Page 35 of The Best of Us

Because, like Izzy, I also knew how to use Google, and I looked it up this morning.I really am losing it. My whole fucking mind.

Juliette: I’m kidding (you don’t need to answer that).

Thank God.

Juliette: Have a good day (and night) doing whatever it is that you do. ;)

I hearted her message as my only answer and took off from the garage before I said something stupid I couldn’t delete and take back this time.

She had no idea who I really was or what I did. What if when she found out, she didn’t want me in her life or our son’s? That thought nearly sent me colliding with the car that’d abruptly stopped in front of me.

I forced myself to take an indirect route to get to my place. One that avoided driving past her home. If I were to roll by their place, I’d wind up parking. Going up those three steps to her building. Then I’d find myself at her front door, confronting a pissed-off sixteen-year-old who thought I was trying to trade sex for his freedom.

Once home, I spent two hours working out in my gym while I tried to work through my problems. Afterward, I went to the building where the rave was being held, hoping to get a feel for the place. The factory was still empty, but I assumed a crew would soon be converting it into a club-like setting.

I spent an hour there, committing every detail to memory, from the entry points to the fact that the fire escape ladder on level three was missing seven feet of steps at the end.

When I was done there, I went to our security office to kill time until the op. I hadn’t expected to walk in on Izzy and Hudson in his office, with my sister’s legs wrapped around his waist as they made out.

I kept forgetting they were married.

“Door shutandlocked when you do this shit, remember?” I reached for the door handle to give them privacy, but Hudson let my sister’s feet hit the ground, and they both faced me.

“You’re early,” Hudson said, quickly fastening his belt that’d been hanging undone.

“Yeah, I can tell you weren’t expecting me.”

We’d been friends since we were sixteen, so it would take some getting used to seeing him and my little sister make out.

“I swear,” was all I said, shaking my head. “Are you two ready so we can review the plans again?” We’d changed the objective tonight, so there was relatively low risk, which was why Izzy was joining us. “It’s not like we don’t have a job to do.”

Izzy mock-saluted me, adding a cocky, “Sir, yes, sir,” as she sidestepped Hudson and started my way. She was already decked out in her rave wear—a sparkly pink tank top and silver pants. So help me if she put anything like that in my office for me to change into. Seeing the look on my face, she dropped the attitude. “You okay?”

I couldn’t answer that without lying, so I kept my mouth shut, nodded, and exfil’ed the hell outta there.

Chapter9

Constantine

“Take the glow sticks.”Izzy pushed them my way.

I shoved them back at her. “I am most definitelynottaking the glow sticks.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just take them.”

“Trust me, I don’t need them to blend in.” I tugged at the brim of my hat, which was all I had to shield my face since I couldn’t wear a mask. I figured the crowd and strobe lights would work to my advantage, allowing me to maneuver around unnoticed as well.

“Do you really think I’m suggesting these will help the both of you not look so old so you can fit in?” Izzy chuckled, and I wasn’t amused. She loved to throw our decade age difference in my face.

Staring back and forth between Hudson and myself as we stood by our SUV parked in an alley down the street from the rave, she attempted to thrust the bundle of multicolored sticks at my chest again.

Relentless woman.

Hudson snatched them from her.Taking one for the team, huh?I side-eyed him. “You can never say no to her.”

He shrugged, fighting a smirk. Yeah, I was right.

“If you wind up going down any dark hallways, which there are?—”

---