Page 29 of Sleeping with the Dark (The Righteous 3)
“Boys,” she huffed out.
“So, what does this make us?” he asked, not sure what this meant for their friendship. She lifted her shoulders and fluffed out her wavy hair.
“Let’s not label it. Everyone that labels their relationships breaks-up. I don’t want us to end up breaking up like that. We can just be friends that like one another a little more. You can still see other people, and so can I.”
“Do I get to kiss you again?” Trev asked.
“Unbelievable,” Mel said and then grabbed him, pulling him in for another kiss. He smiled against her lips. This felt right.
* * *
Cody’s ass had gone numb hours ago as he sat in the chair beside Trev’s bed. He’d just finished another prayer, hoping this one would be heard. He had no idea if God listened to his begging. He certainly hadn’t warranted God’s love in a long time. He unclasped his hands, letting the small gold cross drop, but he had to try whatever he could.
The soft beeping of the monitors and the subtle rise and fall of the sheets covering Trev’s body were the only indications that Trev was indeed still alive. The surgery had been touch and go. The doctor had looked so sullen when he exited the makeshift operation room that Cody thought Trev had already died, and his heart had slammed right through the floor.
Cody realized at that moment that his feelings had grown over their months of client-lawyer relationship into more than even he’d expected. The subtle brushes of their skin as Trev would point out something in the law books he’d drag along always sent a shock through his system. Yet, it was the way he always looked at him like he was a human, a flawed and screwed up human, but not a monster that sealed the deal.
The doctor made it clear that his vitals were stable, but he wasn’t out of the woods. Trev’s wounds had been serious, and the loss of blood had taken a heavy toll.
He glanced up at Trev’s swollen and bruised face and couldn’t stand staring at the garish abuse. It was too much of a reminder of the things Tyson had done, but worse was the fact that it was a reminder of the things he had done. No one got to sit at the bedside of those he’d beaten, and no one even knew where their bodies were.
The wind rattled the window, and he stared at the branch gently smacking against the dirty glass. His soul was much like this house, battered and forgotten.
“How’s he doing?” Arek asked, startling Cody as he walked into the room.
“No change.” Cody leaned back but kept his hand on Trev’s arm. He ran his thumb back and forth across Trev’s skin, not wanting him to feel alone. Maybe it was crazy to show this much affection after Trev ordered him to move out and not touch him, but he couldn’t leave when Trev needed him.
“This is my fault.” Arek rubbed his face as he leaned against the wall, the faded and torn wallpaper a perfect representation of how Arek looked. His usually perfect hair was standing in all directions, his tanned skin looked pale, dark shadows under his eyes. And, the guy was fidgety as all fuck. He hadn’t sat still a moment since Cody arrived. His inability to park it had forced Cody to order him out of the room once already. The energy he’d been giving off was all too nerve-wracking, and he didn’t think that was what Trev needed around him right about now.
“What do you mean this is your fault?”
“You know what we do, right?”
“Sort of, I know what the rumors say you do, and the little you’ve mentioned,” Cody said as Arek pushed off the wall to pace once more across the floor.
“The Righteous’ mission is simple, clean up the shit plaguing our streets.” He stopped and held his hands out to the side as if to emphasize the statement. “We’re free to choose who we want to go after most of the time, but in some cases, we are given a target that is a higher level asset for one reason or another. I’m sure it is the same for all those that took the oath to be part of the group, but we do tend to get tougher targets with regularity.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with tonight? Was Alejandro your target?”
“Yes and no. We would’ve had to go through him at some point or used him in some fashion to get to the Golden Dragons. Just as Tyson and the Crimson Vipers were pawns in a larger picture, so were the Streetlores. I don’t really know the specifics of what Trev was up to because I took a step back, and Trev wouldn’t involve me. That’s why this is my fault.”
Cody tracked Arek as he resumed his walking and then looked back to Trev. “So you decided to take a step back from going out in the field, from taking out targets?”
“Yes, I just said that,” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be an ass. I’m just worried, and when I worry, I tend to asshole-out.”
“It’s fine. Trev is your brother. I’m sure I’d be the same if Renee was laying here.”
Arek shivered and hit him with a hard glare. “Don’t ever say shit like that again, not even as an example.”
“Back to tonight,” Cody prompted.
“With your sister pregnant, I just wanted some normal for a short time, and I didn’t want to put Renee or the baby under any stress. I told Trev I wanted to back away until the baby was born.”
Arek grabbed the plastic water bottle off the small table in the corner and stared at the clear liquid. Cody took the opportunity to study him closer. Arek had a wildness that coursed under his skin. He could almost see the animal-like quality that existed in his soul. He never wanted to be on the wrong side of that particular side of fucked up.
“He said he understood.” Arek looked over at him, his eyes a strange kind of haunted laying bare in his blue depths. “He said he’d take care of everything, but I should never have asked.” Arek’s chest was rising and falling like he’d been running, not standing perfectly statue-like. From across the dimly lit room, it was easy to see the shimmer of unshed tears in the man’s eyes.
“Trev hasn’t done active duty on his own since we landed back on American soil. He finished his bar exam and has been the cover boy for our operation ever since.” Arek turned and, with a resounding bang, smashed his fist into the wall. The force created a fist-sized hole, and the old home rattled with the impact. “Fuck. My brother has always looked out for me, had my back, and I didn’t have his.”
