Page 133 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

My eyebrows pull, trying to figure out what she was saying. Thankfully, she repeats herself.

“Maybe we can go see them… together?”

I don’t laugh in her face immediately, and I’m proud of myself for it. In the spirit of being a better sister, I swallow down any harsh or negative epithets about why that is the worst idea she’s ever come up with, and just nod. “I’ll let you know, Auty. Let’s get off this floor; not everyone has a nice cushion on their bottom.”

“Oh, whatever. You definitely grew a booty in Belize.”

“And you’re disappearing before my eyes. I don’t believe you’re really vegan, by the way. I know if I order us two three piece wing baskets you’d tear it up.”

She pushes me gently when we’re both on our feet, but I just lean onto the wall and watch her laugh.

I want to feel lighter. My body is begging me to. A happy Auty is all I ever want.

Her laughter peters off the longer I stare, but the smile drops off her face completely, before she averts her eyes. Her thumb comes up to her mouth and she bites the skin off her cuticle. “I gotta get Deucey from G-Pops. Can you walk me out?”

“Yeah.” I push off the wall and go to the door. “You got snot on your nose, let’s go clean you up first.”

“You’re not funny,” she snaps, but she wipes her nose discreetly, making me giggle more.

PC is coming in as we walk into the lobby. His eyes lock onto Auty, narrowing as his steps slow.

Auty gives me a stiff side hug, promising to call before scurrying out. My surprise grows as she completely ignores PC, not even sparing a backward glance as she turns and power walks away.

I stop and wait for PC to get to me, before turning back toward the elevators. My fingers pinch his sky blue tracksuit jacket. His lips twitch, but he doesn’t swat my hand away, opting instead to grab it and kiss the back of my hand.

Piccolo Nabahi and I have come a long way from him threatening my life over his best friend. I’d like to think it’s because he’s grown to know and love me over the years, but I know it has more to do with his own personal growth and maturity. I don’t take for granted the inside scoop to the elusive organization he belongs to in East Kenton, watching the guys balance their birthrights and the purpose they’ve each carved out for themselves. Pic is a second son, but that doesn't mean he has any less responsibility, and just recently, he seems to have stopped skirting it, with his getting a serious girlfriend. It’s no secret that Sheisty doesn’t want his family’s Council seat, so whenever PC gets married, he’ll be the one to take over.

I never would have thought there were so many layers to my favorite rapper, and I’d be privy to them. They all joke that Tripp is my favorite, but I have personal relationships with all the guys, and look at them all as my brothers.

“You made up with Autumn?” he rasps, his thumb rubbing where his lips were.

“We always make up, you know that.”

“Hmm.” He places my hand at my side, then stops the elevator.

I wiggle my brows, though my stomach tightens. Especially when he turns to me, his eyes hooded.

“This stays between us.”

My mouth parts, and out comes, “Pic, you have a woman.”

I thought I’d at least get a half smile to slice through the thickening air, but whatever’s on his mind is too serious, because he just scratches the side of his face.

“Stop panicking.”

“You can’t say that after stopping the elevator and telling me to keep secrets. Just spit it out, please. Here.” I grab a piece of gum from my pocket and push it in my mouth, chomping as hard as I can while the menthol melts on my tongue.

“Something is wrong with Autumn. Fox won’t tell me what.”

My eyes stretch. Thankfully, he pauses long enough to let the water that filled my ears dissipate. With a jerky nod, I let him know he can continue.

“Once, when Turk was OT, Fox called me to get her. When I pulled up, she had Rue and Deuce with her. Lil’ man was crying and shit. I asked where Autumn was, and she broke down. They crashed with me until Turk came and got them the next morning. Fox was dodging my calls, and then finally told me Autumn ‘will be okay,’ but then now, I noticed she don’t really leave the kids with her. Did she seem off?”

Not only am I flabbergasted because PC never says this many words altogether, but the words he was saying weren’t making a lick of sense. Granted, I was only around them for like a day, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Auty was just regular sad, regular clingy.

Right?