20. MADDY

20

MADDY

It's getting dark, and the pool party is booming while I'm progressively sobering up.

Sonny "Little" is all partied out. He comes over to the sunbed I sit on with Guff and Dani and falls face down on it right behind us, his little arm wrapping around my middle from behind.

"Tired?" I ask.

"Hungry," he murmurs.

Callie gives me a sad pout as she sits on Kai's lap. I know what that means. They want to party despite this responsibility over the kid.

"Wanna stay at my place tonight?" I ask him. "Get some takeout? Watch a movie?"

"Yes!" He jerks up to a sitting position and wiggles his way between me and Dani. "Movie! Movie!"

Callie lights up. Kai mouths, "Thank you," to me.

I know there probably won't be any movie because the little guy will fall asleep in seconds.

But he talks non-stop as we walk back home through the night. He shakes his wet hair like a dog, hops over stones, takes two steps at a time up the windy stone paths, points at the villas and bungalows, and tells me who lives there.

"Did you see Raven?" he asks.

"Yep."

"He din' stay long."

"No, he didn't."

That Siena girl doesn't sit right with me. Other girls? Not happening while we are in this deal together.

So, I text Raven.

Me: We need to talk. Urgent.

It's the first text message I've ever sent him. I follow up with a screen shot from the unknown number. This is business. Since we have a deal, maybe he can figure out where these messages came from. If this reaches Archer, I'm sure our deal is off. And Raven is interested in keeping this hush-hush. Oh, he is.

Little and I get to my bungalow. The kid tosses his wet shirt onto the kitchen stool, then plops on the couch.

"Shower and change," I tell him.

Callie brought some of his spare clothes here, so I have them as needed.

Little grunts in annoyance but gets up.

"And pick up your wet shirt, please. Take it to the laundry basket."

He disappears in the bathroom, and the first thing I do is get on the shopping app and order a tactical pen. It will arrive in two days. That's something I should've done a while back. I have a feeling I am being spied on, and that's not Raven. In case something happens, I should have a weapon on me. A tactical pen is perfect for a woman.

My phone dings with a notification that the takeout has been delivered and left at the door. I step out onto the brightly lit front porch to get the delivery bag left on the floor when I see the shadow emerging from the stone staircase that comes from the road.

For a second, my heart booms in panic.

But it's Raven. His steps are slow as he approaches, his gaze swiftly swiping along my body and pausing on my bare feet.

Without a word, I nod for him to come into my studio and follow him.

I set the food on the kitchen island, open the unknown messages on my phone, and give my phone to Raven.

His eyes dart to the bathroom door and the sound of the shower, then return to me, his gaze hardening. He calls someone and asks them to look into the code board for my phone and track it.

"That picture of me has never been on the internet," I explain, unpacking the food containers. "It's from back home."

The shower in the bathroom goes off, and I glance at Raven to see him staring me down, his cheekbones sharpening as he sucks in his cheeks.

The bathroom door opens.

Raven's gaze turns almost murderous, but then the loud, "Raven!" echoes in the room as Little walks out.

I want to say I imagined it, but I'm pretty sure Raven releases a breath of relief when he sees the kid and not another guy.

"Can Raven stay for dinner?" Little asks as he goes straight for the couch, jumps on, and picks up his iPad.

I take a moment to reply, "Sure."

I don't look at Raven, though. If he agrees, it will be an awkward dinner, and the kid is the only one in the room who doesn't understand it.

Raven's voice is curt as he replies, "I'm all right, but thank you."

Of course, he won't stay. His phone rings, and he answers and puts the person on the other line on speaker.

"The number is routed through Port Mrei, Zion's network," the male voice says. "But that Port Mrei number was jailbroken from the outside. I can't tell you more right now. Give me about an hour."

Raven hangs up.

I study his concentrated expression as he types something else in his phone.

"What does it mean?" I ask.

He doesn't look up from his phone. "It means that someone, I guess Butcher, has IT pros and hackers who managed to find a hole in Zion's network security. Which means they use another private network strong enough to send a signal to Ayana from elsewhere. Butcher doesn't have such resources. Which means someone else is paying for it." He finally looks up from the phone at me. "Or is interested enough."

My father? I want to ask, but that info is not for Little's ears.

