Page 27 of Dirty Secrets
“You just apologized for embarrassing her. What the fuck did you do, Lopez?” I bit out, his eyes lifting to mine.
“She was rubbing up on me so I told her to stop.”
“She’s like a cat in heat,” I muttered, sitting beside him. “Maybe I’ll steal her a fucking vibrator.”
“I was considering that. She was really curious about what I was into when we discussed it over breakfast yesterday.”
“I can’t believe you two talk sex stuff like that,” I grumbled, jealousy seeping in. She’d always been able to come to me for personal things, so the amount of things she was now going to Zavier for really bothered me.
“You sure you don’t want me to just give her what she wants?” he offered, and if it was anyone else offering that, I would’ve punched them in the mouth, but I knew he wasn’t trying to fuck her for the sake of it.
He cared about her, but my jealousy wasn’t going to allow him to touch her like that.
“Then what? You two start dating?” I asked dryly.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is because then I’ll be beating you up daily,” I snarked, a light laugh leaving him.
“You’re cute when you’re jealous, bro. Tell me the truth, you want me, don’t you?”
That eased the tension, and I gave him a light shove, fighting a smile.
“Prick. I knew you were fruity.”
“Only for you, don’t tell Reid,” he joked, patting me on the shoulder. “I have something to do tonight. Cover for me?”
I narrowed my eyes, not liking where this was going.
“Maybe. It depends where you’re going.”
“I have something to deal with. I’ll be back late.”
“You said you were done with dodgy secret jobs,” I hissed, making him wince.
“It’s just something small.”
“Small? Define small. Is this like when you and Ander bought Penn from the skin trade with fake money? Do you understand what would’ve happened to us if her father had found out that money was fake before he’d died? I’m glad you guys saved Penn, but you put all of us in danger. He could've taken Raven as revenge.”
“No, there’s just a party I need to attend,” he replied tightly, not making me feel any better.
“Let me guess, it’s in some rich prick's house and you’ll be rubbing shoulders with a bunch of corrupt assholes for information? Dude, you’re in too deep. You said you’d stop.”
“There’s no danger with this. It’s just an event. I like to keep my foot in the door with them.”
From the look on his face, he knew that was bullshit.
“All it takes is for one of them to realize you and Ander have been playing them all this time, and you’re fucked. Ander took off, so you have no backup. Everyone knows you’re besties withBeckett, so how long until they question that? The Donovans literally take down all their skin trade businesses.”
“I swear, I’d never do anything to risk you guys,” he said seriously, holding out his knuckles for me to bump. “I’m careful.”
“Yeah, well, Josh was careful too with those simple drug deals, but that didn’t stop him from getting gunned down in the kitchen. Please think about it,” I warned, tapping his knuckles with a sigh.
That image would forever be burned into my brain, so would the sound of Raven’s screams.
I never wanted to hear that again.
“I’ll think about it. Did Reid get the money for the electric bill?” he asked, changing the subject and making me wince.