CHAPTER NINE
Like any smart girl who’d grown up in this section of Brooklyn, Ruby’s knees hit the floor and she raised her arms over her head. “Jesus, Bowen. Put the gun down.”
It took him a moment to process that there wasn’t a threat to Sera. The gun shook slightly as he lowered it to his side. When a sense of calm and relief pervaded him, he realized it was because Sera stood behind him, rubbing circles into his back. Her fingers slipped into his hair, bringing his heart rate back down to normal, forcing breath into his lungs.
“How did you get in?” Ruby raised an eyebrow at him and he shook his head.
“Never mind.” A stupid question, when he’d been the one to teach her how to pick a lock. His half sister had been raised from a young age to make money illegally, just like him. But her weapon of choice had been a pool stick. For years, they’d been sent by his father to bilk unsuspecting marks out of money.
When they inevitably wanted their pound of flesh, not to mention their money back, Bowen had stepped in and made them regret it.
“Here’s a better question.” She gained her feet, gaze still focused on his weapon. “When did you start carrying a gun?”
“You think we could have this discussion inside?” he snapped. “Or has dating a cop taken away your common sense?”
“Don’t be like that.” She jerked her chin toward Sera. “Are you going to introduce me?”
Apparently his possessiveness of Sera included his sister, because he didn’t want to share her with anyone. “This is Sera. We met at church.”
“Bullshit.”
“Look, I’ll be right in,” he said impatiently. After casting a final curious glance in his direction, Ruby sauntered back into the apartment. He took a deep breath and turned to face Sera. The touch of hurt in her brown eyes brought him up short, until he remembered what he’d just said. Or has dating a cop taken away your common sense. Beautiful.
And he couldn’t even apologize for the comment because he wasn’t supposed to know she was a cop. God, in that moment, he wished he could scoop her up into his arms and get the hell away from this place. Take her somewhere where it didn’t matter who they were and no threats to her safety existed.
Instead, he smoothed a thumb over her lips still swollen from kissing him. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” She stooped down and picked the white paper bag full of bagels off the floor. “Who is she?”
Was that jealousy he heard in her voice? She’d hid it well, but hadn’t been able to completely cover it up. One thing he knew for certain. He craved that jealousy. It didn’t come close to matching his own where she was concerned, but it meant something to him. It gave him hope that her goal with him stemmed from more than bringing down Hogan. “She’s my half sister, Ruby. Different fathers.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm?” He tugged her chin up.
“Listen to me. This conversation between me and her…it isn’t going to be pretty. The only thing that’s going to get me through it is knowing I get to have bagels with you on the other side.”
“Why won’t it be pretty?”
“Things with me rarely are.”
She scrutinized him for a moment before heading through his door. Bowen walked in to find Ruby and Sera sizing each other up from opposite ends of the kitchen. If he were a different man, maybe one who worked a nine-to-five desk job, it might have even been funny.
As it was, he had an undercover cop sharing oxygen with the pissed-off ex-pool-hustler sibling he’d been avoiding for months.
Ever since she found out they were blood relatives. A fact he’d kept from her since childhood.
He honestly didn’t know where he stood with either one of them, which made him angry, since they were both important to him. Most importantly, he didn’t know if Troy had clued Ruby in to his involvement in the investigation.
Probably best to figure that out right off the bat, and he definitely couldn’t begin that line of questioning in front of Sera.
Thankfully, Sera seemed to sense their reluctance to talk in front of her and started toward the bedroom. On impulse, he grabbed her wrist as she passed and planted a kiss on her forehead, and watched her until she disappeared inside the bedroom.
Bowen ignored Ruby’s shocked expression, studying the cuts on his knuckles. He knew she was dying to ask about Sera, so he spoke before she could. “What are you doing here? I told Troy to keep you out of Brooklyn.”
Ruby flinched. “When did you see Troy?”
She doesn’t know. “We meet for lattes and girl chat once a week.”
“Fuck that. Answer me.”
Bowen shrugged off her question.
“You’ve been in Manhattan too long, Ruby Tuesday. Lighten up.”
She obviously didn’t like his evasion, but let it go. “How are you?”
He laughed without humor. “Please tell me you didn’t break into my apartment to make small talk.”