Page 120 of Cruel Debts
If looks could kill, Keehn would have murdered us all where we stood.
"I hope you've got some kind of alcohol in this place," he said finally, after a pause that felt like it might continue forever. "I feel like I need a drink to process all this shit."
"One beer, coming right up," Asher muttered, but Hawke put a hand out and stopped him.
"We're going to need something stronger for this, bud. I think it's time to break out the old bottle of scotch."
"Scotch sounds nice," Keehn squeaked, and I heaved myself off the arm of the couch with a sigh.
"I'll get the glasses."
EPILOGUE
LILLY ST. CLAIR
It'd been exactlytwo weeks since the McCoys agreed to join our ranks—both of them, because my stipulation was that she join, too. Danny took a little more convincing, but in the end, he caved, too. And now that he was finally on the right side of things, I was seriously debating convincing him to get remarried. He wasn't a bad man. And since he was sleeping in my bed, doing my dirty work, it felt like it was time to make this a partnership again, like it had been when the idea was born from two desperate street urchins with a shared dream to improve their home.
I'm watching the Gunners on the lawn, acting like idiots as we have the joining ceremony—the same one we had for the Skeleton Crew, and the Neon Dogs, when their ladies joined the Guild.
It was about time we got some women in this damn thing. With the untimely death of Bonnie and Clyde, it was a men's club in here, save for me, and I didn't like to be that outnumbered. Having other women in the Guild now felt right.
This place was an equal opportunity employer. I had a reputation to uphold.
The real Keehn McCoy stood against a nearby wall, his eyes on his sister and comrades from his past life, a scowl permanently etching itself into his facial features. I bit back my smile and slid up next to him, watching the death glare continue even as his eye slid sideways and he made note of me out of his peripheral.
"What is it, St. Clair?" he asked quietly, his teeth gritted. "Come to gloat some more about your win in pulling two cops to your dark side?"
He and Danny weren't quite over the change in job title yet, but they'd get used to it. There wasn't really much more of an option.
The McCoys had cut all ties to their family, and the lucrative oil business they amassed their wealth from. Starting over was hard, so I tried to be understanding. But this one was a pain in the ass, just like his sister. And with his resentment at her situatioship with his three best friends, getting him to focus on anything was like pulling teeth. I had to break him of this slump.
"Why don't you just make one of them marry her?"
As far as ideas went, it wasn't a bad one. I'd had worse.
"You're kidding," he snarled, his whole demeanor shifting. "Marry one of them?"
"She's not exactly going to run home to your parents and marry a respectable business mogul's son now, and you know it." The girl looked happy, dancing between the three of them as she plucked something off Ghost's plate, teased Surgeon with it, and then hid behind Sentry for protection. "They're not bad men, or you wouldn't still be friends with them."
"They're tolerable," he agreed, albeit grudgingly. "It's bad enough to know she's fucking them. Sharing their beds." His lip curled in a sneer. "Marry one? That's a bit much."
"It'll keep them honest," I pointed out, "and it means she's legally protected and provided for under their contracts with the Guild."
"Which man in that threesome there do you think is worthy or honorable enough for marriage?"
"Why not draw straws? Since, you know, neither one of us can answer that question."
He cocked his head to the side and contemplated it for a moment. "I've heard worse ideas."
And the sooner he gets over this, the sooner I'll have one more member of the Gunners out here cleaning up our city. McCoy is an asset, and I'm sad we didn't get ahold of him sooner. But it can't be helped. I did what I could. It was their own faults for not looking hard enough. For not digging deeper.
"Well? Do you need me to flip a coin, or do you want to do this Russian Roulette style with a blank?"
He looked me up and down and grinned suddenly, like he was finally seeing a new light on things. On life. On his future, and the futures of the sister he'd done this all for.
"You wouldn't happen to have any straws, would you?"
I grinned like a fool. "I've got a better idea."
