Page 57 of The Vows We Keep

“About, you know, my ... ” The worddiagnosessits heavy in my chest. “I hate the labels. Always have. But I think it might be time to manage things a bit better.”

King runs his hand through his hair. “You can’t talk to someone else?”

I look at the ground and bite down the shame that sometimes creeps in when I think too hard about who I am. It doesn’t feel great that he doesn’t want me around his old lady. “Don’t want to talk to anyone at all. Fucking hated therapists and counselors. Rae feels one step removed from that bullshit.”

“So, why are you? Why now?”

I look up at my prez and say the only word that makes any of it make sense. “Catalina.”

“Fuck,” he mutters. “I’ll ask Rae tonight. Then I’ll think about it. Let you know when I decide.”

“Okay.” I turn to walk to the door.

“Hey, Niro.”

I place my hand on the door but don’t turn around. “Yeah?”

“Prove me wrong about Catalina, yeah? The right woman has a way of making you want to be a better man. If Cat’s that for you, then it’s a point in her favor.”

17

CATALINA

Two days later, a loud hammering wakes me from sleep. Niro’s arms slip from around me as he climbs out of bed.

I know intellectually there isn’t enough time for Los Reyes to find out what I’ve been doing in New Jersey since arriving from California, but it doesn’t stop my heart from racing at the loud knocking.

I glance at my phone and see it’s nearly ten in the morning. We stayed up last night and watched an old-school horror marathon.The Exorcist,Nightmare on Elm Street, andThe Amityville Horror.

The last two days have been a blur. I’ve been to the tattoo studio and watched how immersed Niro gets in his work. With his client’s permission, he freestyles his own flourishes and details even after the design they agreed on is placed on his client’s skin, and his creations are utterly breathtaking.

Delicate and bold. Unique.

It’s made me consider getting one, finally.

I’ve spent hours with Vex trying to understand what happened. And I’ve spent just as many hours grappling with how traitorous this all feels. I gave him email addresses and phone numbers so he could try to hack them. But while I have no new information yet, my belief that Los Reyes acted maliciously has grown.

Niro pulls on some jeans and grabs his gun from the drawer in the side table.

“You greet everyone with that?” I ask.

“Can’t be too careful,” he says.

I slip out of bed and pull some clothes on. Leggings and one of Niro’s T-shirts will suffice. As I make my way quietly to the kitchen, I hear raised, boisterous voices.

“Wanted to check out this domestic sitch you’ve got going on ...”

“Never thought I’d see the day ...”

“Fuck you both,” I hear Niro reply, but there is humor in his tone.

I release a breath. It sounds like these are friends.

“You got any of those cookies lying around?”

When I step through the doorway, I see Halo and Vex sitting at the kitchen table.

“I should knock you both sideways for getting us out of bed, not give you fucking cookies,” Niro mutters.