Micah hesitates. His knee bounces under the table. “There’s a guy,” he says finally. “Rook. He...does that kind of thing.”
Jude huffs out a low laugh, shaking his head. “‘Does that kind of thing’is one way to put it,” he mutters. “He’s dangerous, Em. Like...actuallydangerous.”
“More so than you?” I ask swiftly, and Micah nearly chokes. I glance between them. “Can he do it?”
Micah nods once. “If anyone can, it’s him.”
“Then I’ll talk to him.”
All three of them look up at me at once. Micah’s eyes widen. Heather smirks like she expected nothing less from my determined ass. Jude just stares. Then this slow, stunned smile spreads across his face.
I brace for anger. For him to tell me no. For him to get protective, controlling, and panicked.Something. “Emma,” he says softly, shaking his head in disbelief. “You have no idea what danger this would bring down on you. Both of you. It’s serious.”
“I know.” My voice is steady. My heartbeat is definitely not. “How do we arrange a meeting? Is it even possible?”
“No offense, at all, by the way,” Micah starts, licking his lips. “But you two have a very normal life. You haven’t experienced a fraction of our world.”
Heather throws a glare at him. “Just because we havenormallives, doesn’t mean we haven’t seen trauma and death before. I am an ER trauma nurse who has seen more death than probably you guys. And her?” She points at me. “She’s delved into the minds ofactualpsychopaths before. Little Emma might seem a little vanilla sometimes, but she’sinsanelyintelligent.”
I roll my eyes at her common and playful insult.
Micah throws his hands up, defeated.
Jude glances away for a second, biting back another laugh—less amused, more...awestruck. “Damn,” he murmurs. “Something’s changed in you. Once timid Emma...you’re now willing to walk into what could becertaindeath. You know that, right?”
“I do,” I say before I can stop myself, my love for him again yanking me toward a path that isn’t safe. “I’d do anything for you, Jude. I just got you back.” I swallow. “And I don’t intend to let you go.”
His eyes lift to mine, and they’re alive in a way I haven’t seen in so long. And beneath the table, his knee presses just a little more firmly into mine. He turns to Micah. “We’ll reach out. Rook owes me a favor anyway.”
Micah snorts. “He doesn’t owe you afavor. He owes you abullet.”
Jude winks at him. “Semantics.”
I narrow my eyes. “Wh...what do you mean heowesyou? What for?”
Micah places his elbow on the table and covers his face while he focuses on the soup like it’s suddenly more interesting.
Jude is amused by his friend. “I killed his brother.”
My face pales. “Oh.”
He just smirks, and Heather finally exhales a heavy breath. The bitch had nearly stopped breathing through that.
“Might take a while to get a hold of him,” Micah sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But I guess we can try to get his contact information.”
The wine thankfully softens the stress in my shoulders and the haunted look in Jude’s eyes. It settles over all four of us, loosening the tension that has been pretty much strangling my every breath since the weekend.
Heather and Micah end up squeezed together on the loveseat. She bumps her knee into his with a grin. He bumps hers right back, then drapes his arm along the back cushion, “accidentally” pulling her closer.
My eyebrows lift.
Hers lift higher.
Micah’s hand settles at her hip like it’s always belonged there. Heather turns pink—fast.
Jude sits beside me on the rug as Heather laughs at something Micah mutters and leans into him. This time, Micah doesn’t pretend. He wraps an arm around her and tugs her in.
“You two can stay in my guest room,” I finally say, taking a sip of wine that’s more gulp than sip. “If you don’t want to drive. Plus...you might need it.”