Lou grins. “Sounds romantic.”
I look at Sisk. “We need space.”
She sighs again. “Yeah… we do. At least I can keep an eye on my parents. I’m happy they’re moving in too.” She lowers her voice. “And you know… I still have hopes about Millie one day.”
I give her a small, tight nod.It’s a promise I don’t know if I can keep, but I’ll die trying.
“Alright,” I say to them all. “You four have been avoiding this conversation like I’m the goddamn tar for over a year. Now that you’re all on the same roof again, what the fuck actually happened at the docks? No more bullshit.”
Lou groans and rubs his jaw. “I got punched. That’s what happened.”
Sisk bursts out laughing so loud it makes a few nearby drinkers turn. “You got punched because you tried to sell a fake ID to Danner’s actual teenage niece, you absolute moron.”
“It was a test!” Lou protests, gesturing wildly. “I was selling the cover story! How was I supposed to know she was family?”
Matt, who’s been silently polishing a glass with the focus of a bomb disposal expert, slams it down on the bar. “You were supposed to be a professional, Lou. ‘I sell IDs to little girls so they can get a taste of the pop.’ You sounded like a fucking cop trying to talk street.”
Viper, tracing the rim of her glass with a black nail, sighs. “It was a disaster. The whole thing. Sisk swaggers in like she’s auditioning for a mob movie, introduces me as her ‘girlfriend who knows where the good parties are’—”
“—which was your idea,” Sisk cuts in, grinning.
“—and Matt as security, because you, Jax, were ‘too busy’ that night,” Viper finishes, ignoring her. “So one of Danner’s guys, this greasy-looking fucker, Whistle, starts staring at me. He leans over and says, ‘I bet I could turn you straight.’”
Matt, who had been quiet, goes rigid. “I forgot the plan,” he says, his voice roughening as he remembers. “I forgot we were supposed to be a circus. I stood up and got in the guy’s face. Told him to watch his mouth.”
Sisk cackles. “He told the guy he’d break his jaw if he looked at her again. It was very… chivalrous.”
Viper rolls her eyes. “It was very stupid. Danner just laughs and says, ‘So your chick’s got a boyfriend. How fucking quaint.’ He wasn’t buying it.”
“Tell him,” Lou nods at her.
Sisk’s grin turns sharp. “We had to sell it, didn’t we? I grabbed Viper and kissed her. Full-on, tongues, the whole show. Whistle just stared, and Danner… he nodded.”
“No, no…” Lou says, leaning forward with a wicked glint in his eye. “So Sisk grabs Viper and lays one on her. It was hot, sure, but that’s not what sold it. What sold him was right after. Viper, she’s still got a fist in Sisk’s hair, and she grips her face, gets right up close. Looks her dead in the eye and whispers, but loud enough for all of us to hear, ‘Let the dicks play, baby. You and I both know it’s your pussy that runs this world.’”
The bar goes dead silent.
Sisk just grins, shrugging like it’s nothing. “Danner said right after, ‘Now that I believe.’ Then he told Matt to ‘sit the fuck down, and let the women work.’” She touches her cheek. “Viper was very convincing, even left a little souvenir on my cheek from her sharp nails.”
Andy, who’s been listening with his mouth slightly open, finally turns to Lou. “Let me get this straight. You went to a drug den and didn’t tell me?”
Lou shrinks, looking miserable. “It was a bad call.”
Andy makes a face at him. Without another word, Lou stands, grabs his boyfriend’s face in both hands, and kisses him hard and deep. When he pulls back, Andy looks dazed. “I’m sorry,” Lou says. “I’m a dumbass.”
“You are,” Andy agrees, but he’s smiling now.
I can’t find words. I look at Sisk, then at Viper. “You two did fucking what?”
Sisk’s smile tightens. “I did what I had to do. It worked, didn’t it? We’re in. I got another meeting next week at the Redline. Had to spin him some story about being overseas, laying low after a deal went sour. He thinks I’ve been gone this whole time, not that I was… giving birth.”
“The Redline?” Matt and I say it at the exact same time. I catch Matt’s eye across the bar. He gives me a strong shake of his head, a look that says,Your girlfriend. My girlfriend. Tongues. We are never, ever speaking of this again.
Sisk just shrugs, completely unfazed. “What? It’s a public place. I want to know who’s bringing the pops there, another connection. The more I pull at the threads, the easier it will be to get it all crumbling down.”
Andy leans back, draping an arm over Lou’s shoulders. “See? This is why Sisk is my favorite. Girl has vision. All this tension, think you guys should figure out in bed, the four of you. I’m not talking some soft, gentle ‘let’s see what happens’ bullshit. I’m talking about a full-on, no-holds-barred fuckfest. Get it all out. Matt can finally see what his girl’s really made of, Jax can stop being so possessive, and Lou and I get the show of a lifetime.”
I spit out my beer. Matt, who was taking a swig of his own, starts hacking, pounding his chest as he chokes. Across from us, Viper just grins. “I’m in. Your girl kisses better than you, Jax.”
