Connor Loche could go jump in a ditch for all I cared. I had a dad as far as I was concerned.
“He said it’d be easier to communicate with him if I was here,” I said.
Felicity nodded as she pulled ingredients out of her fridge and started to mix them together. I had no idea what she was making, but it didn’t take long before seasonings and spices filled the air and made my stomach grumble. “Yes. I’m also his lawyer, so it keeps all of our communications privileged.”
“That’s a neat trick,” I responded.
Felicity snickered. “Well, to be fair, I was his lawyer first. He started asking me out, and even though I was strict about not mixing business with pleasure, there was just something about him. I knew he was the man for me. So I broke a few rules.”
Silence filled the kitchen as Felicity worked on a particularly hearty brunch. She combined eggs, bacon and a variety of veggies into a delicious omelet and then made some hashbrowns with cheese and topped it all off with buttered toast. She poured me a glass of orange juice and then brought both the plate and the juice over to me and set them down in front of me. My stomach growled as I stared in awe at the best food I’d seen in close to nine months.
“Wow. Thank you so much,” I said.
“Of course. There’s more where that came from, so if you want another one, just let me know.”
“After this, I’m going to fall asleep immediately,” I said.
She laughed. “I’ve got a room all prepared for you, when you’re ready.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in a sigh of relief. “Good food and a nice place to sleep have been luxuries for me lately.”
Felicity set a hand on my head. “Well, we’re going to change that, aren’t we?”
With that, she walked away and left me to my food. I ended up scarfing it down much quicker than I was planning on. It wasn’t just that I hadn’t had good food in a while, it was the fact that it was absolutely delicious. It was the best food I ever had, and apart from a few pieces of errant bacon that fell for Concrete to lick up, I ate every crumb on the plate.
Felicity happened to walk back through the kitchen at the exact moment I was finishing up, and laughed. “Wow. You weren’t lying.”
“You’re an amazing cook,” I said. “You should do this professionally.”
“That’s what Garrett tells me too. Unfortunately, his reputation follows me, so it’s difficult to get a job at a notable restaurant.”
“Start your own,” I replied. “Open up a diner or food truck or something. With cooking like this, you’d clean house.”
“Being a lawyer pays pretty good. Besides, I love cooking. I’d much prefer it to be a hobby than a job.” She grabbed my plate and empty cup. “Do you want more?”
“I’m okay for now, thank you.”
“Well then, come on, I’ll show you to your bedroom.”
She set my plate and cup on the counter near the sink, then started back down the hallway we walked in from. I stood up and followed her down, with Concrete sticking close. We walked through the doorway that was to the right of the front door, and there was a staircase on the other side of the wall leading up. She led up the stairs and down a subsequent hallway at the top of the stairs to the last door down the hallway to the left.
Setting a hand on the handle, she pointed back down the hallway to a door past the stairs leading down. “My bedroom’s down there. You’ll be in here.”
She opened the door and I looked into a simple, but comfortable looking bedroom. There was a king-size sleigh bed centered in a recess against the back wall in front of large french windows. Matching bedside tables had plants setting on top, and there was a dresser with a vanity against the western wall, right next to another door. A couple of chairs sat perpendicular to one another with a table in the southeastern corner of the room and an area rug sat center in the room. It made me sleepy just to look at.
Felicity pointed over to the door next to the dresser. “That door leads to your bathroom. There’s fresh towels inside. I did buy a small supply of sweatpants, jeans, and plain t-shirts that are in the dresser there. Garrett told me about what size you were, so I made my best guess. Hopefully it fits, but if we have to go at some point and buy more stuff, we can do that no problem tomorrow.”
“This…” My throat was actually knotting up a little at how kind Felicity and Venom were being to me. They really were treating me like I was their son. “Thank you for all of this.”
“Of course.” She stepped back out through the doorway, but Concrete ran further into the room and hopped up on the bed. “Looks like you have a roommate. That okay?”
“Yeah. I think it’ll be comforting having him here,” I said.
“He’s got insane intuition, that one. He might be able to sense that you need a buddy. Just kick him out if he gets on your nerves. Sleep as long as you like. Garrett has a few people he wants to come by and lay eyes on ya just in case, but I told them to come slowly starting tomorrow so that you have some time to recoup. If you need anything, just let me know.”
“I will. Thanks, Felicity,” I replied.
She gave me one final smile, then left, pulling the door closed as she went.
I had no frame of reference for what time it was when I went to sleep other than the fact that the sun was up, which it was not when I woke up. Concrete was no longer in the room, so he must have gotten bored with me and barked or scratched until Felicity let him out. When my eyes finally adjusted to the dark, I could see there was a wrapped sandwich, bag of chips, and a bottle of water sitting on the dresser, and I smiled.
I was supposed to be looking for Connor, but I would enjoy being in a warm, comfortable home while I could.
Felicity had downplayed the number of people Venom wanted to meet me just a bit. Over the course of a few days, about ten different people came to meet me and assure me that, so long as I was at Felicity’s house, Connor Loche wouldn’t be able to touch me. Different rotations of the people stuck around the house at any given time, either watching the house from the outside, or sitting inside with us, enjoying a meal and conversation.
“Thank you for doing this,” I told one of the last ones I saw before going to bed one night.
“No need to thank me,” he said. “Venom’s been good to me. I’d do anything for his kid.”
His kid.
Hopefully I’d be able to look Connor in his eyes one day soon and tell him that someone was doing the job he was supposed to do, leagues better than he had done it.
And then I’d end his life.
4
Cherri
There was a knock on my door followed by it opening and Sicily poking his head in. “Mornin’!”
“Good morning,” I replied. “How’d you sleep?”
Sicily walked in, shutting the door behind him, and found a place to sit cross-legged on the floor despite the number of chairs around the room. “Are you kiddin’ me? This place is like a hotel compared to my place. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but a king-size bed all to myself in a sound-proof room is a massive step up from my brother’s hand-me-down full with half the springs broken and no screaming kids running around. I’m in heaven.”