19. Am I missing something? – Elijah
19
AM I MISSING SOMETHING?
ELIJAH
“T his feels wrong.”
Atticus leans with his forearm against the fireplace mantle in the living room, rubbing his thumb with his first two fingers like he found some offensive dust there. Seven’s music blares through his headphones from where he sits in the biggest chair across from me, tapping his fingers against the armrest to the violent beat.
“Doesn’t this feel, like, intervention-y?” I try again, wanting to chuck the paperweight on the table next to me at Atty’s head but abstaining because he didn’t kill Aurora last night.
She didn’t try to leave, but knowing Atticus, he would’ve considered every possible scenario and came up with exactly none that didn’t end with some kind of risk to our safety if he let her live. But still, he allowed it.
So either she’s slowly crawling under his skin, like she’s started to burrow beneath mine—unlikely — or he listened to me for once.
I lean over my knees, massaging the tension out of my hand. “Maybe I could just go up there and talk to her first? She isn’t going to like coming out of her room right after waking up to find all three of us waiting for her here in the living room at the bottom of the stairs. We’ve scared her enough in the handful of days she’s been here, already.”
“We can’t just leave this untouched, Eli. She’s a liability.”
His dark brown eyes slide to Seven for the fourth time since he entered the room, narrowing like he holds Seven personally responsible for all of this. And I mean, that’s fair, but also if Aurora’s douchebag of an ex-boyfriend hadn’t come here ranting and raving and just let her go like he should’ve, it wouldn’t have happened.
I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. Both the douche’s fault and Seven’s.
I still don’t know what Jesse did to have Sev want to bash his brains in but if Sev said the guy deserved it, I have to believe he did. He doesn’t kill people for nothing.
It means that Aurora must’ve told him enough for him to feel the need to keep her safe. Which is new.
The women we used to share before everything happened had all been pretty, but Sev never cared to learn any more about them aside from how far they’d let him push his cock down their throats or whether or not they’d be opposed to a little primal play out on the property after dark.
When we hear Aurora’s door open upstairs, Atticus moves to the seat next to Seven’s and Sev cuts his music, pulling his headphones down to rest on his neck.
I’m up in an instant, straightening my button-down shirt and shoving my hands deep in the pockets of my jeans as Ellie’s paws click down the stairs and Aurora’s soft footfalls follow.
She freezes in place when she hits the bottom step and sees me, her eyes flicking to Seven and Atticus behind me as her throat bobs.
“Good morning.” I try for some normalcy, but my own voice sounds ridiculous to my ears.
Idiot.
Good morning?
What the hell else are you supposed to say? ‘I’m sorry Seven killed your shitty ex. Are you planning to go to the cops or are we cool?’
Jesus.
“Uh…” she stutters as Ellie rushes over to push her wet nose against my hand. I give the pup a small pat before she makes a beeline straight for Seven, going up on her hind legs to lay her upper body on his lap with a bark.
“Good morning to you, too, pretty girl,” he croons, roughing up the fur around her face.
“Sorry,” Aurora says, sidestepping the living room to head for the front door. “I was just— Ellie needs to, um — Ellie, come on, girl. Let’s go pee.”
Ellie obediently jumps from Seven’s lap, bounding to the front door just as Aurora opens it.
“Hold up,” Atticus says. “We need to talk. Can you have a seat?”
Aurora’s grip on the door turns viselike as she slowly pushes it closed after Ellie is through. She’s getting paler by the second, and she seems to be purposefully avoiding looking at Seven. He must’ve really freaked her out.
She’s probably still in shock.
And we’re ambushing her.
“Maybe this can wait.” I cut a look toward Atticus, but he isn’t having it.
“No. We need to address the obvious… concerns .”
“Do we, though?” Seven asks, and the way he’s looking at Aurora, like this is all one big joke, makes me want to punch him. “You’re good, right, Ro?”
Ro?
When she finally looks at him, he winks at her.
I slap the back of his head. “Seriously, man?”
“Dude, what the fuck?”
“Be a little more apologetic?”
“For what? Taking out the trash?”
“Seven,” Atticus warns.
My chest heats, but the fire fizzles out quickly. She doesn’t need to see us arguing right now.
Stay calm.
Stay calm.
“Look, we know what happened yesterday might’ve been…” I can’t think of the right word.
“Let’s just cut to the chase,” Atticus finishes for me. “We need to know if you’re going to go blabbing about what happened to the first uniformed fuckhead you can find.”
Her lips part in surprise. “How do you know I haven’t already called the police?”
I wince, but Atticus only smiles at her. It isn’t a nice smile. It shows all his teeth, and she sees it for the threat it is. I wonder if she has any idea that he knows exactly what she does and doesn’t do on her phone.
He probably disabled her location services and her ability to make outgoing calls the instant he went back into the house.
“She won’t,” Seven says.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Atticus growls.
“Come on, man. I cleaned up my messes—both of them—you should be giving me a gold fucking star.”
Atticus’s jaw flexes. “And the fridge? It’s completely fucked. The door doesn’t even shut properly now. Why don’t you tell Eli what you got up to last night after burying your sins, Sev?”
Aurora goes impossibly red and her eyes drop like stones to the floor, and I am definitely missing something.
What the hell happened last night?
I squint at Seven. “What’s going on? What did you do to the fridge?”
“Nothing, I might have just broke it a little when I was grabbing a midnight snack .”
“Um, can I just ask one thing?” Aurora blurts, her arms stiff at her sides.
