Page 103 of The Lies We Tell
“I called Iris.”
Saint jumps to his feet. “Jesus, sweetheart. Didn’t I make it clear enough? Vex can track anything. Maybe King is having Spark’s phone traced in case I call him.”
I sit up and cross my legs beneath me. “Is King really that paranoid? Would people agree to being tracked to find you?”
Saint tugs a hand through his hair. He went to a barber yesterday to sort out the botched job he did of it the day we fled. He wants to grow it long again. “I’m a federal agent. Of course King is that paranoid. And who says he’ll tell Spark he’s doing it. I saw King lock Spark in an office with Halo guarding the door because he thought he was fucking Iris. And when I tried to step in, to save him, King said to me, ‘I ever see you go for your weapon again when I know it’s going to be pointing at me ... I’ll gut you with a fishing knife before I fucking kill you without hesitation.’ Then he had the audacity to clink his glass to mine and say cheers.”
“Why do you admire him so much?”
“It’s complicated, okay? I think he’s a good man, a thoughtful one, beneath the façade. I don’t want him to lose his humanity. I’m fed up with rules I need to follow. The army. The ATF. I want to be free of all that bullshit. I like the edge of it, Briar. I want to fucking thrive. I’m chasing that feeling of being completely at home in my own skin. Why did you call Iris?”
“Because I wanted her to know it would get better. What she’s going through right now. And you thought it was sweet I cared about Iris enough to offer to speak with her.”
“Didn’t mean you should do it right now, sweetheart.” Saint tips his head back and sighs before rubbing his hand over his face. “Your kind heart is going to get us into trouble.”
I stand and take both his hands in mine. “Don’t you see that it didn’t? Spark and Iris want to help. And that’s what he said on the call. For you to call him and know that no matter what, he’s on your side. We’ve got some money. It’s in my account. Iris has given us the money from her father’s death. She says she’s going to ask Cillian for more. Rae has given us fifty thousand. We’re at a hundred and twenty thousand. We have something to offer to help you get out of this.”
His hands go straight back into his hair. “No, Briar, this is my problem to solve. I can’t take all that money off you. And where did Rae get that money?”
“She remortgaged the house, but—”
“Fuck,” he mutters. Then he repeats it, more quietly this time as he tugs me into his arms and kisses the top of my head. “I appreciate what you are trying to do, sweetheart. But let me navigate this, yeah? Only because you don’t know all the players.”
“Fine. But you should call your sister and thank her.”
Saint grips me and tugs me close. “Is that before or after I spank your ass for conspiring with her?”
It makes me grin. “Definitely before.”
He pulls out his phone and video calls her. “What have you been up to?” he asks when her face appears on screen.
She looks a little stricken, so I step in. “I told him about the money.”
“Oh. Right.” Rae grins at someone off-screen. She’s not in her home. “I’m with company. We should talk about this later.”
“Oh,” Saint says. “Oh, right. Got it. Well, you didn’t need to do it, but I love you for it.”
“You’d be surprised what I’d do for you, Ryker. I’m so damned lucky I got you for a brother. Love you too.”
The screen goes dark.
“Was the subtext there that she’s with a guy?” Saint asks.
“Umm. I think so. I mean, there’s a small possibility she was thinking about who might overhear what you were about to say. But it’s probably a guy.”
“Urgh,” he says, shivering dramatically. “That grosses me out.”
I go to the drawer I keep the takeout menus in. “She’s a grown woman who didn’t get any while we were staying over. Why shouldn’t she be out with a guy?’
“’Cause she’s my fucking sister,” he answers playfully.
The exasperation in his tone makes me laugh. “Who is in her mid-thirties. Calm down, big brother. She can have sex whenever she likes.”
He puts his thumb on my lips, pulling down slightly before kissing me. “You wanna put that smart mouth of yours around my cock instead of giving me sass?”
“We can add it to the list, somewhere between spanking my ass and making me orgasm at least twice.”
Saint laughs and kisses me once more before letting me go.
