Page 98 of Please Open Me
“Upward of a hundred,” I said finally. “Stopped counting after a while.”
Sophia nodded once, like she’d been expecting that answer. “Same.” Then she turned to Cam. “You hiding anything?”
He shook his head before she even finished.
“Nothin’,” he lied before leaning back, exhaling like it hurt. “But Mae takin’ Rosie… that’s killin’ me.”
My chest ached, and I slung an arm over him. In that moment, part of me hated Mason–hated that she knew exactly how much Cameron loved his daughter, how he’d once resigned himself to never having kids. How dare she rip that away?
And yet… I understood.
“I’ll find them,” I promised.
But, while I knew I could locate them, I was so overwhelmed that I had no idea where to begin.
Chapter 24
Lucian
Believe it or not, most of the time I actually tried not to be a dick, at least not to people who don’t deserve it.
Right now, Sera was dancing a little too close to that line.
All I’d asked was for her to help clean up the shop. Normally, I’d send her home and lock up with Seb, but that asshole decided not to sleep last night and then texted me basically daring me to fire him.
He wasn’t even important enough to threaten me like that, he just knew Mason would rip me a new one if I did. And I loved her. I’d rather not disappoint her.
Still, even with that familiar warmth humming through my veins, my patience was thinning. I’d dosed earlier—not enough to be obvious, just enough to take the edge off. Sera always noticed, though. Probably because she usually had her own haze. Being her mentor never meant being a good influence.
I grabbed the Windex from the back and started wiping down the piercing case when the world’s most annoying noise chirped behind me.
“You know, you’re polyamorous. That’s basically an open relationship,” Sera said as she half-ass swept.
I didn’t look up. “Not an open relationship.”
To call it that was insulting. Could we sleep around? Sure, if we wanted—but our partners were always in the loop. I was already sneaking off to get high; I didn’t need to sneak off to cheat too.
Sera groaned. “But she has a girlfriend!”
I shrugged, catching my reflection in the glass. Pupils still too big. Whatever.
“We all said she could.” My breath fogged the glass, and I wiped it away with my sleeve.
Sera was never going to be anything more than my apprentice and my plug.
“Did they all say you could do thirties?” she asked, chin tipping toward the bag on the counter.
The bag of M30s I’d been buying off her. Counterfeit oxy, cheaper, stronger. Brought my habit from over a hundred a day down to thirty-ish.
The best part? I never even met the dealer. Every two weeks I handed Sera her paycheck with a “bonus.” My stash for me, extra cash for her.
And I was fine. Functional. No way for anyone to know.
“They don’t need to,” I muttered, flipping open the register to start the count.
Cash was rare these days, but when it came in, I locked most of it away for a rainy-day fund.
“So… If one of them, maybe Mason, just so happened to find out—”
