Page 31 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

Memphis continued to stare at me with his mouth open.

Sure, now he shuts up.

After a few minutes of silence, I reached out and pushed on his chin, closing his mouth. “Wouldn’t want you catching flies.”

There were a few around here somewhere. I saw them earlier.

“Nova?”

“Memphis?”

He tilted his head in the same serious way his father did. “What did you do?”

That felt like a loaded question. “Do you mean today?”

Between shaving cream bombs and playing double agent with the FBI and Mafia, I had a busy life.

He eyed me. “Novalee Ford.”

I eyed him back. “Memphis Blake.”

“Tell me you didn’t make a deal with Gio Mancini.”

Alright.“I didn’t make a deal with Gio Mancini.”

That was easy.

“NOVA!” Memphis’s hand smacked down on the table. “What were you thinking? Never mind. I know what you were thinking.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Actually, no. I still wasn’t very clear on the parameters of our agreement. I knew I had to spend the weekends at Gio’s house, and that I was supposed to listen to him, but nobody said anything about not being difficult. And I was good at difficult.

Let’s face it, punishment for me was simply a matter of time. But would Kato be punished? Or was that only if I tried to take off? It was kind of hard to figure out where the loopholes were if I didn’t know where the line was drawn.

“What do you think Kato would say?”

I knew exactly what he would say. But I also knew he’d do the same thing for me.

Despondency glimmered in Memphis’s bright eyes. “He wouldn’t want you to do this.”

No, he wouldn’t. If Kato got a single whiff of what I’d done, he’d skin Gio alive. But he was locked up in prison, where he couldn’t protect me. So I would protect him.

A heavy sigh huffed out of my chest. “He doesn’t have to know.”

I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him.

“He’s not stupid, Nova. Don’t you think he’ll figure it out when he suddenly stops getting beat up.”

I didn’t think about that.

“Kato’s a likable guy.” My brother was very charismatic. I’d seen countless people fall for his smile. “Maybe he’ll just think he made some new prison friends.”

Memphis gave me a pointed look.

Okay, maybe that was a little far-fetched.

“What did you expect me to do, Memphis? How long would it be before they killed him?”

His sigh was so heavy that I could feel the weight of. “It’s not your job to clean up his mess.”

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