this,” he declared. “Bring it to the table, I’ll give Torch my proxy on that decision.”
It was a decent compromise. Pigs would fucking fly before Torch agreed to working with Scully and he could easily convince Zed to side with him, bringing it to three votes. That left Gauge, Grimm, and Squid and an even split meant they talked it over one more time. If it didn’t get four votes the second time around to make it a majority, whatever they were voting on didn’t pass. Either four of the six agreed to a move or it didn’t happen.
“Fine,” Torch agreed. “We bring it to the table tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, Buddha, you get with Cora tonight and see much time you can buy. Mace, call Gauge and see where he’s at, I think there’s a spare tire in the truck. If not, tell him to pick me up one.”
Mace nodded and pulled out his phone.
Buddha squeezed his arm. “Son—”
“No more talking, we’ll figure this shit out. Right now I need a smoke and some quiet.” With that, he walked off to go sit in the grass and try to figure out how the hell they’d come up with Cora’s money without asking his wife for a loan.
: 9 :
| LIVIA |
The kitchen quickly filling with smoke, I pulled my charred attempt at a home-cooked dinner out of the oven and flew across the room to open the patio door before the fire alarm started blaring.
I wasn’t quick enough; the fucking thing went off, sending obnoxiously loud and piercing wails echoing throughout the whole house. I climbed up on the counter to turn it off before my ears started bleeding, and sighed in sweet relief when it went silent. That was, until something brushed up against my leg. My nerves shot, I yelped and jerked back, sending myself flying off the edge.
“Whoa, baby,” Torch crooned, his strong arms catching me before I cracked my head open on the tile floor. He set me down on my feet but held on. “You good?”
“Yeah,” I breathed, my heart racing from a near-miss. “Why the hell are you sneaking up on me?”
“I called out. You didn’t hear me?”
I took a deep breath and shook it off. “No, I didn’t. Where did you get that alarm, a specialty store for the hard of hearing? Jesus, you can feel it in your sinuses.”
He leaned down and kissed me. “The real mystery is how you made it go off. I didn’t even think the thing worked.”
“Well, good thing I tested it then. The batteries are good, by the way, we can rest easy.”
“Good to know,” he said with a smile. He pointed to the stove. “Should I ask what that was supposed to be?”
“Well, it was supposed to be baked chicken, but I think the poor bird died in vain. Sorry, babe, at least you never have to worry about getting salmonella if I’m cooking. How do you feel about Chinese?”
“I’m not really hungry, sweetheart, but order something for yourself. And don’t worry, I didn’t marry you for your skills in the kitchen.”
“But my skills in the bedroom are top-notch, right?” I tried to snuggle up to him but was met with a stiff body. And I didn’t mean the appendage in his jeans. I took a step back and eyed him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just been a long day,” he replied. “I’m gonna go take a shower and do some work out in the garage, okay?”
I studied his sullen face and frowned. Something was wrong, but he obviously didn’t want to talk about it and I wasn’t about the push. “Okay, handsome. I’ll get you something in case you get hungry later.”
He gave me another kiss. “Thanks, baby. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
I watched as he walked off, confused as shit over what had just happened, it was probably the first time he’d ever gone cold on me. Maybe he’d gotten into it with one of the guys on the run?
There was no point in speculating, he’d tell me if he felt like it. In the meantime, I could keep myself busy online.
: : : :
I glanced down at the time on my computer screen, it was past ten and my eyes were starting to burn from fucking around with code for hours. Torch was still in the garage as far as I knew, I’d only heard him walk in and out once.
Deciding to call it a night, I logged out and walked to the kitchen. The