18

MARGO

Something had to have been wrong with me.

I couldn’t put my finger on it yet, but, deep down, I believed that.

Ever since Rocello beat the daylights out of those two thugs, my life had changed. He, Jumaine, and Slade had messed me up, but each for different reasons.

Rocello was a single father. Tough on the outside, but tender with his little boy. He was a bit rough around the edges, but he’d had it rough so far. He had been carrying responsibilities that he should have shared with the mother of his child. And both Jumaine and Slade mentioned how he’d always looked out for them.

Jumaine was more of a mystery to me. I didn’t quite know what made me tick, but he kept his cool. Usually. There had been nothing cool about the kiss he’d given me in the hallway at the bar. That had been all heat. I still didn’t quite get how I could desire him right after finding out that he’d killed a man. Of course, that man had been on his way to possibly kill me and my customers. It was something I could barely wrap my head around.

Slade was also hard to define. Easygoing one moment, and hotheaded the next. And somehow sexy as hell throughout. Of course, this was the case with his friends, too. Nevertheless, his raw sexual magnetism was palpable. It took me just moments to get tangled in it.

All this had been swirling in my head for the past three days. Struggling to swim in a sea of indecision and frustration, I realized I needed help. There were two people I knew who might be able to help me figure this out—if they’d put their judgment aside and actually listen. Sure, Zoey had come down hard on Slade and the others when she told me about their involvement with the mafia. And once the adrenaline had worn off, Piper had been shocked at everything that went down at Zoey’s place that night out in North Haven.

Still, they were my best friends, and lord knew that I needed some friends to talk to right now.

Piper had to work the night shift, which meant we were all more or less on the same schedule. It was nice to have friends who lived the same night-owl lifestyle I did. We met for a late lunch at a place Zoey knew. It had a decent assortment of sandwiches and salads, and it wasn’t even that crowded in the late afternoon.

“Hey, Zoey,” I smiled. “Thanks for this. It means a lot to me.”

Her expression was somehow resigned. “I’m not sure exactly what you need to talk to us about, but something tells me that you didn’t heed my warning.”

I shrugged noncommittally, but she saw right through that.

Piper was waiting just inside the door, and we exchanged hugs before ordering at the counter and getting a table.

Once we were all settled, my friends both looked at me. “Spill,” Zoey ordered. Somehow, I didn’t think she was talking about the drink I was sipping.

I took a deep breath. “There’s a man I can’t stop thinking about.”

Zoey’s eyebrow arched. “Just one?”

Piper laughed. “Of course, just one.” Then she looked at my face. “There is just one, right?” Realization hit her. “Oh no. Is it those three men who were hurt?”

“Yes.” My voice was small.

“All three of them?” she said in disbelief.

I frowned. “It’s not like we’re having orgies or something. I just… I’ve kind of had a moment with each of them, and… I like them.”

Piper apparently couldn’t wrap her head around that. “Well, obviously, you have to choose one of them.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Zoey set her fork down next to her salad. “There’s no rule that says a woman can only like one man at a time.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“There kind of is,” Piper insisted. “That’s how most relationships work. You really think it’s okay for her to like three men?”

“Yes,” Zoey said. “There’s nothing wrong with it.” She turned to look me in the eye. “Just not those three men.”

“I’m confused,” Piper said.

“So is Margo.” Zoey plucked a cherry tomato out of her salad but then put it down before eating it. “I told you what they do. They’re bad men, hon. You need to leave them alone.”

That made sense. Perfect sense. Except… “I can’t.”

“Then why are we here, if you’ve already made up your mind?” Zoey asked. “Is it advice you’re after? Or approval for your actions?”

“Advice.” My response was quick. “What would you do if you were in my shoes?”

“We’ll get to that,” Zoey stated, assuming a more serious tone. “You said those three were friends. How is it that none of them knows what you’ve been up to with the others?”

“Up to?” Piper asked weakly.

“Just, you know, some kissing,” I said hastily. And, um, a little bit more in some cases, but I didn’t say that. “I guess they don’t like to share that kind of stuff.”

“Then you should,” Piper said.

“No, she shouldn’t. She’s not dating anyone officially. No one’s talked about being exclusive. She’s done nothing wrong,” Zoey insisted. “Except to fall for criminals.”

“Criminals?” Piper squeaked.

“Jesus, keep your voice down,” Zoey said, looking around.

“Here’s my advice,” Piper interjected, her voice stronger than before. “Run. Forget about anything you may have done with them. Don’t try to get involved with one of those guys, Margo. Do you really want to get into a relationship with a criminal?”

“Criminals,” Zoey corrected, accentuating the plural. “For once, I’m going to have to agree with Ms. Tight-Ass here. Those guys are bad news, and not just because they’re criminals.”

“This is the part where you elaborate,” I told her, her statement adding to my curiosity.

“They’re not independent,” Zoey went on. “Their bosses pretty much own them. I’ve heard this from a Don himself. It doesn’t matter when a Don comes calling. His henchman must answer, otherwise that henchman is in deep trouble. So, even if you decided to choose one—or more—of those guys, you’d have to bear in mind that you won’t be dating just him. It’s like you’d be dating his boss, too.”

Piper looked scandalized. “So now she’s dating four men?”

I rolled my eyes and focused on Zoey. “Let me see if I get this straight. You think I should forget about those three and pretend like nothing ever happened?”

“Not quite,” she wagged her index finger. “You mentioned some serious sexual tension between you and that Slade guy, and good god, that man is fine-looking. Why not just have fun with him?”

“Zoey!” Good thing Piper was a nurse—she looked like she was about to have to resuscitate herself.

“No dating,” Zoey interrupted Piper. “No romantic involvement whatsoever. Just some good old-fashioned fantastic sex. That’s all I’m saying.”

“I don’t do that,” I said.

“Have good sex?” Zoey quipped?

“No, I meant—well, okay, it’s been a really long time.” My dry spell was well over a year old. “But I don’t like to do that sort of thing outside of a relationship.”

“So find a nice guy,” Piper urged. “Just one. Maybe a teacher or an accountant.”

“Sounds like Slade could teach her a thing or two,” Zoey said. “Or any of them, really.”

“Or none of them,” Piper added. “That’s still an option. Maybe you could do something else. Like take a language class or something.”

Silence ruled for a moment and then we were all laughing. “I may be a bit rusty, but I do know that congregating verbs isn’t as much fun.”

“I’d go for it.” Zoey slugged her iced tea as if it were alcohol. “Just something casual—no strings attached.”

“Or not,” Piper countered. “Learning a language is something you could put on your resume.”

Zoey laughed. “And anything you do with those guys will decidedly not be suitable for your resume.”

“I love you guys,” I said, glancing at Piper first and then Zoey. “Do you know that? And I owe each of you a Halloween costume.”

Zoey gave a short laugh. “Why?”

“Because you’re the little devil on my shoulder, and Piper is the little angel on my other shoulder. So you should look the part.”

That got us laughing again, and eventually, as the conversation moved onto lighter topics, we managed to actually eat.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about my situation, and what they’d said. They had both made some quite compelling arguments. The smartest thing would be to stay away from all of them. But if I didn’t—or couldn’t—I knew one thing quite clearly. I didn’t want to choose just one of them. They were a package deal. I felt that instinctively. They were a unit. A family, even. They loved each other like brothers. I’d never want to come between them or even choose between them. But whether to move forward or stay the hell away—that, I had no clue about. But maybe I didn’t have to decide right away. I thought I had some time until one of those three or even all of them came back to my bar.