Page 73 of Graveyards & Greed

“Fine. I’ll think about it.” And say no later.

He stared at me like he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Don’t ditch Milo again, or there will be consequences.”

The need to cry vanished, and my eyes narrowed. “I don’t want or need—”

Ivan sighed loudly. “Sylvie, you just heard half the OutKast MC talk about wanting to torture and kill you. You’re not dumb, so don’t ditch your bodyguard just to get under Drakos’s skin. Although I understand the appeal.” He turned to Drakos. “And for being so smart, you’re a lame dumbass. If someone proposed to me like that, I’d tell them to fuck right off.”

Drakos and I glared at each other for several seconds. Letting out a long breath, I loosened my shoulders and rolled my neck. “It’s fine. I’m fine, it’s all good. God, I need way more coffee than just this little cup.” I turned and headed back to Drakos’s loft.

Drakos didn’t come back before I left—with Milo in tow—to go find Ezra. I needed to tell him what we’d done to Carver, and then ask him for advice. When we pulled up to Ezra’s house, the familiar sight of his sprawling, squat, ranch-style home brought an ache to my chest.

Milo scanned the street. “I’ll wait out here. Text me when you’re ready.”

I nodded and headed inside. The smell of roast beef and sage wafted out of the kitchen when I let myself in. We didn’t have a funeral that day, but Ezra still wore a cashmere sweater and dress slacks.

He scanned my face and looked out the window to see Milo sitting in the driveway. “You look upset, and you didn’t ditch your bodyguard. What’s going on?”

Managing a weak smile, I spontaneously hugged him. “I need some advice.”

His eyebrows went up. “You’re not ill, are you? What’s wrong?”

Sighing, I followed him into the kitchen. “No, just confused, worried, annoyed, and… confused. I said that one twice, didn’t I?”

We settled at the kitchen bar and Ezra put a plate of homemade snickerdoodles and coffee in front of us. Then he turned to me. “Out with it. You’ve got that look.”

“What look?”

“The uncomfortable one you and your cousins get when you're about to tell me you've either buried another body out in the cemetery, or one of your cousins needs to use the crematory again.”

“Okay, so we didn’t blow up the OutKast compound.” I figured I’d start with the good news.

He watched me patiently. “What did you do in retaliation?”

“Remember Carver? The one who came with LeBaron to the mortuary? He was also there when they tried to burn it down.”

“Yes. What about him?”

“We handled him, and also sent a message.”

“Handled him?” Ezra's eyebrow arched, but he didn't seem particularly surprised. “Handled as in scared him off, or he’s no longer on this mortal plane?”

“The latter.”

He sighed. “What’d you do?”

Damn it, I hated it when he used his calm, vaguely disappointed voice on me. “We put him in a casket and fed him sugary Starbucks drinks.”

He stared at me. “For how long?”

I stuffed a cookie in my mouth and mumbled something.

He waited until I’d chewed and swallowed. “What was that?”

“Eight days.”

He sat back, and I could see his mind working. “My goodness, what did he do to deserve that?”

“He was with Eightball, and he raped Camilla too.”

---