Page 74 of Wilde's End
“Will you stop with Old End?” I ask him, but I can alreadyread the answer before he has one for me. Old End is the start. He owns this place, and he’s planning to make as much out of it as he can.
“I don’t know.”
“Probably should figure it out, considering you have twenty-seven of us reliant on your decisions.”
His blond eyebrows flex into a frown. “I’m not the bad guy.”
“Good guys usually don’t have to say that.”
“Good guys usually don’t have wild men questioning their character.”
“Good guys don’t give wild men a reason to.”
We’ve drifted unconsciously closer, and I’m barely aware of the magnets tugging us together, only the aftereffects that leave us face-to-face with a few feet between us.
I want to ask why he’s here, but I know I’ll only get his usual smart-ass response. After how we left things, I thought he’d be as content to ignore me as I was to ignore him. The urge to fuck him again has been strong, but I’ve been able to push that down whenever I remembered the sickening feelings he left me with.
“You’re here hoping I’ll lessen your guilt?” I prod, hoping it will get me answers. “Not going to happen.”
“Good thing I don’t feel guilty.”
“You want something, then?”
I’m almost hoping he’ll say he wants sex because it will put an end to talking, but then I’ll have to figure out if I want to go there. Well, actually,wantisn’t the issue. I know I want it, but I also know I shouldn’t.
Which one will win today?
“Is Ziggy an electrician?”
The question throws me. “Why?”
“He told us that he is.”
Again, Ziggy telling them anything doesn’t make sense.
“Did you get that out of him the day you threatened him?”
“No.” Hudson’s smile finally tugs upward. “Today. He was working on our car, and I thought, you know what? If Wilde wanted to get rid of us, all he’d have to do is get one of his Wenders to cut our brake lines.” Hudson watches me for confirmation.
“Now, why didn’t I think of that?” I ask flatly.
“So he wasn’t there because you sent him?”
“Believe it or not, everyone here runs their own lives.”
“Good to know.” He’s still inching closer, and I haven’t backed up yet. “Then you won’t care if he helps us out with a little wiring?”
“Wiring?”
Hudson tilts his head from one side to the other. “Some wiring. Lighting. Then the full electrical needs for the place.”
Bile creeps up my throat at the thought of him using one of my Wenders for his job. “Ziggy can do what he likes.”
“Good to know.”
“Doubt he’d like that though.”
A littlehaleaves him. “Don’t be so sure. I think Ziggy-zag has a soft spot for us.”
