The Spiral Down (The Fall Up #2)(52)

“Come here.” He tugged until I was once again against his chest. “It’ll be okay.”

I barked a humorless laugh. “I don’t know anymore. This might just kill me.”

“It won’t kill you.”

My breath caught as I choked out, “But it might kill her.”

His hands froze on my back as he bit out a curse. But, besides that, the talking portion of my breakdown was over. For several minutes, Evan remained kneeling on the ground and silently holding me. He was the only thing keeping me together.

I was trying to collect myself when the phone started ringing again, and before I had the chance to stop him, Evan yanked it up.

“Where are you?” he greeted, standing up.

“Evan, no!” I jumped to my feet after him.

He extended an arm to stop me from advancing. “Don’t worry about who I am,” he told her. “Tell me how much money you need and where you are.” He walked to his bar and found a scrap of paper and a pen. His blue eyes lifted to mine before he turned away. “No. I understand. Don’t worry. He’s not coming.”

The hell I’m not.

I kept my objections to myself because he started writing something down. I could argue with him later as long as he got her f*cking address.

“Right. Yeah.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m about twenty minutes out.” He hung up. Turning to face me, he shook his head—and read my mind. “You’re not going with me.” He stomped past me to the door, where he grabbed his keys off a metal hook.

“The hell you say! She’s my sister!”

“And she sounds high as a motherf*cking kite, but she’s right. You show your face in the middle of that neighborhood, the only thing people are going to see is dollar signs.”

“For f*ck’s sake, it’s San Francisco, not South America. I’m pretty sure we aren’t dealing with the Cartel here.”

“Which only makes them more dangerous. They’re desperate and stupid. And, if you want to talk about ‘for f*ck’s sake,’ your fingernail clippings are sold for a cool grand on eBay. You’re a liability, Henry. Let me go pay this bastard and bring her back here. We need a good night of sleep so we can figure out how to deal with the rest of this in the morning.” He paused and pulled his wallet out. “How much cash you got on you?”

I blinked. Then I swallowed hard and blinked some more.

We.

“So we can figure out how to deal with the rest in the morning.”

We.

It was the single most romantic thing anyone had ever said to me.

He was counting twenties when I managed to squeeze the syllable past the lump in my throat.

“We?”

His head popped up, and his face softened when he met my gaze. Three steps and his long legs swallowed the distance between us. When he stopped in front of me, vulnerability flashed in his eyes.

“Depends. Do you want that to be a we?”

I nodded enthusiastically and fought the emotion back as I joked, “I totally meant to include rescuing Robin from drug lords when I told you all the things I wanted with you. It must have slipped my mind.”

He chuckled and looped an arm around my waist. With a tug, he pulled me against his chest and dropped his forehead to mine. “Then yeah, Henry. It’s a we.”

“Okay,” I breathed, unable to utter anything else.

He squatted an inch to bring our eyes level. “Now, you gonna give me any more shit about staying here while I go get her?”

I shook my head and smiled weakly. “Nope.”

His hand drifted down to my ass, where he dug my wallet out of my back pocket while gratuitously groping me.

Smirking, he lifted my wallet into view. “How much cash you got? I need to get out of here”—he paused to brush his lips across mine—“so I can hurry up and get back.”

I was terrified to fly.

But, right then, wrapped in his arms, Evan made me soar.

Minutes later, he left.

But, for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel alone.




“Cookie!” Robin cried as she rushed through Evan’s front door. Her long, black hair blew behind her as she sprinted into my arms. She was all of five foot one and maybe a hundred pounds, but her tiny body still managed to rock me back a step when she slammed into me.

Loud sobs ravaged her as she buried her face into me.

“I’m so sorry.”

My bones ached to tell her that everything was okay, but that was exactly why we were in this situation to begin with. Clearing my throat, I bent to kiss the top of her head.

“You f*cked up, kid.”

“I know. God. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Gripping her shoulders, I pushed her away from me. “Yes. It will. And, every time I bail you out, it basically ensures that it will happen again.”

She adamantly shook her head as tears streamed from her dark-brown eyes. “No! I’m serious this time. I’m done.” Fighting my grip off, she buried her face back into my chest and continued to cry.

Profuse apologies rolled from her mouth. Those I believed. The promises that she’d quit were a different story though. I’d heard those lies a million times. And, if history was any kind of indicator, I’d hear them all a million more.