Chapter 2
HARLOW
Iwoke slowly with the feeling something was very, very wrong.
I took a moment before I opened my eyes to think. The surface under me was mattress-y. The blankets over me were warm and soft. The pillow under my head smelled like me.
Conclusion: I wasn't lying in a basement on the concrete floor.
Cautious, I opened my eyes and looked around.
I was still in my room in Archer's apartment, exactly where I'd gone to sleep. Judging by the stiffness in my shoulders, I hadn't moved all night.
I pushed myself to sit up.
Had Zeus found us and crept into the apartment while I was sleeping?
Instinctively, I inhaled. I didn't smell blood. That was a start.
I grabbed up my phone and looked at the time, let out a squeak and pushed off the covers.
I was late. I should have been at the restaurant two hours ago. No wonder I felt like something was wrong. I was never late.
"Ah, she's awake." Boner stepped into the bedroom we shared, holding a tray in his hands.
"I should be at work," I said, starting to get up off the bed.
Cass pushed past him, almost knocking the tray out of his hands, and sat beside me, pressing me back down.
"Angel's Rest isn't opening today," he said. "Jules already went down and put a sign on the door."
"But I can't just…" I looked around at them both.
"Yes, you can." Boner placed the tray down on the covers beside me.
Bacon, eggs, toast, fresh fruit and a cup of coffee. The bacon was perfectly crisp and crinkled, the way I liked it.
"What is this?" I asked.
Okay, obviously it was breakfast, but why?
"You refused to take a vacation so the vacation is coming to you. Starting with breakfast in bed. Probably ending with dinner in bed." Boner grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
I leaned back against the pillows, trying to think of a million reasons why I didn't deserve this and should get up and go to work anyway.
"I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything. Enjoy your breakfast." Boner scooped up a piece of bacon and popped it into my mouth when I opened for him.
"You shouldn't have," I said while chewing. "But this is really good."
"Of course it is, Archer made it," Boner said. "This was his idea, I beat him in bringing it to you." He didn't look even slightly sorry.
"Because it's not complete." Archer stepped into the room, a couple of flowers in his hand. "I had to get these from the rooftop garden." He lay them across the top of the tray and gave Boner a dark look. Dark for him, that was. Mostly his eyes narrowed a fraction.
"That's sweet of you," I said. "All of you. I don't know if I deserve you."
"Probably not," Jules agreed, leaning against the doorframe. He gave me a sardonic smile.
I flipped him off.
He grinned bigger.
"Has anyone ever told you you should smile more?" Boner asked him.
Jules flipped him off. "I only smile for a good cause."
"Did you just say I'm a good cause?" I teased. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you like me."
He snorted. "You're okay. I came to say good morning. Some of us have to get to work."
"I really should," I said, making a face at my men, knowing they weren't going to back down.
Truthfully, I didn't try too hard. I could use a day off, or three, and breakfast in bed never hurt.
Immediately following that thought, I started to eat more carefully. It'd be my luck if I choked on a piece of egg.
Like I said, chickens are predators.
"You're going to stay here and you're going to relax. We're keeping an eye on the front door," Cass said.
"And the fire escape," Boner added, reminding me of our first kill together. I was about to slip inside when he appeared on the fire escape and insisted on helping. We'd been almost inseparable since.
"No one's going to get in here without us knowing about it," Boner continued. "Archer even had a good look around for any gas canisters we hadn't noticed before."
"I didn't find any," Archer said. "No sign anyone's been here but us since Danforth."
His lips turned down. It was six months since Solomon Danforth tied him and Boner to chairs in this apartment and tried to kill us all. We killed him instead. Eros, he'd called himself. He was fifth on my list. Hypnos was sixth. Zeus was the last.
I should stop thinking of him as Zeus. He didn't deserve such a cool nickname.
"No one would dare," Boner told him. "They'd end up in the acid bath. Or the torture box. Or the…" He paused, looking up toward the ceiling. "I'm still thinking."
"It's okay. We understand." I knew he wanted to be creative, but they'd end up dead one way or another.
"You remember that part in Star Wars where Han Solo ended up stuck like a statue?
" Boner said slowly. "What if we could do that, but with resin?
All we'd need is a tall perspex box. Something a person could stand up in.
" He mimed being inside one, sliding his hands up the sides of a box, as far above his head as he could reach. His gaze following.
Jules closed his eyes and shook his head. "I wish I could say that was the most fucked up thing I ever heard. It's almost at the top of the list, but there's other shit before it."
"Thank you." Boner grinned. "I thought it was pretty inspired. We could turn them into works of art."
"They'd be identifiable," I pointed out reluctantly. Nothing said 'suspicious' like the face of a missing person on display for everyone to see.
"Maybe they would and maybe they wouldn't," he said, still thinking. "I bet there's a way."
"I'm sure you'll think of something," I assured him. I took a bite of toast and washed it down with coffee.
