The brothers exchange a look, and suddenly I’m self-conscious. What if they don’t want me to go because they don’t know if they can trust me? Or, what if they don’t want me to go because they’re planning on meeting someone? Mixing a bit of business with pleasure, even though Atticus claims they don’t do that. Both scenarios bother me more than they should. I just met these guys. For all I know, they’re the villains.
Atticus finally says, “Get dressed. We leave in ten.”
“What does one wear to a brothel?”
This gets a laugh from Oliver.
When I glare, he holds up his hands and says, “It’s just funny because you’re right. Most women wear lingerie, but that’s because they’re working. What you have on is fine.”
Finn says, “Maybe a shirt not stained in blood.”
Our gazes crash, and I feel warm all over.
“A little blood never hurt anyone, Finn.”
He’s laughing as I head up to Atticus’ bathroom. I hate that I’ve ruined the sweater, so I fill the sink with cold water and push the material under. Hopefully, the blood will come out. I choose a dark sweater from the bag in the closet. By the time I change, it’s been twelve minutes. Oops. The guys are waiting when I make my way to the first floor.
“Sorry. I don’t do well with time restrictions.”
Atticus shakes his head. “Why does that not surprise me?”
I could be insulted by his tone, but I’m not.
Outside, the rain has stopped, and it’s going to be a beautiful spring day. I love May in Chicago, mostly because you never know what kind of weather you’re going to get. Might be snow. Might be rain. Might be hot enough to go to Navy Pier and sunbathe on the little beaches next to the lake.
Finn gets in the driver’s seat of the SUV with Atticus next to him, leaving Oliver and me in the back.
“So all three of you work at Neverland? What do you do there?”
Oliver says, “I run the brothel side. Finn takes care of the bar. And Atticus overlooks it all.”
“And what does running the brothel side entail? Sampling the merchandise?”
The thought of him doing this really bothers me. And Finn did say they’d shared a woman before. Maybe it was one of their employees.
I add, “Which is a bad idea, by the way. Atticus is right. You shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.”
Oliver laughs. “I don’t sample the merchandise.”
Finn coughs and Oliver’s cheeks turn pink.
“Okay, there’s one girl I’ve been with. Her name is Gretel. In my defense, I knew her before she came to work at Neverland.”
“Have Atticus and Finn been with her, too?”
His eyes widen. “I don’t think so.”
Atticus glances over his shoulder at me. “Definitely not.”
“Same here. That chick is crazy, and not in the fun way.”
“There’s a fun kind of crazy, Finn?”
He glances in the mirror. “Yup.”
Well, that’s interesting. I wonder if I’m the fun crazy. Something tells me I might be. After all, this is madness being here with them when I know Wolfe is going to come looking for me soon. If he’s not already.
“Do any of you have a phone charger? My burner phone died, and I’m worried I might miss a call.”