fuck around with his money, and he definitely doesn’t offer to pay for things. If he’s fronting money for something, then someone is paying him back.
It shows he feels badly about how he just blew up our lives. I’ll take his help, though it’s not like I need the financial support. No, I’ll accept it because one of the only ways to make Fishman accountable is through his wallet.
At some point, I stopped breathing. My focus can drill down to a single pinpoint until everything else disappears. My vision is going dark, and Rhodes shouts at me to breathe.
Fuck.
Forcing myself to take a breath, I nod in his direction to show I heard him. I need to get the ball moving, or I’ll be unable to do anything because I’ll overthink every single thing. I can’t afford to do that.
Not now.