"I'm getting out of here before I end up insane like the rest of you." Jules gave me a long, lingering look before disappearing.
"What about you guys?" I asked. "Don't you have work to get to?"
"I'm leaving it to my assistants for a couple of days," Boner said. "You're more important."
"If the restaurant is closed, I won't be working there," Cass pointed out. "I have some other things I can do from here."
"I'm going to work on my screenplay," Archer said, stepping into the space Jules recently vacated. His shoulders relaxed with fewer people in the relatively small room.
He wasn't one for crowds, especially when he was still clearly thinking about Solomon Danforth. If anyone needed to talk, it was him. Boner too.
My crusade to rid the world of seven evil predators had taken its toll on us. We'd all been through and done a lot. I doubted there was enough therapy in the world to help us recover from it.
"We'll also be busy spoiling you rotten," Boner said. "Once you've finished eating, it's time for a nice hot bath, a foot massage, a few orgasms, a rom-com movie and some ice cream. In no particular order."
"That sounds like the perfect day," I said, finishing up my eggs without becoming a chicken-related fatality.
"Funny, mine too," he said, pretending to look surprised. "Maybe I should close down the gallery and spend my days making sure you have everything you need."
"You'd tire of that after a day or two," I said. "You'd want to be out in the world, talking to new people. Being sociable. Getting some fresh air."
"I'd never get tired of spoiling my woman," he protested. "I might get a little stir-crazy in here though. No offense, Archer; this is a great place."
"None taken," Archer said. "Everyone likes to stretch their legs once in a while."
"Right," Boner agreed. "Besides, the outside world would be a sad place if I didn't put in an appearance here and there. What would the world do without me?"
"No idea," I said with a laugh. "It would be a boring place, that’s for sure."
"Without question," Boner agreed, immodestly. "How lucky you are to know me."
"If Jules was here, he'd laugh his ass off at that," Cass said.
"We can recreate this scene later," Boner said easily. "Wouldn't want Titmus the elder to miss out on all the fun, would we now?"
"I'm sure he'd appreciate that," Cass said teasingly.
"Of course he would." He's a good sport, deep down," Boner said. "Deep, deep down. Deeeep…"
"Jules is all right," I protested.
Jules was more than all right. He was grumpy and I doubted we'd ever stop trying to bait each other, but my feelings for him were strong. I knew he felt the same way. At some point we'd have to sit down and talk about it. That moment would come when we were both ready.
For now, it was fun to get a rise out of him and be razzed back. The verbal sparring was entertaining, if nothing else. Our love language, if you will. Cooking, snarking and killing seemed to be my love languages. Not to mention making milkshakes for Cass.
Boner took the tray once I'd finished eating and carried it to the door. "Let me put this away and we'll move on to phase two." He gave me a wink before he disappeared. Sounds of him moving around the kitchen followed.
"You really don't need to do this for me," I said to Archer and Cass, giving them each a long look.
"Yes, we do," Cass said easily. "We want to do these things for you. You make our lives better. Right, Archer?"
"Right," Archer agreed.
Cass sat down beside me and pushed his hair back off his face, holding it there for a moment before he let it go. It fell right back down. He didn't seem to notice.
"I'm glad I met you," he said softly. "I don't know where I'd be right now if I hadn't."
"In your old apartment, making tacos?" I suggested.
He'd be a lot safer than he was now. He wouldn't have seen anyone killed.
Wouldn't have cut off any fingers, or poked anyone in the ribs with a knife.
Chances were he wouldn't have witnessed Yvette being hit by a car either.
He'd seen more death than the average person.
Not including doctors, nurses, coroners and Francisco, who drove the hearse for the funeral home a couple of blocks over like he was on an F1 track.
And yet, Cass was still here, with me. With us. His relationship with me and Boner growing, along with his friendship with Archer. He seemed to be closer to his brother now too.
Maybe a little murder wasn't such a bad thing here and there. In the right context.
"Before you, something was missing," he said.
He brushed hair off the side of my face. It didn't fall back down. Apparently my hair was better behaved than his. "Until I met you, I didn't know what it was. But now, I can't imagine ever going back. I don't want to live my life without you." He swiped his lips over mine.
"I don't want to live my life without you either," I said, leaning in to deepen the kiss. "Any of you." I loved all four of these men.
So why couldn't I tell them about Zeus?
As I kissed Cass, I wanted to pull away and tell them everything. My instincts screamed at me not to. The only times I ever ignored my instincts, I'd regretted it.
If I did something I'd regret in this situation, we could end up dead. No, I had to listen to my gut. I had to wait. Wait for what? I didn't know. But I'd wait.
He slipped his hand under the tank top I wore to bed, sliding over the bare skin of my back. "Might as well get you ready for the bath," he said, tugging the fabric up and over my head.
"I like the way you think," I said, offering no resistance. Of course not. Not when a hot bath and orgasms were next on the list.