Curious, I went into the bathroom, pulling my wild hair into a clip, brushing my teeth, then slipping into some comfy sweats before making my way back out into the hallway.

My footsteps faltered when I heard the timbre of male voices.

Two male voices.

The incredibly welcome one belonging to Soren.

But also… Renzo.

My stomach twisted as I forced myself to move forward, to face whatever the two of them wanted to throw at me.

“Shit, that’s rough,” Renzo said, wincing at my face.

The bruises really had gotten a chance to settle in over the night. The one across my cheek from taking the brunt of the punch was a deep purple and blue with mottling of red around the edges. But thanks to my nose also being hit, I had two decent black eyes to look at for a week or so as well.

“Nice to see you too, Renz,” I grumbled.

“Want a warm-up?” Soren asked, already approaching me with the coffee pot.

“He makes a good cup,” Renzo said, his hand wrapped around a cup I’d bought but hated the handle to, so it lived in the back of my cupboard.

“I know,” I agreed, giving Soren a small smile as he filled my mug.

“I guess you do,” Renzo said, nodding.

“Are we really doing this now? It’s, like six in the morning.”

To that, the two men shared a look, then almost matching chuckles.

“Darlin’, it’s eleven,” Soren informed me.

“Oh. Well… yesterday was a lot.”

“Hence why I am here,” Renzo said.

“I will talk to you about—”

“No need. We already talked it all out—me and your man here.”

“You… talked it all out? Without me?”

“Everything we discussed last night,” Soren said, tone calming. “And he may or may not have thrown in a speech about not hurting you… or else. I get the feeling ‘or else’ might involve cement shoes and the bottom of the bay.”

“Nah. We don’t throw bodies in the bay,” Renzo said. Then, with a smirk, added, “Anymore.”

“So, what’s the consensus?” I asked, wondering if the idea that sounded so promising the day before was too crazy after all.

“I think it has merit. If your stubborn ass would be willing to go legit.”

“I went legit for this job,” I reminded him.

“Barely. You didn’t even dye your hair.”

“Sure I did. Almost weekly.”

He shook his head at that.

“You sure this is what you want to sign up for a lifetime of?” he asked, shooting me a smile as he spoke to Soren.

“Pretty sure,” Soren said.

“Alright. Well, I’m gonna cut out. We will talk in the coming days,” he said to me. “You should lock this shit down,” he said, pointing his thumb toward Soren. “He cooks.”

With that, he was gone, leaving me to turn to Soren.