I chose not to worry about at the moment. “Only if we get caught.”
S O P H I A
People around me were moving with speed and purpose, as two muscular guys who looked to be in their late twenties carried boxes and small pieces of furniture.
Since Vee had arrived about an hour ago—with two of her older brothers—she’d stayed mostly in the apartment, attempting to lay out her space in a way that gave her some privacy without completely dominating Brody’s living quarters.
I leaned over to Aamee, who was on the barstool beside me. “Should we be doing something?”
“We are doing something, remember?”
“Right.” I gave her a nod, which she probably couldn’t have seen because her eyes hadn’t left Veronica since she’d arrived. “What is it again?”
“I’m making my presence felt.”
“Oh, yeah.” Nothing says I’m here quite like sitting in the same room as someone and trying to light them on fire with your eyes. “But you realize you’ll leave eventually, right? So I’m not sure being here does anything in the long run.”
“You know, it’s a good thing you’re not planning to be a psychologist, because you’re shit at making people feel better.”
I couldn’t disagree. And this moment only furthered to prove my ineptitude. It was good I didn’t consider Aamee an actual friend, or I would’ve felt bad. Instead, I just felt bad about watching a stranger for no apparent reason.
“I more meant is it weird we insisted on being here but we aren’t helping her?” I clarified. I knew the answer, but I still felt compelled to ask. Even though I’d understood Aamee’s feelings peripherally, it suddenly felt different now that we were living it.
Aamee’s head whipped toward me like I was some sort of demon and she was trying to decide if I was real or if her eyes were just playing tricks on her.
“It’s weirder if we offer to help.” She sounded disgusted that I’d even ask, and to be fair, I should’ve known better.
Brody’d done a good job of making himself busy without actually helping Veronica directly in any way. Of course, he did have years of practice at feigning his own importance, so it was probably relatively effortless.
Veronica continued unpacking one of the boxes on the living room floor. She didn’t even bother looking up when she said, “I actually think the weirdest thing is that you’re only a few feet away and you’re talking about me like I’m not even here.”
“No one cares what you think,” Aamee snapped.
This time Veronica’s eyes found us, but she continued organizing her things. After a few moments, her lips turned up into an amused smile. She covered her mouth with her hand just enough to temper the laugh that escaped.
“Something funny?” Aamee asked.
Veronica stood, dusting off her hands on one another as she stared directly at Aamee.
I hoped these two didn’t decide to pick this moment to fight, because her brothers had gone back down to the truck and Brody was… God only knew where Brody was. I guessed he felt less of a need to supervise the unfamiliar men with the two of us here.
I wanted no part of cleaning blood and hair off the carpet when I couldn’t break them up. Something told me these two would fight like stray cats who’d found a discarded meal in the dumpster of a seafood restaurant. Their nails would be used as primary weapons—or at least Aamee’s would—and one of them was bound to come out of the battle missing part of her ear.
Neither said anything, instead opting to participate in some sort of staring game as they each seemed to dare the other to look away. I didn’t notice Veronica drop her gaze, but her arms fell to her sides from where they’d been crossed over her chest.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked Aamee.
“I’m not gonna stop you,” Aamee answered.
“I meant in private.”
“I like things out in the open. I’ve never been one for secrets.”
I should go…
But since Aamee didn’t seem to want to give Veronica the opportunity to say anything she could later deny, I stayed as a witness.
“Everything okay here?”
All of us directed our attention toward the deep voice.
It was the shorter of the two brothers, Manny, who’d spoken, but her other brother Franco was by his side. Both of them stood waiting, broad-shouldered and intimidating. Even though I hadn’t ever seen the “protective older brother” stance from Brody, it was easy to identify in Veronica’s brothers. They also probably