to go back. It’d been a couple of hours since the heist in Long Island. The bodies would have already been disposed of, and if Thirteen were even half as thorough as my crew, Siko and Eddie’s corpses would never be found.
Shoving in my key, I let myself inside the quiet home bathed in darkness. By now, I’d learned which floorboards creaked and carefully avoided them as I made my way up the stairs. The house was larger than it looked on the outside, and every inch of surface and wall space was filled with knickknacks and family photos —a true home. When I reached the second floor, I stared at the large cross hanging on the wall at the end of the hall. I felt His stare and heard His question, but having no excuse or explanation for my actions, I offered him only a one-shoulder shrug before pushing inside the small bedroom.
I expected her to be asleep given the time, but there she was, curled on her side, wide awake and staring at the floor. I considered backing out and leaving. She’d sense my anger, and I didn’t have the patience to answer her questions. Before I could escape, however, her soft voice filled the dark space of her bedroom.
“I thought it was going to be a few weeks before I saw you again.” Her eyes never strayed from the frayed carpeting. It had only been three days since my birthday, but the time had seemed to stretch for me, too.
“Do you want me to go?”
She was sitting up and across the room faster than I thought her capable. She moved around me, and I listened as she slowly shut the door, and then I felt her hands on my shoulders, tugging my shirt up and over my head.
“You’re where you’re supposed to be,” she whispered as she tossed my shirt at our feet. She then took my hand, and I let her pull me to her bed where she pushed me down with a warm hand on my chest. I watched her as she pretended that touching my bare skin didn’t affect her as she knelt and began tugging the laces of my boots.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking care of you,” she answered matter-of-factly. “Like you’re always taking care of me.”
“I don’t recall ever undressing you.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” she mumbled. Her hand paused from tugging the knot of my laces free at the same time I froze.
Leaning down, I pressed a finger under her chin and lifted her face. As always, she was an open book, letting me read every page. The desire I saw there almost made me look away, but I was a glutton for punishment. I was also selfish, wanting to drink up the need shining in her bright blue eyes to the very last drop.
“What was that?” I’d heard her clearly even though she hadn’t meant me to. She didn’t know that I was aware of everything she did and said—more than I should be. She breathed in deep, and I did the same. While I wanted to hear her say the words, a part of me hoped she never would because I could never deny her.
“Say it, Lou. Don’t be a coward.” I knew my taunting hit its mark when her gaze turned defiant.
“I said to lift your foot.”
My smile was victorious, hiding my relief as I lifted my foot. Lou was unnaturally stubborn, which ironically made her easy to manipulate. A paradox, indeed.
She yanked my boot from my foot and let it fall to the floor with a thud. She repeated the action with my other boot before closing her eyes and taking another deep breath to compose herself. Her eyes remained closed when I reached down and lifted her into my lap, but she didn’t fight me. With a sigh, she cradled her head on my bare shoulder. When her lips brushed the skin of my neck, I just barely stifled a curse. I didn’t just feel her touch there but in my fingers and toes and even my goddamn kneecaps. Neither of us spoke for some time, but Lou had never been good at keeping her thoughts inside—at least with me—so, of course, she was the first to break the silence.
“What happened?”
“What makes you think something happened?”
“Because your eyes are blue today.”
“Blue?”
“Most of the time, you’re a robot, but I always know when your soul is open.” She lifted her head and stared back at me. “Your eyes become an