“Relax. My only plan is to put a little fear in him should our paths cross. This lack of respect is becoming grating.” He paused and met eyes with his sister. “Let’s send something nice to his old man for staying out of it.”
Lucy nodded. She knew how to handle that side of the business. Mal tended to get—at least in Lucy’s words—dramatic.
“You’d think he’d be more protective of his grandchildren,” Mal mused.
“He is,” Lucy said in more somber tones. “That’s why he wants Sean to stay away. But he still can’t bring himself to act against his son.”
It was all too reminiscent, which Lucy never failed to point out to Mal. Buttheirgrandfather had been better, done more to get them away from their tyrant of a father; he’d simply died before he could succeed.
Still though. Young son. Baby girl on the way. Abusive father worth little more than the dirt beneath Mal’s shoes. It was a familiar story. Even if, in Carla’s case, no Elementals were involved outside of the Titans and Oz. Mal’s father had never held back with his ice when he hit him and Lucy.
“We’ll just have to clean up the trash ourselves,” Mal said.
“So chivalrous, Mickey?”
“This isn’t about protecting Carla,” he said, likely too quickly on the defensive judging by how the corners of Lucy’s mouth twitched. “This is about protecting our investments in our territory. And keeping the Dunkirks from thinking they have any right to my streets.”
Lucy tapped her fingernails on her own coffee cup. “Funny how quickly ‘our’ turns into ‘my’.”
It was a figure of speech, but Lucy always had to correct him if he dared call Olympus City or any of its streetshis.
“Even funnier,” Lucy continued, “is how you can pretend this isn’t just as much about making sure Carla, Michael, and the baby are safe as sticking it to Dunkirk.” Leaning her elbows on the table, she propped her chin on twined fingers. “You’re not going soft just by staying a few steps ahead of the real scum, Mickey. But you can’t deny we wouldn’t even know Carla’s name without Oz, and suddenly, she’s not only safe at the shelter but moving into her own apartment in your building and getting a cushy job right here where you can keep an eye on her.”
That had nothing to do with how much Carla reminded Mal of his mother, right down to the shade of her skin and curve of her smile. Absolutely nothing…
“Like I said,” Mal narrowed his eyes, “protecting our investments. Oz wouldn’t look too kindly on something happening to his girlfriend. Neither would you, I imagine.”
“Oh I’d kick your ass,” Lucy smiled with equal affection and menace. “But I’m not worried. You want to feel the baby kick just as much as I do, you just won’t admit it.”
Mal squirmed in his seat and Lucy took on a triumphant expression. He didnotwant to feel the baby. It was just…fascinating.
“Speaking of you going soft…”
“Don’t start.”
“Come on, I know you’ve seen this mystery man more than once now. And Dom is being way too tight-lipped about it, which must mean she knows something I don’t.”
“Why are you wasting her time asking about my love life?” Mal scowled. “Can’t imagine she has much patience for it.”
“Love life instead of sex life. Interesting…” Lucy trailed.
Mal fanned his hands out on the tabletop, anxious for their food to arrive so he had somewhere to look other than at Lucy orinto his coffee cup. He wasn’t ready to share Danny with her just yet. That would be accompanied by far too manyI told you so’s.
“Focus on the heist, Luce,” he said. “It’ll sneak up on us before we know it.”
She got the hint, emphasized by how Mal didn’t look away when their eyes met. “About that.”
“That?”
“The heist, Mickey. I know we’re down to the wire, with everything falling into place, but with Dunkirk hanging around—”
“We’re not pushing back the heist,” Mal said with authority.
“Mickey…”
“We planned things down to the last detail. Including the timeline. The night guard at the history museum is retiring. New guy starts the day we hit the place. We throw off any of the planning now, we open ourselves to mistakes. And you better not be thinking of testing out that lipstick on this one. We have the gas. There’s only one guard. It’s taken care of.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” she batted her eyes at him innocently. “Just gave the order to Priestly while it was on my mind. I’ll think of something useful for it.” Smiling to herself, she glanced up and off to the side.
