A third voice joined in. “I told you he’s a thief. He broke into my apartment!”
Cooper rounded the corner, his chest increasingly tight. There was Sam, standing in front of his desk. And there, to Cooper’s immense dismay, was the demon—Bracchus or Chaos or whichever—except he didn’t have any of his demon accessories. And his hair was brown. And his eyes weren’t creepy fox eyes.
He looked human, basically.
And for some reason, Cooper’s neighbor Mrs. Cross was also there, saying stuff about how Chaos had broken into her apartment.
Double shit.
Cooper knew the only reason Sam hadn’t already called the cops was because this whole building was owned by Ivan, and employees of mobsters didn’t fuck with police. The residents knew not to either. Things were handled in-house, or Ivan’s wrath would sometimes work as its own deterrent.
Cooper’s gut churned as three pairs of eyes landed on him. His mind was battered with countless memories of his father making some sort of scene, a too-young Cooper trying his best to smooth it over before someone took it in their head to investigate his living situation.
I’m not a child anymore, he reminded himself.This isn’t one of Dad’s messes. This ismymess.
And while, just like his father, he hadn’t meant to make it,unlikehis father, he’d fix it himself.
Cooper squared his shoulders and met the demon’s now brown eyes. “Bracchus?” he asked, as calm and casual as he could.
Chaos’s face lit up like Cooper’s very presence was some sort of delight. Nobody looked at Cooper like that these days. It was kind of…sweet, actually. “Puppy!” he exclaimed.
Cooper’s cheeks went hot. Jesus. Now everyone was going to think he had some sort of kink arrangement with this guy. He could practically see Mrs. Cross filing the info away for later. Most of Cooper’s neighbors minded their own business, but that one didn’t have anything better to do than gossip. Too much money and not enough real responsibility.
Cooper cleared his throat with an embarrassed laugh, looking to the guard now. “Sorry, Sam. I, um, forgot to put my friend on the list.”
“Thisdeviantis your friend?” Mrs. Cross asked, her voice full of accusation, like the information was damning.
“Um. Yes?”
“He forced his way into my home.”
Of fucking course he did. “Did he take anything?” Cooper asked, reaching for his wallet. “I’ll pay for any damages.”
“No. He— There was a—” Mrs. Cross trailed off, suddenly at a loss for words.
Oh boy. What exactly had Chaos done to her?
Cooper startled when a warm hand landed on his arm. He hadn’t even realized Chaos had sidled up to him.
“I only wanted a peek.” Chaos made a little pout, like a child who’d been caught sneaking candy, as he grasped Cooper’s bicep. “To check for fun-house clowns.”
As Cooper tried to process what that could possibly mean, Sam spoke up. “Cooper, your friend can’t go breaking into other apartments. We’ll have to ban him from the building.”
Shame. Embarrassment. Defeat. Cooper was used to those feelings when dealing with the general public.
But what exactly was shameful about this situation? It was a mess, sure, but…assuming Chaos was real—and he certainly seemed to be—then he was a demon, presumably from some other dimension, maybe not used to their world at all. He didn’t know any better.
And Cooper was the one who’d brought him here, even if he’d done it unintentionally.
Cooper ignored his hot cheeks and roiling belly, raising his gaze to meet Sam’s. “He’s helping me with something for Ivan,” he said firmly, watching Sam’s eyes widen at the mention of Cooper’s intimidating cousin. “Do you want to be the one to explain to him why we were delayed?”
Cooper had never once invoked his relationship with Ivan when dealing with the guards here, so he could only hope Sam would take the exception seriously.
And Sam did, holding up his hands as if to ward off an attack. “No. No. He can stay.” He raised an apologetic brow to Cooper’s neighbor. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Cross, my hands are tied.”
With one last scowl at Chaos, Mrs. Cross stalked off in a huff back to the elevators. She might not have liked it, but she knew the order of things around here, same as everyone else.
Cooper lifted Chaos’s hand off his arm and tugged him gently to the side. He tried to release him afterward, but Chaos kept a tight hold, bringing Cooper’s fingers up to his face and stroking them slowly. It was…weird but not as freaky as it might have been if he still had all his sharp teeth.
