Dom
I watched the nurse glare at Levi as she looked at his bandaged face. “A bar fight, huh?”
I didn’t need to be a genius at reading people to know she didn’t believe him for a minute. Levi, though, just gave her a sheepish smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Hope you got a good look at who did it so the police can find them,” she said.
“Well, I would have, but seeing that he took one of my eyes, that was a little harder than usual,” he told her.
“Funny,” she said dryly. “Seems like you should avoid bars on top of construction sites.”
“What can I say? I’ve had a run of bad luck,” he said, and I watched the nurse as she left, leaving us in a room that was actually a lot nicer than the one I’d been in. Apparently, crime lord insurance wasn’t always a failure.
I pointed at the doorway she’d marched through. “Do I want to know?”
“She was the one who checked me after the explosion,” he said. “At a different hospital. I don’t even know how I ended up with her again. It seems just being in proximity to you and your family is enough to attract strangeness.”
“Don’t blame my family for this,” I said as I took the seat next to his bed.
They had taken him away to work on him for a few hours, but he’d been returned with his head wrapped tightly.
Since he hadn’t said anything about the wound, I was going to guess we were both right, and he had lost his eye.
He was probably telling himself it was the least of his concerns right now, but I knew he was putting off the inevitable.
At some point, the full realization that he had been maimed for life was going to catch up to him, and whether he liked it or not, I was going to be there to make sure he fell apart properly and help put him back together.
“How long do you think it’ll take for them to realize I’m an escaped patient? ”
“It’s an entirely different floor, so the chances of being recognized are low,” he said with a sigh. “Though with how badly staffed most hospitals are, it’s not zero; someone could be working here that might recognize you.”
“That should be fun,” I said. “By the way, my family figured out where I am.”
“What, how?”
“They won’t tell me.”
“Dom.”
“What?”
“Give me your phone.”
“Uh...okay?”
He took it from me, squinting at the screen, pausing, and then sighing. It took me a second to realize what was wrong and turned my eyes from him. He was only seeing with one eye, and some part of him must have known he wasn’t seeing correctly; it took him a moment to realize why.
“You’re in a family group with Arlo,” he said with a sigh, handing back the phone.
“I don’t know what that means,” I said, looking down and seeing a map with two circles, one of them with my face on it, the other with Arlo’s. His was moving in what looked like my direction. “Wait, what?”
“The two of you have been sharing your locations for who knows how long,” Levi explained tiredly. “So either he figured it out, or one of your siblings did, and they’re using it to find you. Fantastic.”
“Nosy assholes,” I muttered. “At least they think I’m at the hospital.”
“Dom...uh, I don’t know how to tell you this, but they could have very well been tracking you since they realized you left.”
“Okay?”
“And they’ll know you were where I was...and I’m sure that explosion will have hit the news. Your family isn’t stupid; they can do basic addition.”
“I...oh, oh man. I’m never going to hear the end of this.”
“Probably not,” he said with a sigh. “If it helps, I’m not exactly thrilled about a family reunion either. Not after the last one.”
“A pity,” came a voice I should have expected, but hated to hear anyway.
I looked up from his bed and grunted. “Augustine.”
“Dominic,” he said curtly. “I’m glad to see you were successful.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” I said. “And don’t call me Dominic, only my parents, and my adoptive parents are allowed to call me that.”
“Surely you don’t want me to call you Dom.”
“I’d rather you didn’t call me anything, ever.”
Augustine’s nostrils flared, but he turned to look over his shoulder. “Come in, and close the door behind you.”
I watched as Will entered, looking even more nervous than when I’d first scared the crap out of him just by being big. Then again, I was kind of glad he found the murdering crime boss scarier than me. He did as he was told, closing the door quietly behind him and standing in front of it.
“Do not think for a moment that because this conversation,” Levi told Will, gesturing between himself and Augustine, “is taking priority, that you and I are not going to have a very detailed conversation about what is and is not within the bounds of your responsibilities.”
“I won’t say I’m sorry for helping,” Will said, but added no more, and I was glad.
