Read Unfinished Hero 02 Creed for Free Online Page A

alone.” He opened his mouth to speak so I finished quickly, “Except for this gig for Knight, I work alone.”
    He didn’t move.
    I did, to put my hands to the hem of my shirt and I did this as I asked, “You not moving, does that mean you aren’t gonna help out and feed my cat?”
    “I know,” he whispered and for the first time in a long time I had to hold back a flinch.
    But I managed it and kept the mask in place.
    “No shit?” I asked.
    “We need to talk, Sylvie.” He leaned forward an inch. “He told me –”
    Oh no.
    Fuck no.
    I whipped my shirt off and tossed it aside. Creed stopped speaking abruptly and his eyes dropped to my torso as my hands moved to my belt.
    “Learn this about me, partner, and I suggest you do it now,” I told him. “I do not go back. Eyes ahead. Feet moving forward. I don’t ever fucking go back. I don’t talk about it. I don’t think about it.” I undid the button on my jeans and pulled the zip down. “You were in my life a long time ago. I’ve lived two full lifetimes since then, each entirely different. I like the one I’m in now. I’m not going back to the ones before. I didn’t like them as much.”
    His eyes shot back to mine and his lips whispered, “Sylvie –”
    It was my turn to lean in an inch. “Deal breaker. You’re all fired up to discuss that shit, this is done. I’ll tell Knight to find you another partner. He’ll understand. We’re tight. He’ll give me that and not one thing will change between us. You keep your mouth shut about that shit, eyes forward, feet moving ahead, mind on the job, we’ll be fine.”
    His gaze moved over my face and it took its time.
    Then he said quietly, “You’re serious.”
    “Serious as shit,” I replied immediately then pulled down my jeans.
    I stepped out of them and straightened, hands to my panties.
    “You gonna hang while I shower?” I asked on a tilt of my head.
    His eyes were locked to mine. “I’m ride-along with you,” he declared.
    “Man, I work alone.”
    “Not anymore.”
    I took my fingers out of the waistband of my panties and planted my hands on my hips. “Deal is, Knight’s job and only Knight’s job.”
    “Deal is, we’re partners. We learn to work together so we don’t get dead workin’ together. That means we take every opportunity to work together. Sebring’s footin’ the bill and you got yourself extra hands, eyes and brains on your other jobs that have shit to do with him. Honest to God, you gonna turn your back on that?”
    “Yes,” I returned instantly.
    “Then that tells me that hard shell with sharp edges you grew isn’t about life but about protecting yourself,” he shot back. “Which means you won’t let me in because of the shit we share. That means it’s between us. And that means, we need to take each other’s back, with that shit between us, we’re fucked. And that… partner, means, if that shit’s between us, you aren’t lookin’ forward. That’s bullshit. You got your eyes trained way the fuck back.”
    Fucking fuck, fuck, fuck.
    I held his gaze.
    Then I told him, “Full can. Wet food. Cat bowls in the cupboard by the stove. She likes a clean one every day. And, by the way, I get out of the shower, before we hit the road, toast would be good. Don’t skimp on the butter and ignore the grape jelly. The kids eat that. I like orange marmalade and don’t skimp on that either.”
    His head jerked to the side. “The kids?”
    “Don’t fuck with me, partner, you know exactly who I’m talking about.”
    “Adam, Leslie and Theo. Neighbor’s kids,” he stated immediately. “Then there’s Josh and Dora, your dead partner’s kids.”
    Oh yeah. He’d looked into me but he was still fishing.
    I didn’t know what to make of that so I didn’t make anything of it.
    “You get more visitors than the Pope,” he remarked.
    Yeah, he’d looked into me.
    My eyes went down to see Gun slink into the room, rubbing her fluffy side against Creed’s