Page 21 of Himbo Hitman
So I did it. Wrapped my little finger around his and watched the way those curious eyes crinkled at the corners, over the top of his unhinged mask. Under his hood, I’m sure I made out dark hair, but who knows if it was real or a wig or a trick of the shadows around us.
“Reilly?” Lars pulls me from my head as he takes my arm and turns me to face him. “I’m serious. We need to get that looked at.”
“Do we have a first aid kit here?”
“Dude, no. Come on. You wereshot. We need the hospital, and we need to go to the police. Maybe if they see all this, they’ll start to take things with Colin seriously.”
And maybe they’ll catch the ridiculous man with the gun and terrible aim, or maybe they won’t. One of those things is more likely, and when they don’t catch him, he’ll come back to finish the job.
“No.”
“What do you meanno?”
“No, we can’t go to the hospital. Or the police.”
“That’s going to get infected.”
“Then you better clean it really fucking well.” It’s risk infection or a redo of tonight, and I know which one I’d prefer.
He’s silent as he studies my face. “What the fuck happened?”
Now that the pain has started to trickle away, I take a sip of mydrink and walk over to collapse in one of the chairs by my desk. I kick out the other one, and Lars takes it.
“Is this the kind of story you’re going to tell me and I’m going to wish you didn’t?”
“Probably.”
He takes a long breath. “Okay. I’m ready.”
I fill him in on everything. Starting with the anger that drove me to Rev in the first place and ending with my very close brush with death and an elementary school promise.
“So hetriedto kill you?” Lars asks, looking as confused as I am.
“Obviously.”
“And then he helped you and promised to let you go if you keep quiet?”
“Exactly.”
Lars huffs, leaning back in his chair and extending his long legs out in front of himself. “You’re a fucking idiot for going there alone.”
“You weren’t here.”
“I was … fuck. I was stuck in traffic.” He’s barely holding his frustration together. “You should have called me. You almost fuckingdied.”
“But I didn’t.”
“But you might have.”
“And yet, here I am.”
Lars crosses his arms. “This sounds fishy.”
“Wouldn’t know. I’m deaf now.”
He rolls his eyes and for the first time almost looks amused. I’m not totally joking, though, because there’s a soft ringing when things are silent. “It’s a cosmetic … setback. You can still fucking hear.”
“Maybe, but not with all this blood in my ear.” I tilt my head to the side like I’m trying to clear out the block.