We had warned him he was not to mention that he’d figured out what Levi’s plan had been for himself before I had said anything to him.
Apparently, in the frenzy of relaying orders and carrying out other tasks, Will had realized Levi had gotten his hands on more explosives, but more importantly, that one of the detonators was a dead man’s switch.
Considering nothing had come of that order, Will had gotten nervous and managed to get hold of me.
He had been smart enough to realize that Augustine was with me and had waited until the man left to take a phone call before letting me know what he’d pieced together.
Augustine had already figured out where the meeting between Levi and Los Muertos would take place, but not that Levi might blow them all to kingdom come.
I didn’t trust Augustine not to let the situation play out like Levi wanted, taking care of his problems.
And I was going to keep it that way if I could.
“Augustine,” Levi said.
“Levi,” Augustine returned, as they stared one another down.
I waited a bit before meeting Will’s nervous gaze. “Do you ever get the feeling you’re stuck in a room with two people who are trying to figure out how to kill the other one without leaving a mess behind?”
Will went pale but said nothing, not that I expected him to speak up. He was clearly terrified of Augustine, and while the kid had more guts than he would probably ever give himself credit for, I wasn’t expecting him to turn fearless just because he’d found a spine.
“Hmm,” Levi hummed thoughtfully, leaning back in his bed. “It’s hard to argue with that assessment.”
“Mm,” Augustine hummed back. “The ignorant have a wisdom of their own.”
“Alright, fuck you too,” I said with a frown.
“Give him a moment,” Levi told me softly.
“He’s trying to figure out what to start with, but make no mistake, his goal is and will always be the throat.
So, what’s it going to be, Augustine? Will you make a remark about the wound I received and how it was deserved after what I did?
Will it be about the trouble I’ve brought down on The Family despite having shown years and years of quiet devotion?
Or will you start even lower and comment on the ‘type’ of person I chose to throw my lot in with? ”
“All that and more,” Augustine said quietly, but God, I could sense Levi’s attitude amused him.
“But clearly, you are past the point where I could intimidate you with my anger or disapproval, as well as try to corral you by reminding you of your responsibilities to The Family. I won’t waste my breath, any more than you would waste yours on an apology I would never believe or you would ever mean. ”
Jesus, having them in the room at the same time was something out of one of those creepy thriller movies Eli liked to watch.
They were somehow the same person but completely different.
I could practically feel the psychic tentacles from both of them, probing, stabbing, and poking at the other, trying to find the weak point to attack.
The sound of mental guns being loaded and knives being sharpened was so loud it was a wonder anyone could think.
No goddamn wonder Will was looking paler by the second.
“At least I can claim I was right, Dominic was capable of bringing you back from the edge of a complete and total disaster,” Augustine said, and I gave him a dirty look.
“I can’t tell if he thinks I’m useless or if he thinks you were really that fucking out of your head,” I said. “Which one was it so I can be offended for the right reason?”
“He exists in a perpetual state of doubt about other people’s abilities.
You would have to prove yourself for years before he spoke of your capabilities without the slightest trace of doubt,” Levi said coolly.
“But in this particular case, his personal judgement was reserved for my state of mind rather than your ability.”
“Alright, good, that’s what I thought,” I said, holding up the middle finger on my good hand. “Sit on it and spin, Augustine.”
“As interesting as that would be, I think I’ll decline for the sake of our sanity,” Augustine said dryly.
I jerked in surprise, looking at Levi. “Holy shit, is he—?”
“I suspected he wasn’t particular about his bed partner’s gender, but never had confirmation until now,” Levi said, but I saw the slightest flicker of his eye down to his lap, not quite a whole movement, more a twitch.
He was a dirty liar. He didn’t suspect for a moment that his dad was into guys too, but he was playing it off like he was a lot more knowing.
“And I never had the slightest clue that you knew,” Augustine said, and while I couldn’t read him as I could Levi, I thought he was surprised. “I hope you maintained discretion with that suspicion, around others.”