Page 111 of Keep Him Like Secrets

“Yeah. I needed bowls.”

“They’re not bowls. They’re food storage containers.”

“They’re multi-purpose.”

“Oh, Saff. You’re a trip,” he said, smiling. “Well, to make you breakfast, I needed some actual kitchen supplies. Pots, pans, aspatula.”

“Hey, Ihada spatula.” At his raised brows, I admitted, “Lore left it here after I hosted book club.”

“Where’d it go?”

“I use it to relocate a spider. Then was too grossed out by the whole situation ever use it, so I let the spider keep it. So what are you making? Challah bread French toast?”

“Belgian waffles,” he said, gesturing toward the contraption sitting on the island, smoke billowing from the closed lid. “And it looks like it has warmed up. Now, the question is: strawberries, blueberries, or chocolate chips?” I shot him a look that had him smiling. “All three. Of course.”

“I’m starting to think you really do know me.”

“What can I do?”

“Depends. Can I trust you to flip eggs?”

“Gee. I dunno. That sounds complicated.”

“Says the woman who cut her way out of restraints, stabbed a man in the hand, then jumped off the stage, grabbed a gun that I’m still not sure how you knew was there, and seemed ready to use it.”

“I was. I would have. Ihave,” I told him. “I know we kind of… grazed over my life in the family yesterday. But it has involved knives and guns. And all the things that happen when you use them.”

“I’ve seen mob documentaries, Saff. I know how it works. Wait… that day with the cuts on your hands, the ones you said were from a box cutter…”

“Brass knuckles,” I admitted. “They’re kind of shitty to use, but when the people I am up against are usually twice my size, I have to play dirty.”

“It might be wrong, but that mental image is kind of hot,” he told me as he poured some batter into the waffle iron, then added some chocolate chips.

“I get it. Because this is kind of hot,” I told him as I leaned against the counter.

“Don’t look at me like that. This thing only needs to cook for like three minutes. That’s not nearly long enough to get my fill of you.”

“Fineee,” I grumbled. “So, was that really uncomfortable? The talk with Renzo?”

“Not at all. He’s a pretty reasonable guy when he’s not pissed off.”

“To be fair, he’s rarely pissed off. That’s usually reserved for when one of us ignores a direct order.”

“He demands loyalty,” Soren said. “Because he’s your boss. But also because he loves you and to keep you all safe, he needs to know you will obey the rules.”

He really did have Renzo pegged.

“What did he say? You know, about me… leaving?”

“He said he would support it. That he would like to see you having a better life.”

“Better?”

“I think Renzo sees a lot of you, maybe especiallyyouas his kids or little siblings. He knows this is his life and he’s reconciled that for himself and his future. But he wants a different life for you guys, if you want it for yourselves as well.”

“I can see that. But, you know, from a logistical standpoint…”

“He wrapped his head around the computer coding thing a lot faster than you did.”

---