Page 29 of Obey

Knives steps forward. “Sorry to bother you, boss. We’ve done all we can in terms of tracking the missing shipments from here. But I’ve got a contact down in New Valence, and I should be able to find out more if I go directly.”

Silvano stares at him, then says, “We.”

“We?” Knives repeats, confused.

“You meant to say ‘if we go directly,’ correct? Because you and Maddox are going together.” Silvano smiles in our direction.

“Yes, sir,” I say automatically. “I’ll book our tickets?—”

“Tickets?” Kyran interrupts. “You can’t fly there. How the fuck would you get the weapons back?”

Knives tenses. “Right. We can take our cars?—”

Now Silvano shakes his head. “Why are you complicating things? You two need to stick together. The whole point of not going alone is to ensure that there’s always somebody around to cover your back.”

I know Knives wants to protest as much as I do. He’d never trust me at his back, and I don’t want him at mine, either. But sometimes, in this line of business, there’s only one thing you can say, and that’s, “Yes, sir.” So that’s what I say, then add, “Do you want us to take one of ours or a specific vehicle?”

Silvano looks over to Kyran. “Fox was done with that one…?”

“Yeah, he returned it, ‘cleaner than when he started,’” Kyran says, using air quotes and rolling his eyes. “It’s got enough hidden compartments to handle transporting that particular shipment.”

Silvano nods. “That’s settled, then. See Jimenez about the vehicle. And don’t return without my goods.” He pauses and taps his chin. “I suppose I should tell you not to risk your lives, and call for backup if you need it.” He laughs. “But right now, you two have been pissing me off. So I’m not sure I care either way—not until you can prove to me that you’re more than some schoolboys pretending to be tough guys.”

I flinch. He’s not entirely wrong. We haven’t been acting like mature professionals at all, and it doesn’t surprise me that he’s calling us out. “I understand, sir,” I say dutifully, for all that I rankle a little at the whole thing.

All of this is because of Knives, and it makes me hate him even more than I do already.

“Hope so,” Kyran says. “Because if we take a loss from this shipment…” He looks directly at me, and his expression isn’t friendly.

Of course, it never is, so that’s not necessarily saying much.

“Then the two of you can get the fuck out,” Silvano orders. “The next time I see either of you, you’d better have results for me.”

Knives gives a stiff nod. “Yes, sir. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

He stalks out the door.

I steal a glance in Silvano’s direction, but his expression hasn’t changed. So I nod, and for all that I want to stall, I don’t. Instead, I close the door and hurry after Knives. “When and where are we meeting up?” I ask bluntly.

“Tomorrow morning, 6 a.m.,” Knives says, and I notice that he sounds defeated. He can’t see a way out of this either. He turns to me, and I tense when he steps into my personal space and boxes me in against the wall. “I don’t trust you to cover my back. But I’m doing all this for the boss. So try not to chicken out again.”

There’s a stupid part of me that wants him to move closer, to press against me. I try to ignore that, instead focusing on his words and the ever-present loathing. “I’m not going to fucking chicken out,” I snap. “Don’t think you can leave at 5:59 and say I never showed, either. I don’t know about you, but I want my fucking job. We’re going to do this right, then we’re going to get back, and we don’t have to look at each other again.”

We stare each other in the eyes, my heart pounding hard. His lips part, and I hear his soft inhale.

I shouldn’t be surprised when he kisses me.

No matter how often he’s said he hates me, no matter how many times we claim to be done, this keeps fucking happening.

Anybody could walk by. We aren’t in a dark parking lot; we aren’t hiding in a closet. We’re just… here, and anyone could see us.

I should stop this.

I need to stop this.

I kiss him back instead, pouring all of my frustration and fear into it.

He growls and presses against me, truly trapping me against the wall. His warmth, his heat envelops me. The only thing I can see, hear, touch, smell, and even taste is him.

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