The Fall(34)

“For now.”

“Until when? Are you waiting for something?”

“You’ll be here until you’re not. That’s all you need to know.”

Truth was, I had no f*cking idea how long she was going to be hiding out. All depended on what her father had planned. Originally it was going to be at most a couple of weeks, but if Jimmy were smart he’d get her out ASAP.

And while I knew she was probably churning a million variables in her head, she did us both a favor and kept them to herself.

It took a while, but she finally drifted off, her breathing evening out and the grip on the comforter loosening. It was only when I was sure she was out for the count that I allowed myself to relax.

It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t out of some deep-rooted need to protect her either. Short of locking ourselves into Fort Knox, we weren’t going to be any more protected than we already were. Besides, I could count the number of people who knew about my connection to this place on three fingers—two of them were in this bed and the other was buried in Rosehill Cemetery.

No, the real reason it was hard for me to power down was I didn’t sleep with anyone.

Ever.

After I f*cked, I left and no girl was ever invited back to my house. That was a complication I didn’t need. So having another human beside me, conscious or otherwise, was making my skin feel too tight.

Such bullshit. If I could watch a man bleed out from a stab wound, I could lay beside a f*cking human being and go to sleep. In the end, biology took over; my eyes unable to resist the long blinks I had going on. And whether or not I was comfortable with the situation, my body unplugged from my brain and went lights out.

***

My phone buzzed, vibrating beside the bed demanding attention. Sofia stirred a little, but if she was awake she kept her eyes tightly shut as she rolled over onto her side. It was better to be honest; I wasn’t the friendliest in the mornings, even less so if I had to deal with a face-to-face.

“Yeah.” I lifted my ass off the mattress and walked toward the bathroom on the other side of the room.

It wasn’t my concern about her getting enough sleep that ejected me out of the bed, whether she was disturbed by my voice or not didn’t bother me. But I had no idea who was on the other end of the phone. Not that the walls between the two rooms were thick enough to block out my conversation, but it would afford me some sense of privacy.

“Michael, it’s been too long, my man.”

Yeah, not long enough.

Brendon Chambers was a special sort of crazy. He dealt heavily in H and Meth and liked to sample his product. Which meant he was unreliable, and high most of the time. And I was also fairly sure he’d fried whatever was left of that brain of his too, so talking to him was like conversing with a two-year-old.

“I’ve been busy.” It was my generic response that translated loosely to, I-don’t-give-a-f*ck-so-cut-to-the-chase.

“Yeah? Anytin’ interesting?” He coughed out a ridiculous laugh that sounded more like his lung was trying to eject via his throat.

“What do you want, Brendon?” I assumed I was going to have to be literal with this juiced-up motherf*cker, because I had no interest in shooting the shit with him or anyone else this early in the morning. Scratch that, make that ever.

“I was just tryin’ to make conversation, yo. Bein’ polite. You lose your manners, dawg?”

Was it the drugs talking or was he really just trying to piss me off? Either way, I’d never been known for my patience, so high or not, this was coming to a very quick finale.

“You know I never had manners, and I’m allergic to conversation, so spare us both.”

“You on your period, dude?” He had the f*cking nerve to sound surprised. “Okay, okay. So, I need a favor.”

“I don’t do favors, Brendon.”

“Fine, fine. I have a job then.”

Considering I was still ass deep in my last one, I wasn’t exactly looking to extend my services elsewhere. Especially not to a junkie who last I heard had cash flow problems.

“I’m not currently in the market.”

“Bullshit. You’re always in the market.” More maniacal laughter, the dipshit completely missing that the only joke here was him.

“Don’t tell me what I am, *. I’m not in the mood.”

“So the rumors be true den, huh? You holed up wit Jimmy’s little girl? You f*cked her yet? I heard she was a nice piece of ass.” For someone who a few seconds ago was giggling his ass off for no reason, he sounded surprisingly lucid.

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Brendon,” I deadpanned, sounding almost bored.

Sure I could have denied it, flat-out lied, but last thing I needed was more complications. And given that I wasn’t in the habit of telling anyone my business at the best of times, the response he got was one hundred percent what he would have expected.

“Maybe I heard wrong then?” He tested the waters, seeing if I wouldn’t give up a little more than the nothing I’d already given him.

“Maybe.” He was getting jack shit.

“But the job part was legit, though. Like I have something for you.”

“What is it and how much?”

While it seemed dumb to even entertain the idea, maybe this little side venture might actually help me out. See, the f*cktard on the other side of the phone had a big-ass mouth.