Page 29 of Lovesick Titan (Lovesick #2)

“You’re Danny , aren’t you?” Arty said with a dawning of understanding.

Mal shot Priestly a glare, but Priestly just rolled his eyes.

“Uhh…yeah. So you do know.”

“About you and our dear Titan ? ‘Fraid so. Don’t worry though, it isn’t my business. Was there something I could do for you? A message you wanted to pass along?”

“No. No, nothing like that. I’m just worried there might be some police coming by soon to ask questions. About him…and me. The comms he used, they came from this shop, didn’t they?”

Mal paled as Priestly glared at him. They were on either side of the curtain now, both trying to peek through the visible slits on the sides. All Mal could see was Arty’s back.

“Sorry, not at liberty to answer that, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, right, of course,” Danny chuckled nervously. “It’s just…I messed up and they’re in evidence now, and if that leads anyone back here, I wanted you to be prepared. I know how much he means to this neighborhood. I don’t want to ruin that just because I was careless.”

“So if anyone comes asking, what should I tell them?” Arty asked suspiciously. “Don’t think I’ll be saying Prometheus stole anything.”

“No! No… I had something else in mind. Tell them you made those comms for Zeus.” Mal and Priestly stared at each other as Danny pushed on through the pregnant pause that followed.

“I promise he’ll back up your story to the police.

I think I finally figured out how to make things easier for everyone, but if they can’t be easier for me… that’s okay.”

Mal glanced back to see Arty nod. “I suppose I could say that. Doubt they’ll believe me, but if you really have that much clout with Zeus…”

“He works with my dad. He’ll agree to this. Don’t worry. Also, can you not tell Mal I was here? He doesn’t want to hear about me right now.”

“I can try, but if he asks ...”

“Right. No, I get that. Then tell him I was an asshole. Probably more likely to believe that anyway.” Danny said his farewells, and Arty wished him good luck .

Mal had wondered why Danny would bother coming into the electronics store, since no one here had met him, but the comms…

Danny was trying to shift the blame onto Zeus.

Zeus was known to have been at the museum that night, but so far nothing pointed to Mal.

This would protect the neighborhood and lift suspicion that Prometheus might be hiding here.

Mal was still resting against the wall by the curtain when Arty parted it to return to them. Priestly followed Arty further into the back, but Mal couldn’t move.

“Is one of you going to explain what that was about?” Arty demanded, arms crossed as he squared off against Priestly.

“He would have recognized me,” Priestly said.

“You know he’s the detective Cho’s been seeing.

The rest actually isn’t that hard to figure out.

” Crossing his arms to match Arty, he turned his exasperation onto Mal.

Priestly didn’t seem angry though. After all, they’d just been given leave to protect themselves with the best alibi possible.

It was only then, as Mal stood staring at the two of them, that Arty paled.

“Was I just talking to Zeus ?”

R

Mal sat in his favored booth at Haven, only a few people filling the other tables for lunch as he picked at his food.

The night before and subsequent chase that morning had left him weary.

Part of him wanted to just move on from this—from Danny.

Maybe it was time to leave Olympus City for a while.

But then he’d leave all these people, this neighborhood.

Carla caught his attention, wiping down a table toward the back, despite barely being able to bend over.

She had a month left before the baby was due, but she looked about ready to burst. Never in the past would Mal have risked his own wellbeing for someone else, other than Lucy or Dom, but if he left, word of his absence would travel quickly in this city and lesser criminals would move in.

Dunkirk was still a threat. Others might be looking to muscle into his territory.

He couldn’t leave. This was his city. His home.

And what about Ludgate? If Danny couldn’t defeat him alone…

Nausea settled in Mal’s stomach, something his food only made worse, and he grimaced as he took his next bite. Now he was thinking about future heroics. What the hell had Danny done to him?

A familiar pattern of footsteps caught his attention—the click of heels.

He straightened, already expecting Lucy by the time she came around the table and sat in the booth across from him.

Her hair was its usual perfect, straight bob, and her black leather jacket didn’t quite hide the deep V of the blouse she wore.

“We need to talk, Mickey.”

Mal hadn’t forgotten that she was the one who’d sent Danny after him last night. “Do we now?” He tapped the side of his water glass.

“Yeah,” another voice answered, and before Mal could turn, someone else moved around the table. “We do,” Vaughn said as he slid into the booth beside Lucy.