Page 55 of Lovesick Gods

“I thought ‘Mickey’ was reserved for Lucy,” Danny said with a self-assured smirk.

Mal refused to smile back at him. “It is, she… Lucy was with me when we first… I didn’t want to be rude,” he finally blurted, which only served to make Danny more pleased with himself.

“You didn’t want to be rude. To the little Korean lady who’s giving you kickbacks.”

Mal didnothave to take this. He’d gotten what he needed from Mrs. Pak and much more, as always, so he turned on his heel and headed for the exit. “It’s not a kickback. It’s leftovers. That ‘little Korean lady’ makes the best bulgogi you’ll ever taste.”

“Does that mean I get some?” Danny eyed the bag with enthusiasm once they were out on the street.

“Unlikely, considering you’re about toscram.”

“Oh, come on, what’s the big deal? Where are you going next?”

Turning to Danny completely exasperated, Mal pulled him out of the way of a pedestrian about to pass by on the sidewalk, half to keep Danny from being a roadblock and half to bring the kid closer. “None of your business,” he answered sharply.

Mal thought that would be the end of it, but Danny just stared at him, and when his smile dropped, his eyes looked—damn it.Pleading.

“It’s nothing exciting, Sparky, or that requires company. I’m just making some weekly...check-ins.”

As amusement lit up his face again, Danny’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my god, youarea mob boss.”

Jerking Danny by the sleeve of his trench coat, even though no other passersby were close enough to have overheard, Mal snapped, “Please,Detective. Be louder.”

“Wait,” Danny glanced around them, “how much of this neighborhood is yours? Here…down to Haven…your apartment building…” He spun in a slow circle as he listed everything off and painted a mental picture in his mind of the area. His eyes were wide when he turned back to Mal.

It wasn’tthatbig of a radius. “Danny…”

Stuffing his hands into his pockets again, Danny regarded Mal like he had everything figured out. “So what do you charge these people ifthat’sthe tip,” he nodded at the bulgogi.

Mal debated for all of ten seconds whether or not he should paint a harsher picture to keep Danny in line or tell him the truth. The heist was a week from Monday. Mal couldn’t afford to alienate his nemesis now, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he wanted to. But in the long run, everything hinged on Danny believing Mal would stick to their deal, which he had every intention of honoring—as long as it continued to suit his aims.

Even if Danny was being a little shit.

“They give me things because they choose to,” Mal said, indicating the general store, then looking around at the other obvious shops and places of business in the neighborhood. “If you want to call me a mob boss, fine. I do offer protection, but I never ask for anything in return. Things…happened when I first moved in. It wasn’t overnight. Some of them have kept the police off my back. They think they owe me. They don’t. But if it keeps a positive relationship going, I won’t prevent it from continuing.”

Scanning down Mal’s body from head to toe, it was like Danny expected nothing less than for all of that to have been a lie. “They don’t owe you,” he repeated, no censor to his skepticism.

Mal shaped his face into as honest of an expression as he could—or at least as honest as he ever got. “I don’t work that way. Not unless I have to.”

“If someone challenges you, you mean.”

“If they’re someone like the Dunkirks or Mendozas, yes.”

“Or me?” Danny’s face went neutral too, and Mal wasn’t quite sure he could read it.

Frowning, he leaned into Danny’s space. “No one ever owes me likethat.”

Danny’s stoicism fell with a wave of embarrassment as his hands came out of his pockets and he reached for the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean for…”

The sex.No, Danny wouldn’t think of what they were doing as an exchange of services. But truth was, sleeping together meant they could use their new arrangement as a weapon against each other.

Naturally, Danny had never considered using Mal like that. Mal was just too used to being used forsomething. But then Danny did want to use him, didn’t he? Use him to forget, to lose himself, to leave his normal life behind for a while. Wasn’t that the same? Mal wasn’t so sure, since he liked losing himself in Danny too.

“Think nothing of it,” Mal dismissed the tension that had crept into their conversation. “Look. I have more of these to do. Shouldn’t you be at work?”

Danny’s eyes darted to the side—definitely something with work, something with the case, something Danny was running from. “Took the afternoon off,” he lied all too easily. “I have time before patrol tonight, figured we’d get in that rain check early. What’s the big deal if I come with you? You know, seeing as how you’re not doing anythingillegal.” He flicked his eyes back to Mal and smiled ever so sweetly.

If they were just using each other, was it really so bad? It could be, oh Mal knew it could be, with how many open wounds they’d made known to each other, but he couldn’t bring himself to prompt that sad puppy look from Danny again. At least he’d already made his stop at the electronics store. Priestly would have complicated things when Danny recognized the face of Hephaestus.

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