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“Ha,” Trev drawled. “You’re hilarious.”

“What the fuck happened?” Emil demanded as they approached.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Jupiter replied smoothly. “Mr. Usher was being difficult, but?—”

“Wouldn’t be too difficult with a broken leg,” Sal warned.

“I handled it,” Jupiter said with a scowl. “Are we ready or not?”

“Ready,” Emil replied. He cut his eyes at Trev and then back to Jupiter. “You’re gonna be…” He squinted. “What the fuck is all over your face?”

Jupiter sighed.

“I maced him with glitter body spray,” Trev said proudly. “You guys should try some—hey!” He grunted as Jupiter pulled firmly on his arm. “Rude.”

Emil glared at Jupiter, holding up his finger as he declared, “You’re gonna be his new babysitter, do you understand? I don’t want him taking a shit without you there ready to wipe his ass. If he sneezes, I wanna know if his snot was clear or fucking green. I’m not going to tolerate sorry ass bullshit of this fucking level again.”

Jupiter bristled, but he nodded. “Understood.”

“Ha, you just got your ass chewed,” Trev taunted. He laughed until Jupiter tugged on his arm again. “Ow, asshole. That one kinda hurt.”

“And you.” Emil fixed his furious stare on Trev. “We need you alive, but trust me when I say that alive can be a very broad definition.”

“Yeah! Alive can mean I maybe cut off some fucking pieces and you still got a pulse,” Sal chimed in. “Alive can mean I peel off your fucking fingernails and?—”

“For fuck’s sake, he gets it.” Emil smacked the side of Sal’s head. “Shut the fuck up. Let’s fuckin’ go.” He gestured for them to get into the SUV.

Trev tensed. “Where are we going?”

Jupiter smiled, pulling Trev along. “Your home sweet home until this deal goes through, baby doll. Trust me. You’re gonna love it. Just me, you, and a room I promise you won’t be able to get out of.”

“Oh goody.”

Chapter

Five

The drive to the next destination was quiet.

Trev was exhausted from the chase, and he clung to the lockbox. He was stuck in the back seat with Jupiter, and he kept himself as close to the door as possible. It didn’t escape his attention how Jupiter stretched his arm over the back of the seat, and the gesture felt oddly protective.

And possessive.

Ugh.

“Where are we going?” Trev asked quietly.

“Somewhere with no windows for you to crawl out of,” Jupiter retorted. “Quiet now, baby doll.”

Trev could tell from looking out the window that they’d left the city limits, but he wasn’t sure where they were headed. He knew the highway they were on and that they were driving north, but that was all he could deduce. He kept an eye on the time, noting that twenty-two minutes passed before they turned off the highway.

Driving at sixty miles per hour figured out to roughly a mile a minute, so they were at least twenty miles out from the city limits.

That would be one hell of a walk, but Trev could always try to hitch a ride too. Maybe he could even steal one of these stupid mafia edition SUVs. He wanted to keep his options open, his mind continuing to spin as they pulled up to a dark building.

It was two stories, brick, and the parking lot was horribly overgrown. The faded sign over the front entrance read Create-A-Critter, and most of the windows were boarded over. It appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time.

“Your penthouse suite is waiting for you, sir,” Emil taunted from the front seat, laughing as he got out.