Milo took his right hand off the wheel and settled it on top of her head. “Home,” he answered in a steely, brotherly voice. “I’m taking your asshome.”
“Oh, I— I can give my address if you?—”
“That’s not your home anymore,” he interrupted her. The scar that bisected his face looked like quicksilver in the light of the car’s dashboard. It gleamed in his single pale eye, too, giving him an uncanny look not helped by the blood splatter on his cheek.
Struggling to keep up, her brow furrowed with confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Milo was silent for a moment. His jaw worked back and forth, and if ever there was an expression that read more as“gods, why me?”she hadn’t seen it. Letting out a sharp exhale through his nose, he bluntly explained, “You’re my brother’s anchor. You go where he can keep you safe. Right now, he thinks that’s the penthouse. We talked it out before the round.”
“I’mnothis anchor,” she protested, though it felt increasingly silly in the situation. But it was all she had control over anymore, and until he told her exactly what he wanted from her and for how long, she refused to just accept the title he put on her.
Feeling a little bit like she was losing her grip on things, she hugged the bat closer to her and muttered, “He hasn’t bitten me.”
Milo looked a little pained. “I really don’t need to know those things, Frankie.”
Coloring, she sputtered, “I’m just saying that we’re not official, okay?”
“Well, if my brother survives tonight, you can bet that he’ll make it official,” he promised her, taking a turn a little faster than she was comfortable with. Raising his eyebrows, he challenged, “You want him to live, right?”
“Of course I do!”
“Then you better get used to the idea of being an Amauri, because that’s what’s going to happen. So welcome to the family, I guess.” He didn’t sound entirely enthused by the idea, but she couldn’t blame him. She hadn’t exactly made the best impression.
Francesca squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry about all this. I had no idea that it’d be…”
Milo cleared his throat. In a slightly uncomfortable voice, he assured her, “Don’t worry about it. Really. We all fuck up.”Almost like he was desperate to change the subject, he warned her, “I’m going to put some music on. Is that okay?”
“Oh, okay.” She tucked her trembling knees together and nodded. “I’ll be quiet.”
“Thanks.”
He pressed a few buttons on the dashboard, but before he could select whatever he intended to use as a containment device for their conversation, a contact came up, listed only asBoss.
“Ah, fuck me,” he cursed, finger hovering over the screen.
She glanced between him and the screen several times before she whispered, “You should probably answer that, right?”
“Right.” The sound of the phone ringing filled the car for several more seconds before he answered the call.
A man’s voice came through the speakers in a drawl that made the hair stand up on the back of her neck. “Oh, fantastic. I was worried you’d forgotten how to use the phone. Glad to hear it still works.”
Milo winced. “Did you, uh, call? Sorry, Felix, I was busy.”
“Busy, huh?” The man’s tone nearly dripped with disbelief. “With what? Organizing your stamp collection? Maybe learning how to make fire with sticks? Or could youpossiblyhave anything to do with my phone has been blowing up for the past hour?”
Milo did that funny nose exhale thing again before he answered, “It’s a very long story, but the short version is my brother got his ass in hot water and we might need to batten down the hatches for a while because of it.”
A long-suffering sigh filled the car. “Oh for fuck’s— What did Luis do now?”
Keeping his eyes on the road, Milo explained simply, “He found an anchor.”
There was a beat of silence before the man on the other end of the line sputtered, “You’re joking, right?”
“Nope,” Milo drew out. “And unfortunately she was convinced by our debt-dodging Mr. Wright to volunteer for the Blood Games. It ended with Luis against Malachi Burke. And my brother won.” He cast her an apologetic look before he informed Felix, “She’s in the car with me now. We had to get out fast, so?—”
“Malachi fucking Burke?” Felix’s voice had gone terrifyingly flat.
“Yes, sir,” Milo answered, fingers gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.