Page 46 of Borden 3

After we fucked, we’d said nothing. Just held each other. We were both angry, but it wasn’t worth turning on each other. In the end, love always won out.

“Borden?” I whispered. “Your phone, baby.”

His breaths weren’t deep. He was already awake. He squeezed at me again before pulling away. He sat up, grabbing for his dummy phone that was still ringing on the night table.

“Yeah?” he answered gruffly.

I relaxed on my back and shut my eyes, bringing the covers back over me. My hand reached out to him as he sat on the edge of the bed. I traced a circle along his spine, waiting for him to hurry up with the phone to cuddle with me.

Instead, he growled, “Don’t let the rats near my shit. I’m coming.”

My eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice. I sat up as he hung up, raking a hand through his hair. He stood up, moving straight to his dresser. He pulled on a plain tee and pants.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Fire at the port,” he said.

“Oh, my god. What happened?”

Distracted, he explained, “We know nothing, Doll. Just that the police are crawling all over my shit, and the fire department just got there. A bunch of shipments are up in flames, and it sounds like a fucking circus over there right now.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, alleycat, you just look after your granny and Link. I’ll take care of this shit, alright?” He came to me, dropping down to swiftly take my lips into a soft kiss. “She’s moving slow, Em, and she keeps pretending she’s fine.”

“I didn’t know you were so concerned about her.”

Borden’s lips twitched. “Of course I am. Everything you love, I hold dear, too.”

My throat tightened as I kissed him again. “Please hurry back. Hopefully it’s not serious.”

“We’ll figure it out even if it is.”

With that, he grabbed the keys and hurried out of the room.

The empty room started to bother me within minutes. The dark corners got to my head. It was the unwelcome feeling that I wasn’t alone.

I couldn’t handle it.

I got up and slid into Lincoln’s bed, holding him to me.

Chapter Eighteen

Emma

Past

Officer Young found me.

Again.

I got picked up just before I’d managed to get to our hide-out. Officer Young whistled at me, shining his torch at me after unsuccessfully hiding behind a dumpster. We were in a really shoddy part of town. Funny that Officer Young knew where to go looking for me, like he could track my desperation through his police senses.

“Jesus, Emma, quit hiding,” he’d said. “Get in the damn car.”

I didn’t look back once as I strode out of that alleyway, the eyes of Theo and the rest clinging to me. Officer Young didn’t know how close he was to a hidden basement under an abandoned kebab shop. If he’d been patient, he’d have seen me sneaking down the steps, and if he wanted to poke his head around to grab me, he’d have seen a room full of derelicts like me—like Theo—squatting in our nest where we played, smoked joints, and, it seemed more frequently, fought for some little treasures we’d gathered along the way.

Those fights were getting a bit grizzly, but it was all in fun.

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