I'm trying to make sense of how Raven makes me feel right now, standing in the same spot he stood several days ago when he told me to undress. With other people around, he is an unreadable mask. That wasn't the case the other night.

His ability to change his attitude depending on the situation is astounding. I thought I'd perfected my poker face, but Raven has mastered his.

His ambitions and determination, intentionally disguised, come across as him being born into business. This is the smartest of street talents. The most dangerous too. And it requires a certain history—I sure saw enough of it in the past, and he has it.

Raven has a strong personality, the power lurking on the surface. I want to see it on full display, though it terrifies me to think that he might hurt me. He is one of those people who don't command others, yet his silence is intimidating, sending a quiet tangible shockwave. Most people want to be around power. But somehow, most try to avoid him . He doesn't wear a chip on his shoulder, and for many, that's unsettling and suspicious.

Except for Archer and Kat. Also, Kai. He told me before my first run-in with Raven about how they go to the jungle to shoot guns. He talked about Raven with respect, and from Kai, that's no small thing. Kat's father is intrigued with him, too. So is Kat.

And there's Little.

I smile as I look at him on my couch, poking on the iPad.

Children are emotionally intuitive, and from the start, that day at the Center when Archer and Kat were kidnapped, Little clung to Raven, fascinated like a kid in a zoo who saw a tiger for the first time.

My father was a powerful man. Is powerful, probably even more so after the Change. But he swung his power at others like a giant wrecking ball. Many were lucky enough to duck on time. Many were destroyed by his powerful blow. I used to admire it—until I started ducking away, too.

I hope this won't be the case with Raven.

Raven tucks the phone into his pocket. "Let me know as soon as you get messages like this. We'll figure it out."

I nod.

"Have a good night."

"Night!" Little shouts as Raven walks out the door, and disappointment washes over me.

Raven watches me, researches me, I'm sure. He shows up and teases me. But when other people are around, he pretends he doesn't know me. Not a word about the party either, despite the message he sent me.

So, in a split-second decision, I pick up my phone and text him.

Me: New rule. If you don't want me around other men, I expect you to play as nicely.

Annoyed, I open one of the food containers too roughly, spilling its content.

Only now do I realize that I'm upset that he left.

Little looks up from the iPad. "Why won' Raven stay fo' dinner?"

Because that's not what Raven wants. He wants me, and dinners don't fit in the list of things he wants to do with me.

And he doesn't respond to my message.

I shrug.

Little won't let go of the topic, though. "He is sad."

I raise my eyebrows. "Yeah? He does seem a bit sad sometimes. On the inside."

"Yeah, on the inside," Little repeats thoughtfully.

"Maybe just quiet?" I probe. I like getting the little guy to talk.

"Tha' too. He's angry he likes you."

I stall with the plates in my hands, then slowly set them on the kitchen island. "Why do you say so?"

"‘Cause he doesn't like many. An',"—Little swallows and corrects himself—" and he likes you ."

Not enough to answer my text, apparently.

"He likes you , Little." I smile as I nod for him to come get his food.

"Yeah, bu' I'm not a girl."

A laugh escapes me. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Little comes over and plops his butt on the chair in front of his plate on the table. "‘Cause he don' want anything from me."

"Oh, yeah? What does he want from me ?"

I hold my breath, waiting for the answer, because children are peculiar in their observations, and Little is sure to come up with something silly.

He grins at me, twisting in his seat. "He wants kiiiisseeees."

He giggles, covering his mouth with his palm, and it makes me grin too.

I shake my head, and Little explodes in laughter.

"You are so silly," I murmur.

But I know where this comes from. Little stays with Kai and Callie, and there's plenty of kissing and more going on there. As well as with Ty and Dani. Marlow and Ray-Ray, as per rumors. Little is around couples all the time, and he assumes that's why Raven and I are occasionally in the same room.

But that's just that. Occasionally, we are in the same room, and we will be for the next two months. With doors closed…

When I meet Little's eyes, he is suddenly quiet, looking at me from under his eyebrows.

"What?" I ask.

"You think… Can we invite him for dinner sometime?"

Raven and I didn't sign up for dating. Our arrangement has clear rules. But I will let Raven decide if he wants to sprinkle it with some sort of normalcy.

I smile at Little. "Maybe you should ask Raven."