“Oh no, not you with the guilt, too.” I flicked my wrist, about to lose it. “Don’t start. You’re just like Constantine. Want to hold the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

“Of course. We’re twice your size.” He winked. “Gotta keep it from crushing those we love.”

“Funny.” But he induced a smile. “How’d I get so lucky to have you in my life?”

“Bah.” He waved me off. “I’m the lucky one.” He turned his head, and I overheard someone calling out his name. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “If you don’t presently need me, Gwen apparently does.”

“Oh, she does, does she?”

He grinned, and something told me that smile had more to do with the woman he’d been assigned to protect than anything else. “Shut up.”

“Well, it sounds like you have your hands full and are too busy to fly here anyway.”

He rolled his eyes. “Just call me or text me when you have a chance and check in.”

I nodded.

“And, Letty?”

“Yeah?”

“If the man does hurt you or break your heart or Colin’s⁠—”

“I know, I know.” My turn to roll my eyes. “Jet plane over here. Etcetera, etcetera.”

“Precisely.” He smiled. “Love ya, sis. Later.” He ended the call before I could tell him back, and I set aside my phone and checked to see if my legs would hold my weight this time.

Deciding to disobey Constantine’s orders, I snuck into his office for another drink. Still in the clear, I hurried to his bar and poured two shots.

“Call go that well, huh?”

I guiltily lowered the glass to my side and turned around.

He was standing at the threshold of the office, a shoulder propped against the interior doorframe, eyes on me. He surprised me before I could answer. “Go ahead.”

Worried he’d change his mind and convince me to make smarter choices, I swallowed half the glass in one swig. Like before, the liquid burned my throat and hurt my chest, but it eased the aching pain there, too.

Long strides carried him my way as I continued to sip more. He stopped before me, quietly watching as I finished it. I added more to the glass and knocked that back, too. No need to tell him I’d already had some before the call.

He gently took hold of my wrist when I went for another. “No more,” he said firmly. “It’ll hurt me too much to see you sick and be powerless to take away your pain.”

26. Constantine

Chapter 26

Constantine

“I feel relaxed for the first time since⁠—”

“Since I came back into your life?” I cut her off, hating the bitterness in my voice, but it was a gut-shot response to knowing the call with her brother had her shooting whiskey.