Chapter 15
Valli
When I crack one eye open, the room is brightened by streams of light breaking through the gaps in Cipher’s shed.
I’m now sandwiched between two men, and though I’m not sure when Noa joined us, I’m not complaining.
Noa is curled up against my back, with one arm slung over my waist, his mouth kissing my shoulder.
My leg is thrown over Cipher, who is still asleep, with an impressive boner pressed against my thigh.
“Morning,” Noa murmurs against my skin.
Cipher wakes at the sound, his whole body going rigid. “Oh,” he says, his eyes flying open, and he tries to shift away so fast that he nearly rolls off the bed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“Cipher.” I lay my hand on his chest before he can launch himself onto the floor.
“It’s involuntary,” he whispers, his ears turning a deep red.
Noa props himself up on one elbow behind me, and he grins. “Buddy, it’s entirely normal. You have a beautiful woman wrapped around you. It’s your body doing its job.”
“I know, I just hate that I have no control over it,” Cipher mutters.
“None of us have control over it—that’s the joy of mornings. Personally, I take care of it before I get out of bed,” Noa says with a grin.
I laugh, and Cipher’s eyes cut to mine. I smile at him, and the tension leaves his shoulders. “It’s fine, I have zero issues with your morning wood.”
“See?” Noa says. “Listen to her, she likes your wood.”
Cipher exhales and shakes his head, the red of his ears fading a little.
I stretch and feel the ache in my muscles as Noa jumps out of bed, and I catch sight of the bright-red marks on his wrists.
With a smile, I remember him tied naked to Cave’s post. As I glance toward the door, I half expect Cave to be standing there, but he isn’t, and I think I’m a little disappointed.
“I should go,” I say. “I have work in a few hours.”
“Can’t you stay? We could have so much fun.”
I laugh, I would prefer to stay rather than go to work and see my asshole of a boss, but I can’t pay my bills with fresh air and hopes and dreams.
Cipher hands me my clothes from last night, now clean and folded. “I washed them for you after you fell asleep.”
I bring them to my nose and inhale, happy that they smell like him. “Thank you, that was so thoughtful.”
Cipher blushes again and nods, then hurries out to his workbench so I can get dressed. Once I’m ready, I go into the main room of the shed, where Noa loops his arm over my shoulders. “Let’s get some food into you before you leave.”
“Bye, Cipher,” I call out, but when he doesn’t answer, I untangle myself from Noa’s arm and walk over to him. He glances up from whatever he’s tinkering with at my approach, and I throw my arms around him.
“Thank you for last night, and for trusting me,” I say, pressing my lips to his cheek.
He smiles, and I say goodbye, then race back to Noa, who is now waiting outside singing to himself.
He squats down. “Get on—your chariot awaits.”
I wrap my arms around his neck, and he stands, then adjusts my legs around his waist. “Giddy up,” I say, and he takes off, his laughter echoing around us.
We get to Ares’s bar in no time, and he pushes through the doors and sets me down.
A woman dressed all in black sneers at us from a corner table, but I ignore her and turn my attention to the bar where Kayla is grinning.
“Well, look who survived,” she says, leaning over the bar. “Girl, I won’t lie to you, I did not think you would make it through the night in one piece.”
“Neither did I when I hit the cornfield. Noa scared me.”
“And yet,” Noa says, dropping onto the stool beside me, “you still went in even with a warning.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not like the risks at home weren’t worse,” I reply.
From a corner booth, a voice rises, and I turn to see what the girl is actually sneering at.
“Do you know how much money I won?” Vero is sprawled across a corner booth, as if he had been taking a nap.
“You bet on me?” I ask him.
“I bet on you living. I knew the mangy scarecrow wouldn’t hurt you.” Vero grins.
“And no one thought she was in danger from me?” Noa pipes up.
“She is in more danger around me than you,” Vero throws back, cackling at himself.
“Fuck, you dried-up, old sperm! Your mother should have swallowed you and done us all a favor,” the woman in black snaps.
“Vesper,” Kayla chastises. “What have we talked about?”
Vesper rolls her eyes. “Sorry, I won’t be mean to the crusty sperm you keep as a pet in the bar.”
“Ignore them, this is their love language. I think they are just secretly best friends and won’t admit they like each other,” Kayla whispers to me.
Vero scoffs. “I heard that and don’t accept it. I tolerate her because of Brawley.”
“He is too good for you,” Vesper snaps, and Vero pokes his tongue at her just as the bar door opens.
A jester walks inside. I swear it’s so weird here, most people are in character all the time.
Vesper stands. “That is my cue to leave. Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse, the island imbecile walks in.”
The guy dressed as a jester orders a coffee and takes a seat, ignoring the drama that has played out around him.
Then Noa orders us some food, and we sit at the bar while Kayla works on the coffees, and Vero narrates all the reasons he doesn’t like Vesper. He tells me how he once accidentally killed one of her spiders, and if she found out, he would be dead.
After we finish breakfast, Noa walks me to my car, kisses me sweetly, and tells me to drive safely. The drive home casts a gray cloud over my mood. I’ve never wanted to avoid going home before, at least not like this.
When I pull up, I see Rowan sitting on the front steps, and my stomach drops. It’s unlike him not to just let himself inside.
“Where the hell have you been?” he snarls before I even close my door.
