Fate was leaning on the desk in front of me, Murphy standing to his right and Luck to his left. The Jinxes were doing laps around the room on their skateboards, each go around punctuated at the sharp turns with skidding sounds.
Knox—who was looking pretty good in another high end suit of navy blue, bought with an obviously much higher salary than I received—followed them with his eyes in a way that confirmed they’d managed to irritate the new guy.
“Don’t tell me the agency doesn’t have another condo,” I said to Knox. I wasn’t sure how he’d found out about this little get together, since I was certain it wasn’t from Fate. Still, maybe I could make use of him.
“No, nothing,” he replied, still not turning away from the Jinxes like a housecat staring at an annoying fly it couldn’t reach. Wow, they’d really gotten under his skin.
“You aren’t staying alone.” Fate crossed his arms in front of his chest and the muscles in his forearms looked like they were geared up for a fistfight. His eyes stared hard and his mouth was tense. It was what I thought of as his emotional lockdown face. It was the look he gave when he was unmovable; I’d come to know it well.
Luck edged back to sit on the desk, crossed her shapely legs and trim ankles, all the more attractive for being donned with five inch red stilettos. “It’s not like you have much of a choice anyway. Duh, your condo looks like the remnants of last night’s bonfire, and an extremely festive one at that,” Luck added, stating the obvious.
“Thanks, Luck. What a wonderful visual that is.” I could imagine all the psychos toasting marshmallows as the fires died down. I hadn’t stuck around that long myself, having seen all I’d needed in the fifteen minutes I’d been there.
“You should stay with me,” she added, undaunted by my sarcasm. The only sign of nervousness from her was the continual digging out of her red lipstick as she reapplied it to already pouty fresh red lips. It was the fifth time she’d done it since she’d heard what happened, beginning with the convenience store attack and followed by my condo building being burnt to a crisp.
Being overly groomed in response to Malokin declaring war wasn’t a sign of weakness to me. In my book, it meant you had some balls if that’s the most you were slipping. And if he won, at least she’d go out looking her best.
“No,” Fate said, countering Luck’s offer. His body was so tense I could actually trace the line of his veins visually all the way from his elbow to his hands. This was going to be a tough battle, and I wasn’t sure I had the gas left in the tank to take it on. The only thing that gave me any fuel was wanting to curl up in a ball in a dark room and be able to process this all in solitude. And if I couldn’t be left alone completely, Luck won hands down. She was far easier to ignore.
“I’m tired. I’ve had a very rough day and I’m not arguing. I’m going home with Luck for tonight, and before you start asking who’s covering my back, I’ve got Luck. Who’s covering yours? Do you think you’re untouchable?”
“Yes. I do,” he said.
“Really?” I leaned back in my seat, feeling much more bravado than I thought I’d be able to muster. He’d walked right into my hands with that last statement, and I could never walk away from a challenge. “And why is that?” I said, backing him into a corner. Fate had secrets and I was fairly certain I wasn’t the only one he kept them from. If he wanted me to stay with him badly enough, he could come clean.
“Because I’m me.” He smirked.
I’d thought I’d laid a trap. Traps didn’t work on Fate. He didn’t feel the compulsion that normal people did to defend themselves or explain. I should’ve known better.
“You’re in that house alone so you don’t have a leg to stand on. At least Luck and I will have each other. ”
I leaned back and let my eyelids droop closed over gritty eyeballs, thinking I should have splashed some water on my face. I couldn’t wait until the day was over. Once I went to sleep, it wouldn’t be the day my home burned down or the day I was almost raped while I stared down at my favorite ice cream. It would be a fresh new day where all sorts of wonderful things could happen.
Or maybe it would just be the shitty day after everything went to hell. Still, probably an improvement.
“She’s got a point,” Murphy said from his position next to Fate, his trench coat rustling with his finger pointing.
My eyes widened and fixated on my unexpected ally. I hadn’t thought I’d get any support from his corner, not when it went against something Fate wanted. He wasn’t as bad as the Jinxes but he had a slight Fate crush. Embarrassingly enough, there seemed to be a long list of us on it.
“Thank you, Murphy.” The count had just hit three against his one opposing vote.
Fate threw him a look that I thought would send him scrambling, but Murphy looked back at him and kept talking. “I’m on your side. I don’t think anyone should be alone,” Murphy added.
Now I was the one shooting dirty looks in Murphy’s direction. This was more along the lines of what I’d expected from him.
Fate raised his eyebrows and turned his gloat glare all the way to maximum output for my benefit.
“Oh, so now Murphy is the be-all and end-all on tactical matters?” I didn’t care if it was a valid point. I didn’t like getting ganged up on. I’d had enough of gangs for a while.
Murphy, who’d been in a slouch, straightened his shoulders. “I’ll have you know, I’m very good tactically. I’m an excellent chess player.”
Knox, forcing his eyes away from the long skid marks on the floor left by the Jinxes’ last lap, dragged his attention back to the group.
He did that weird sleeve jerk, which men who wore suits a lot often did, to look at his watch. “He’s right. No one should be staying alone.”
“Are you kidding?” I nailed Knox with a stare that said I’d thought maybe we could be friends but not anymore. Of all the people I’d expected to back Fate up, Knox was the last. He and Fate hardly had a bromance brewing.
Didn’t anyone get it? I wasn’t looking for attention or someone to take care of me. All I wanted was to crawl into a bed, be left alone to digest the shitty day I’d had and go to sleep. Why was this turning into such a fiasco? This day just kept getting longer. It felt as if the last twenty-four hours had magically stretched into forty-eight.
Knox’s eyes softened when they landed on mine. He shot me a look back that silently asked me for patience. “He’s right. The entire office should condense. After what happened with you, it’s for the best.” He looked at the occupants again and then his eyes came right back to me. “I’ve also received orders,” he added.
I knew it was Knox’s way of apologizing, and he didn’t need to tell me who issued them. Paddy. There was no way Knox would go against him, not in all eternity. The chips were piling up against me, and I was getting too tired to argue. A quiet corner was starting to outweigh who was there.
“How many people do you think you can fit at your place?” Knox questioned Fate. “The larger the group the better.”
“I’ll take whoever wants to come,” Fate said. “We’ll make it work.”
“I want to come! I love a good slumber party!” Luck said.
Murphy jumped on the bandwagon and I saw the Jinxes’ ears perk up as if they’d heard something of interest.
Would these people ever not seem weird? I didn’t think so.
I forced my legs to straighten underneath me and set off another dusting of ash. “Smoke and I are going to Luck’s tonight. That’s final. Tomorrow is soon enough for everyone to have to climb all over each other.”
Luck started rubbing a hand across her brow like someone would rub their cheek if you had a dirt spot on your face.
“What?” I asked, having a hard time thinking what could be seen on my face past all the dirt.
“Your eyes are glowing,” Fate offered.
Shit. I’d thought I’d gotten that under control. They were all looking at me like I was finally starting to crack.
“Now can I go to Luck’s in peace?”