Page 53 of Lovesick Titan

“I can try, but if heasks...”

“Right. No, I get that. Then tell him I was an asshole. Probably more likely to believe that anyway.” Danny said his farewells, and Arty wished him good luck.

Mal had wondered why Danny would bother coming into the electronics store, since no one here had met him, but the comms… Danny was trying to shift the blame onto Zeus. Zeus was known to have been at the museum that night, but so far nothing pointed to Mal. This would protect the neighborhood and lift suspicion that Prometheus might be hiding here.

Mal was still resting against the wall by the curtain when Arty parted it to return to them. Priestly followed Arty further into the back, but Mal couldn’t move.

“Is one of you going to explain what that was about?” Arty demanded, arms crossed as he squared off against Priestly.

“He would have recognized me,” Priestly said. “You know he’s the detective Cho’s been seeing. The rest actually isn’t that hard to figure out.” Crossing his arms to match Arty, he turned his exasperation onto Mal. Priestly didn’t seem angry though. After all, they’d just been given leave to protect themselves with the best alibi possible.

It was only then, as Mal stood staring at the two of them, that Arty paled.

“Was I just talking toZeus?”

R

Mal sat in his favored booth at Haven, only a few people filling the other tables for lunch as he picked at his food. The night before and subsequent chase that morning had left him weary. Part of him wanted to just move on from this—from Danny. Maybe it was time to leave Olympus City for a while. But then he’d leave all these people, this neighborhood.

Carla caught his attention, wiping down a table toward the back, despite barely being able to bend over. She had a month left before the baby was due, but she looked about ready to burst. Never in the past would Mal have risked his own wellbeing for someone else, other than Lucy or Dom, but if he left, word of his absence would travel quickly in this city and lesser criminals would move in. Dunkirk was still a threat.Others might be looking to muscle into his territory. He couldn’t leave. This was his city. His home.

And what about Ludgate? If Danny couldn’t defeat him alone…

Nausea settled in Mal’s stomach, something his food only made worse, and he grimaced as he took his next bite. Now he was thinking about future heroics. What the hell had Danny done to him?

A familiar pattern of footsteps caught his attention—the click of heels. He straightened, already expecting Lucy by the time she came around the table and sat in the booth across from him. Her hair was its usual perfect, straight bob, and her black leather jacket didn’t quite hide the deep V of the blouse she wore.

“We need to talk, Mickey.”

Mal hadn’t forgotten that she was the one who’d sent Danny after him last night. “Do we now?” He tapped the side of his water glass.

“Yeah,” another voice answered, and before Mal could turn, someone else moved around the table. “We do,” Vaughn said as he slid into the booth beside Lucy.

Chapter13

Vaughn stood out like a—well. Like an adorable nerd in a biker bar. He had a vintage Voltron T-shirt on with a grey button down and red pants, and Lucy’s eyes swept down his body with full indulgence as he sat beside her.

“Rough neighborhood, ya know,” Mal said with a dangerous quirk to his smile. “Sure you’re in the right place?”

“Be nice, Mickey,” Lucy warned. “We’re all friends here.”

“I’m always nice. And since when are any of usfriends?”

Vaughn didn’t scare easy apparently, not with Lucy at his side. “Since you started being such a terrible villain,” he said.

Mal’s smirk twitched and he pushed away his plate of half-eaten food. “Sometimes I’m in it for the thrill more than the haul, doesn’t change how I spent my Monday night. Are you looking to recruit for the home team, Vaughn? Coz if so, I’m afraid that isn’t—”

“Can you cut the bullshit?” Vaughn gave an exaggerated eye-roll. “No one’s buying it, especially not me. The guard was unhurt, you let Zeus go, you even let him take back your loot. You don’t have to do the whole Prometheus schtick with me. You took care of him when he wouldn’t let anyone else near him,” his tone shifted to something more earnest, “and he’s been going out of his mind trying to do everything he can to protect you and make this right.”

“Yeah,” Mal squirmed, “well, hindsight’s a bitch. If you’re worried I still have it out for Zeus, you can save your breath. We’re even. If you get a line on Ludgate, tell me where to aim my ice and I’ll be there. I owe the bastard. The rest is over and done with. Neither younor Zeus need to worry anymore. And we can sayDanny, by the way. She knows.” He flicked his eyes to his sister.

Vaughn’s bravado cracked as he sputtered, “You do?”

“Found out on my own.” Lucy offered a small, girlish shrug. “Don’t blame Mickey. Zeus’s secret’s safe with me. After all, wecamehere,” she turned back to Mal sharply, “on his behalf. Not that he knows, but someone needs to fight for that boy, since he’s sworn off fighting for himself.”

Mal wasn’t having this conversation—ever. “You don’t know what happened between us.”

“Actually…I do.”

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