Page 52 of A Murderous Crow
“They’re your covenant,” I murmured.
He nodded slowly. “They’re indeed my covenant, and I need you to never forget it,” he said.
I nodded carefully.
“I won’t,” I breathed.
“Good girl,” he murmured, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.
“You know, there’s something else about this little dynamic between you and me,” he said, motioning between us with a forkful of pasta before taking it into his mouth.
“What’s that?” I asked, as my curiosity had once again been sparked.
“My sources with the police tell me that you did fantastic today,” he said. “The police one hundred percent believe you.”
My eyebrows went up.
“You maybe could have led with that,” I said, and he laughed again, that rich and boisterous sound.
“What would the fun in that be?” he asked.
“I’m beginning to think you love to torment me,” I said with a soft smile, because honestly, there was no beginning. I was just being charitable, throwing that in there.
I took a bite of my pasta then, now that it’d properly had time to cool and the salad was done. For real, though, that was by far the best Caesar I had ever eaten. A perfect balance between salty, the bite of lemon juice, married with all the other flavors, and the cool, crisp romaine was to die for.
He chuckled at that and shook his head. “Be grateful you got me and not Torment. That’s more his speed, and he’s a million times worse than me.”
“You know, you’re not exactly doing much to really sell me on wanting to be around these guys.” I arched a brow, and he laughed at that, lightly this time.
“I’m not trying to,” he said. “These guys are my brothers. I’m not saying they aren’t assholes – most of us are, and with gusto – but we’re more than that, too. On that,you’ll just have to see for yourself, given time. You don’t have to like them, you just have to tolerate them. Because hard line, they aren’t going anywhere.”
“I get that,” I said softly. “I suppose that makes me disposable?” I ventured, knowing that I was more than likely going to hurt my own feelings by even asking.
“Not at all,” he said, reaching out and stroking my cheek lightly with his thumb. “I don’t ever want to hear you say that about yourself again, either. We clear?”
I swallowed hard and nodded, unable to look him in the eye.
“I’m serious,” he said, catching my chin and forcing me to look at him. His eyes were the softest I’d ever seen them when he looked at me, and it rendered me speechless. The sincerity in them had me feeling like I somehow lived in the upside-down. There wasn’t any other description for it.
“You growing soft on me?” I asked.
His smile was a cutting one, and he let me go, ordering me with a false, playful sense of sternness, “Eat your dinner.” I took another bite, snickering around it.
“Wouldn’t dare risk that punishment again,” I said, rolling my eyes, and he smirked.
“Tonight’s not about punishment, Kitten,” he said. “It’s about reward.”
“There goes my curiosity again,” I murmured, and he smiled genuinely this time.
“Finish your supper, and then see what I have in store.”
“Mm.” I nodded and relished the delicate buttery wine sauce with its slightly searing bite of garlic and lemon, which complemented the salad. The whole meal was a perfect balance, if a little heavy being pasta, but I could cheat every once in a while.
The meal concluded with us throwing playful little barbs at one another, and things felt… almost like they were achieving a sort of normal between us.
I liked it.
“What are you doing?” he asked when I got up, my dishes in hand.
