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“Good.”
“I’m sorry, what? I think I’m hallucinating. Or hearing things,” Spencer blinks rapidly, her mouth hanging open, gawking at my admission.
“Nah babe, no hallucinations, they got a date Friday,” Gigi grins as she pours a round of tequila shots for her customers. “Riot told me all about it when he was at Afterlife for the liquor delivery earlier today.”
“Are you… I… Cole! I asked you to stay away from that. No, I begged you to just stay away from that. Things are just going to get messy! It’s a disa-”
“He kissed me, Spence,” I interrupt quickly, before she can get out the words that mirror my own internal doubts about this entire situation.
“He what?”
“Awww my god! That’s so fucking cute!” Gigi squeals.
“Gigi please!” Spencer snaps. “Cole, how? When?”
Running one hand through my hair, I shrug, “It just… happened? He was here dropping off the surveillance equipment, and I… I kissed him.”
“Oh, so it was you then,” she puts her hand on her hip and eyeballs me.
“I mean at first yeah, but I apologized and there was an understanding it wouldn’t happen again but then… Then he showed up at my apartment, Spencer. And he kissed me. He really kissed me, and Spencer, I can’t back off. Not now. Not after that.”
Her expression falls and she softens a bit as she leans into me, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to… I guess I don’t understand though. Where does Zeke fall into all this? Did they break up?”
“Well no, not exactly,” I start. “We kinda, well, Riot wants to -”
“A throuple! Yasss! You guys would make the cutest fucking throuple,” Gigi interrupts, leaning against the bar on her elbows, smiling ear to ear as she hops in and out of our conversation.
Chuckling to myself, I shake my head as I turn to face Spencer.
“Are you mad at me?”
“No,” she huffs. “I get it. It’s just that, it’s the first time I’ve had a real family. You’re like a brother to me, and Riot is my best fucking friend, and Zeke, I love him too. I don’t want to see anyone hurt. I don’t want to lose everyone in some awkward mess if it all goes up in flames. I’m sorry, that’s selfish of me, I know.”
“Hey, no,” I bump her with my hip and smile. “I promise not to mess it all up. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. No animosity and it definitely doesn’t need to be weird. But Riot… Spence, I’m a goner for him. Head over heels. And Zeke, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I felt something, even if I can’t define it.”
“And Zeke, he’s on board?”
“Well,” I shrug. “Honestly, I don’t know. But I guess I’ll find out.”
Chapter seventeen
Riot
“Look, you agreed we get to handle this, you just want the cash, right?” Arsenal cocks a questioning eyebrow at me.
“All I need is the cash. They’re your traitors, you do what you want to them,” I agree.
“Good,” he nods, opening the door to Blaize’s torture room. “Take a seat then.”
Wandering over to the corner of the room, I grab a chair and spin it around, perching on it with the backrest between my legs. Folding my arms over the top of the chair, I rest my chin on my forearms ready to watch Blaize torture for information.
“We’re gonna start small, big guy,” Blaize growls as he secures the chains to the man who’s sprawled across his stainless steel table. “Tell me where Dante King is stashing the money he got from the Brotherhood.”
“M-man, I don’t know,” the guy visibly trembles as Blaize pulls a knife from a drawer beneath the table, pressing the pointed tip into his fingertip as he mulls something over.
“You know Johnny, I think you’re lying to me.”
“No, no Blaize. Sir. I- I wouldn’t.”