“Of course you can,” I rush to say, not realizing I’ve started to move closer to her until she backs away a small step. It feels like a slap.
“Are you going to kill me?”
I remember Atticus in his office last night. The gun in his lap he was trying so hard to hide from me. I swallow. “Why would you think that?”
Her eyes dart between me and Atticus, avoiding Seven even though he scoffs at her question as if personally offended.
“Well, you guys are—what? Mafia or something? Isn’t that what the mafia does with loose ends?”
“We aren’t mafia.”
“Why does everyone always think that?” Seven adds.
“Serial killers, then?”
Now it’s my turn to smile. “No. We aren’t serial killers.”
“Depends on your definition,” Seven corrects while picking something from his teeth, and Atticus kicks his chair.
He pushes to his feet and stretches. “Are we almost done here? We have plans.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Atticus sighs.
“Eli owes Ro an apology and he already made an appointment with Céline for her hair.”
Fuck, I forgot. I did manage to get Céline to agree to the last-minute slot for Aurora.
She raises her brows and I hold my hands up. “If you’re not up to it, I can cancel,” I offer. “We can take you another day.”
She blinks. “This is the weirdest morning I’ve ever had. Is no one worried about the fact that he just killed someone?”
Atticus and I share a look.
Atticus shrugs first and I wonder if he picks up on the fact that she’s asking if we are worried about it when actually, she doesn’t seem all that worried or sad about it at all.
I suppose if the person responsible for what happened to me were to meet the business end of Seven’s bat, I wouldn’t exactly be upset about it, either. Only angry that he didn’t suffer more.
“What about the fact that people could come looking for him? And what if he told someone where he was going?”
Atticus sucks his teeth. “Already dealt with. But if you think someone’s coming, a little heads-up might be nice.”
“He has friends who might.”
“Are they anything like him?” Sev asks.
She nods. “Some are worse.”
“Sounds like a party.”
God help us.
“So,” Sev claps his hands together. “Should we get going? It’s a long way to the salon.”
Aurora gapes at him and it takes her a full five seconds before she can force out a response. “Um. You know what, I’m a little tired, maybe we could go another?—”
“You can sleep on the way,” Seven offers.
“We aren’t done talking here.”
Seven crosses the room and takes Aurora’s hand in his. “Sure we are.”
She lets him lead her to the door and when he kicks her sandals over to her, she slips her feet into them with her bottom lip caught between her teeth and yeah, I am definitely missing something.
Something similar to jealousy twists in my gut.
She still hasn’t pulled away from him. She’s still holding his hand.
Did they…
No way.
“Wait, what about Ellie?” Aurora says, taking the sweater Seven offers her but not putting it on. “Can we bring her?”
“It’s really far,” Sev says. “Better if she stays. Atty will watch her, won’t you?”
“No, I will n?—”
“Great, that’s settled,” I interrupt him, clapping a hand on his shoulder, eager to get out of here before Aurora changes her mind. A quick trip to one of the best places on earth may be exactly what she needs, and I want to give it to her.
“Thanks, man,” I add pointedly, squeezing his shoulder.
I’ll get Sev to explain to me what I missed on the plane, but whatever it is, I’m guessing it’s the reason she’s not hyperventilating or calling the cops. Which means it’s a good thing, right?
Besides, this way I get to make up for being a giant asshole the other day.
“I really don’t want to leave Ellie,” Aurora pushes. “If you don’t have time to?—”
“It’s fine,” Atticus says through gritted teeth, giving me a look that says this better make us square. “I’ll feed her and play fetch or whatever.”
If he thinks watching her dog is enough to make anything even remotely square between us, he’s mistaken, but it’s a start.
“Do you have the black card?” I ask.
His lips press into a flat line, but he pulls out his wallet, fingering the glossy black metal card from the first slot.
When I go to take it, he doesn’t let it go, instead leaning in and lowering his voice. “You keep your eyes on her at all times. Hear me? Ambrose has a lot of contacts in the city. Stay out of the art district and come right back after the salon.”
I flinch at the mention of his name.
“I said I’d take her shopping, too.”
“You can just take her shopping in Boone.”
The disgust must show on my face. As if I would subject her to the likes of Old Navy or TJ Maxx. No. This is a proper apology and it comes with a proper apology budget and a higher thread count than fucking two.
He lets me pluck the card from his hands. “You could come with us if you’re so worried.”
“Fuck no. I have better things to do than watch her spend our money.”
I can’t think of anything right now that would make me happier, but to each their own.
“Like what?”
“Like playing fetch, apparently.”
I hear Seven and Aurora talking in hushed tones by the door and decide I’m done waiting for him to tell me exactly what he wants that involves this girl.
“When we get back, I want to know what you’re planning with her.”
I need to decide if I’m willing to be involved in it. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do to destroy the man who almost destroyed us, but I’m not sure I’m down with using this girl anymore.
“Yeah,” he agrees. “When you get back.”
“Try to relax a little,” I tell him. “You’ll get wrinkles.”
I rush to catch up with Sev and Aurora at the door and this time she doesn’t flinch when I come near. She smirks when I lean down to whisper conspiratorially in her ear, “Let’s find out if this has a limit.”
Feeling more playful than I have in months, I slip the black card into her hand. Her mouth opens in a little ‘O’ and something stirs in my chest. Something I thought I lost in captivity.
“Are you bribing me?” she asks.
“Is it working?”
She lets out a small, nervous laugh that I immediately want to hear again. “I guess that depends on what the limit is.”