Page 39 of Roses and Murder
“As shitty as they treat women, they can’t continue their lines without us. They need us. The Ghoul wouldn’t have had a title to court them with, so I’m guessing after he took out his half sibling and any witnesses, he was arrogant enough to present his hand and a future title to their pretty sister and think they’d accept just because he thought he’d be a Baron.”
“Momma would agree,” Neco said. “I kept asking why she didn’t send him away the second time because we both knew she’d end up at the brothel and she said it would be worse for us. He mostly ignored me, but if he’d ever laid a hand on me, she would have kicked him out and dealt with it.”
“You need to get to bed,” Mom said. “Get this done with in the morning. Whether he gives you the cure or not, your business is concluded. If he tries to screw you over and draw you into another contract, say no. Basselt sounds like he has it covered.”
“I do and I agree. I’d personally love to see you screw them over, even if it’s just a little.”
“I’m going to stay outside your door,” Neco said.
“No, you aren’t. I’m not helpless because you just found out I don’t have a penis.”
Neco deflated.
“I was hoping we could talk.”
Arseholes and traitors. Every last one of them. Even Mom got up and left me with Neco. I was honestly raw and in a lot of pain. If he was about to dump it on me that this was just a job for him and he would go back to avoiding me, this was a shit time to do it.
All of this just made me realize how much I missed him. It would destroy me all over again if he decided to drop me again.
Neco sat across from me in our living room. It was awkward as fuck and it didn’t use to be like that between us. He used to be the one I was the most comfortable with. I fell asleep in his bed most nights and would sneak home before Mom woke up. I was pretty sure she knew that and was going to say something to me when puberty happened.
“I left my window open after I broke your nose. I was going to apologize and try to explain, but you didn’t come. I was so hurt, but Beck told me why you didn’t come. I could have tried to talk to you countless times after that, but I had something in my head and I thought it was for the best.”
I was hurt he locked it the first time, but I wouldn’t have gone back the second night even if my whole life hadn’t gottenupended when my period started. He locked the window and broke my nose. I didn’t really need any other hints he didn’t want to be my best friend anymore.
I was shocked he even unlocked it because Neco and I were alike in a lot of ways. We were both stubborn and when we set our mind on something, we usually saw it to the end. I had stupid ideas all the time that ended up ruining things, but it usually ended with a night in the cells or a recipe that ended up tasting vile, not the complete obliteration of my closest relationships.
“You’re going to have to explain that, Neco.”
“Okay, so I knew I needed to clean up Nestran after I was attacked for defending Momma when she was pregnant. Panas told me Keeva could train me to do it without getting caught and?—”
“No way. Keeva makes sweets and tells fun stories to the kids.”
“Keeva makes sweets and also knows fifty ways to kill a man without getting caught. It’s just that people pay her to make sweets instead of murdering people. The Jagged Key Isles people pass their skills on, even if they might not be used.”
I gaped at Neco.
“Whatever you’re about to tell me isn’t going to be as shocking as Keeva being a serial killer. She used to slip me free cookies on my name day.”
“First of all?—”
“I know. There’s supposed to be a difference between a serial killer and an assassin and it’s important to you. Anyway, I’m tired and raw, so say what you needed to say.”
“Okay, so I pushed you all away because I needed to concentrate on learning to be an assassin. If I was bad at it, I’d swing and the rest of you could be implicated. I pushedyouaway because I ended up falling for you when you were sneaking intomy room and falling asleep in my bed, but we are Argents. I thought I was in love with my brother.”
“I mean, yeah, that’s always a possibility with the Argent kids and we all know you never say their name unless you want to invoke a curse, but that could have been an exception if you’d asked, you fucking idiot.”
“Beck, Ollie, and Ronan have already told me I was a fucking idiot and I agree with them. I just thought if I talked to you without screaming and you said we were related, it would make things worse. I’ve never done relationships, Lucy. Some of it was because I always had the feeling the women who wanted one with me would kill Rowena’s cat if I was just doing my job protecting the girls at the brothel, but most of it is because I’ve always been hung up on you, even when I thought you were my brother.”
I mopped my face with my hand because I had my first crush onallof them, even Neco. Then Neco broke my nose, and I thought I couldn’t be with the rest of them because I had to hide I was a girl.
But it worked out when I told Ollie, Ronan, and Beck. Being with Neco on this quest just made me miss the shit out of him, even if he barely spoke to me some of the time.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this when I wasaskingyou to talk to me on the way to the Merchant’s District?”
“Well, I didn’t know what to say for one. Secondly, I didn’t need you distracted with my nonsense with a serial killer like that out there. I would have told you even if I hadn’t found out your secret, justafterwe caught the Ghoul.”
“I missed you the whole time we were fighting. Working with you made it worse. I was bracing myself for you telling me you were only nice to me to save Mom.”
