“Tell me whatever it is you’re struggling with say,” I encourage.
Xana sighs, rubbing a hand through her dyed blonde hair, which looks more than overdue for a coloring. Maybe Chantelle or Akila know someone who can do that for her. Make her feel a little better about herself after feeling so down since she showed up here.
“I like helping Delaney with Breckin,” she finally admits in a rush.
My brow raises in question, because I don’t see what the issue is.
“I want to go into the medical field. Maybe work here with you and help.”
Oh.
My body stiffens and I fight the urge to yellnoas it threatens to burst from my throat. I wasn’t expecting that, never once thinking Xana would want to commit to this life whether she’s already on the fringes or not. Especially after her rejection when I opened up about the truth of the Olins, our parents, and Malia.
“Xan, you need to understand it’s dangerous, even if you’re not in the middle of the worst of it,” I drawl, trying to keep my emotions indifferent in the effortless way Nathaniel does it.
“I know,” she says. “I want to be close to you, Li. I’ve really liked helping the last couple of days and it’s what I want to do, but only if I can do it here.”
She watches me, trying to read the reaction on my face, which I’m praying to whoever is watching this exchange is fuck-all. A smile tugs at her lips and I can’t help but smirk back at her, even though I don’t know what the hell is going on in her head.
“Plus, if you and Malia have babies I get to be as close to my nieces and nephews as possible—“
“That sounded like it was plural,” I cut her off.
Xana chuckles, her smile growing, as infectious as it is beautiful.
“Well, you are kind of a whore, Outlaw.”
My head snaps back as if she smacked me, my face twisting in mock offense, before I right myself.
“Alright, that’s fair.”
We share a laugh, a moment that feels light amongst everything else that’s becoming too heavy to bear.
“I don’t want to live in the white, while you live in the black,” she says with a shrug. “We should be on the same side.”
I should probably stop this, but who am I kidding? I’m a selfish fucker sometimes.
“To the gray,” I say with a smirk, holding out my fist to her.
“To the gray,” Xana nods, smiling back at me and bumping her fist against mine, then stepping in to wrap her arms around my waist.
“Thank you, Outlaw.”
“Always, Tiny Pariah.”
26
Lion
Iflingopenthedoor to the room Akila and I have been staying in since I got the call about Malia.
Four months she’s been gone. This chaotic force of a woman just up and vanished. Between my family and the Olins there’s no reason we shouldn’t have found her by now. Byrne is a cunt, but his connections help too. None of that matters, though.
There’s been nothing.
Not a single person knows who has her or where Rico Martinez is. My Uncle Nate has figured out we might have a silent player in the game, a third-party who keeps the trail cold. It’s not a stupid theory, but it’s not to our benefit.
“Lion, you need some sleep,” Akila says, as she walks into the room we share.