“Out. Why are you here?”
He gets up, and I can tell his mood is off simply by the way he stands. He is agitated, and normally I only see this version of him when he is desperate for money.
“Steedy called last night.”
“And?”
“He is not happy, Valli. There’s someone sniffing around, asking questions about him and his guys. He thinks it has something to do with you, and he told me that if they don’t back off, I’m as good as dead. You need to fix this.”
“Fix what, exactly?” I cross my arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ro.”
“Whatever you did or whoever you talked to . . .” He steps closer. “This is on you.”
“It’s not on me,” I spit out, my anger rising faster than normal. “I didn’t send anyone. I don’t even know who Steedy is beyond what you’ve told me. This is your mess, so fucking fix it.”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Or what?” I push him, though I know I should stop. But this has gone too far. “I’m not fixing your problems anymore. I spent years protecting Leni from you, from this, but she’s out of the house now and I am done cleaning up your shit.”
He crosses the space between us, and before I can step backward, he grabs my arm hard enough to bruise. “You think you’re better than me now?” His eyes drag over my neck. “Yeah, looks like someone is taking real good care of you.”
“Let me go.” I shove at him, and it takes both of us by surprise. I’ve never pushed back before.
For a second, something flickers across his face, and I can see the brother I used to know. The one before the drugs and the debts. Then it’s gone, and he slaps me.
My head snaps sideways with a sharp sting, and the taste of copper floods my mouth.
I stand shocked, my hand held to my cheek.
“Fix it,” he says again. “Or we both pay the price.”
He turns and walks off down the street without looking back, while I stand in the driveway with tears in my eyes. My pulse roars in my ears until I can no longer see him.
Finally, I go inside and get ready for work because what other choice do I have?
And when I get there, George sneers at me in disgust but doesn’t say anything.
I do my job as the day drags on. When I’m restocking the pastry cabinet, the bell over the door rings, and I look up to find Cipher walking in.
He looks around and the few customers stare at him; it makes me want to yell, to ask them what the fuck they are looking at, but when he smiles at me, everything else fades away.
His jacket jingles as he walks toward the counter. “Hey,” I say, surprised, wiping my hands on my apron. “What are you doing here?”
“I have information about Steedy and your brother.” He steps closer to the counter, and his eyes move over my face. “Who touched you?”
“It’s fine,” I reply, glancing down. “Rowan and I got into a fight. It’s nothing.”
He looks at my split lip and his jaw tenses. “It’s not okay.”
“It doesn’t matter right now. What did you find out?”
He lets it go, but I can tell he doesn’t want to. “Steedy is into something bigger than just your brother owing him money.”
“Did you have someone look into them?”
Cipher shakes his head. “The PI sniffing around is connected to a federal case that has nothing to do with Rowan. Steedy doesn’t seem to know that yet.”
“So I’m a sitting duck?” I close my eyes. Shit, could this get any worse?
“I’m working on it with the help of Clay and Ares.”
I want to ask how exactly he plans on fixing it.
“Valli!” George bellows, and I sigh. “I don’t pay you to stand around and talk all day.”
“I’m working and talking. It’s been two minutes.”
George scoffs. “Two minutes that I’m paying you for.” His eyes flick to Cipher’s jacket and the trinkets. “It’s bad enough you come in here looking like trash without you bringing your weirdo friends in here to scare off paying customers.”
Heat climbs up my neck. “There are no customers left.”
“Watch how you speak to me,” George snaps.
I open my mouth to say something that I will probably regret when Cipher moves. His fist connects with George’s mouth, and my boss stumbles backward into the pastry shelf, knocking muffins onto the floor.
“Don’t you dare speak to her like that,” Cipher seethes, his tone causing the hair on my arms to rise.
George straightens, blood coating his lips, and he stares at Cipher before his eyes cut to me. “You’re fired,” he says wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Get out, both of you.”
“George, please.”
“I said get out, or I’m calling the police.”
I don’t argue. I simply untie my apron and drop it onto the counter, then walk over to the mug cabinet and take out the one he uses for special customers and throw it at the wall.
With that small sense of accomplishment for something I have wanted to do for so long, I walk outside with Cipher behind me.
“Valli.” He catches up, falling into step with me. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my cool.”
“I needed that job, Cipher.” My voice cracks when I say his name, and I hate how fast my tears fall.
“I don’t have anyone who looks out for me.
I have to make sure Leni has everything she needs, and it’s a lot.
Her dorm fee and textbooks, all the things Mom and Dad would have covered if they were still alive.
And now I don’t have a paycheck because you punched my boss in the face. ”
I keep walking for a while before I notice he isn’t beside me anymore, and when I turn, I see he has stopped from the realization of what he’s done.
“I didn’t think about your job, only about the way he spoke to you,” Cipher explains. “I’m sorry, I’ll fix it.”
“You can’t just fix this. Some things don’t come apart and go back together the way you want them to.”
He flinches, and I feel terrible. None of this mess is really his fault; it’s Rowan’s, and George’s.
“I really am sorry,” he tells me again.
Pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes, I take a deep breath. “I know you were trying to help.”
He hangs his head, and I straighten up and grab him by the jacket, then pull him in closer so I can wrap my arms around him.
I might not have a job, but right now, in his arms, I feel like everything will be okay.