tried to take me out yesterday. I have a feeling it won’t be a quiet, reserved day in the middle of the woods.
I leave the shower followed by a billow of steam. Tying the towel around my chest, I walk into the enormous bedroom to find Johnny sitting on the edge, shoulders tight with his head hung low. He looks as if he’s carrying the weight of the world. I move to him and thread my fingers through his hair. “Hey...”
He peers up at me. He takes a moment to watch me like I’m his favorite work of art. He doesn’t say anything, just roams his gaze all over me. “I don’t know if I said this before, but this is my favorite time with you. In the mornings when we haven’t had to deal with the day yet.”
A smile peels my lips apart. “And what is today going to bring?” I ask. “More interrogation? Bloodshed? Clandestine meetings?”
He chuckles. It’s a deep sound that catches me off guard. Surely, I’ve had to have heard him laugh before, right? Maybe this time is different. “Do you think I have clandestine meetings?”
“Oh, all the time,” I whisper. “When I’m at school or training.”
He tangles his fingers with mine and brings my hand to his face, brushing a soft kiss against my semi-sore knuckles. I got a couple of good shots in on the guy yesterday, so it’s no surprise. A grimace crosses his face. At first, I think it’s because he’s seen how red my knuckles are, but instead, he says, “My dad’s coming back today. He wants to see this guy in person.” He slides his gaze to the nightstand. “I heard this morning that the damage to the tower was inconsequential.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Inconsequential? The building shook, Johnny.”
He smirks. “It’s rated to shake, babe. It’s meant for shit like that. We just didn’t want to go there last night because of the shooting, and in case they did some permanent damage to the building’s structure. Being there when it decided to fall would be a terrible idea.”
“So, we’re going back to the tower?” I ask, hesitation whipping through me.
Johnny shakes his head. “Not yet. Some of my dad’s men will take the guy to the tower, wait for him to return. I might have to sneak out to be there when that happens, but I’ll come back.”
A flicker of hope passes through me. “We’re not going back to the tower?”
He snakes his arms around me. The knot in my towel loosens with the contact. His gaze flicks to it and then back up to my face. “You really like it here, huh?”
“Am I that easy to read?”
“Not usually, actually.” He locks his light blue eyes on me, and a shiver crawls up my spine. “I’m happy you like it though. This is one of my favorite places.” A distant look flashes in his eyes. “I’d live here if I could, but we have to live in the Heights. We can’t just stroll in and expect people to respect us when we’re not even living in the city we control.”
“Well, it’s not like you’re truly living like everyone else anyway,” I tell him. I get his logic, but it isn’t as if he’s living in the threadbare apartments everyone else deals with. The tower is posh. It’s a mansion compared to the holes everyone else lives in.
“Yeah, but that’s what makes our life so enticing. People see what we have and then they want it. They recruit in during high school. The dream is to work their way up through the ranks. For some it doesn’t happen, but for others... Look at Bat,” Johnny says, animated now. “He was just a nobody until we took him off the street. Now he’s already made something of himself even though he hasn’t even graduated yet.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. I don’t think my mind has gone to how deep Oscar is in yet. On his own admission, he joined the Crew because everyone was kicking his ass for leaving and coming back. He’s involved in a lot of the important meetings, and he’s worried about the rest of the recruits like he’s the one who looks after them. Just what does Oscar do for the Crew? Johnny’s insinuating he’s kind of important. I press my luck and ask him. “What does Oscar do?”