Page 114 of The Loves We Lost

We wrap up a few more orders of business relating to the raid, including cleaning the place up given the mess they’ve left behind. When we step out of church, a phone is ringing in the basket where we leave them.

“That’s mine,” King says, grabbing it. “Hills,” he says.

“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed would you be if I bought Avery a puppy?” Niro asks me.

“She asked you?”

Niro unfolds a piece of paper. In childish misspelled writing, it saysBirfday list. And at the top of it is the wordpupy. Even with the missingp, there’s no mistaking what she wants.

I smile at the list that also includes dolls, books, glue, and three boxes of her favorite cereal. “She asked me for a puppy this morning.”

“Why haven’t you bought her one? We could take her this morning and go grab one. Plenty at the pound. We don’t need to wait for her birthday.”

Halo laughs. “Is she Bates’s daughter or yours?”

“She’s a baby Outlaw, which makes her ours,” Niro says.

The more I understand Niro, the more I see how he loves. My daughter will never have a more loyal protector. “Wish I could, but Vi is set against it. Something about an allergy to dog hair.”

“But there are hypoallergenic dogs and shit. We need to get Vi to go take a look at some of them, then. See if there’s a breed she can be around.”

“I love you for trying, but I’m not sure she wants responsibility for a dog. Especially when I’m away.”

“So quit the Outlaws and get your daughter a goddamn dog.”

I stare at him for a goddamn second, then burst out laughing. “Maybe you should get the dog, and Avery can play with it when she comes over.”

“Fuck. I’ll see what Cat thinks. And, yeah, don’t quit. That was a fucking stupid thing to say. Sorry.”

“Even though he’s saying it more often, I still can’t get used to him apologizing,” Halo teases.

Niro shoulder checks him. “Fuck you, cunt.”

“Ah, there he is. The OG Niro.”

I laugh, but I stop when I see King and Vex deep in conversation. My spidey senses tell me there’s trouble. In the absence of Spark, I join them.

King reaches out and squeezes my shoulder, something he never does. And if that weren’t weird enough, he looks at me as if I’m about to break into a thousand pieces. “What?” I ask.

“Church,” King calls out. “Now.”

“What?” I repeat.

“Why?” Niro asks. “We just got out.”

“Just get inside,” King says.

We walk in, but King pulls Niro aside and says something in his ear. Niro glances my way, his face morphing into the one he has just before he kills someone. King grips both his shoulders too and shakes him so he focuses back on King.

Ice trickles down my spine.

“I just got a call,” King says when he walks in, followed by Niro, who loiters by the door. A cold sweat prickles over my skin. “The Righteous Brotherhood wants an exchange.”

I let out a breath. “Good fucking luck with that. They’ve already been sold on.”

“They want a trade.” King looks at me. “We need to confirm whether this could be even remotely true. They say they want their weapons and money in exchange for Avery and Vi.”

“They want what?” My voice is the rawest of whispers as I stand and kick my chair out of the way. “Where the fuck are they? They’re supposed to be at Noah’s.” Blood rushes through my temple so fast, I feel dizzy.