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The whole thing seems to sneak up on him but then, with Elizabeth, when does it not? Rio likes to think he’s good at keeping an eye on what’s happening around him and that very little ever slips by him but once again, it’s different.
It’s been months — technically years now — and they’ve sorted most of their shit out. The FBI, the business, the whole wanting to kill each other ordeal but they never really sorted them. Some things felt like old times. Having a drink together, the moment of shared smiles before reality crashes back down, or even just their regular meetings and drops. Little pieces of their lives here and there that feel like they never really progressed far past that night in the park when she asked to clean five times the amount of cash she was currently doing at that time and things were still good. All before everything slowly but surely went downhill.
Not that there weren’t good times after that because there were but none of that matters when he can’t fucking stand to be in the room with her for more than five minutes unless there’s something about it that tells him he’s gonna have fun. Usually when she’s agitated or irritated about something or he’s drunk enough (or hell, even high enough) to not really give a shit. More often than not, he doesn’t want to deal, because, for all the good times, there’s often a bad time. It may all be bygones now but there’s a difference between wanting to move on, to not be stuck in the constant loop of who is gonna get to the trigger first, and forgetting about the whole thing.
So when it happens, Rio doesn’t notice at first or rather, he doesn’t put much importance behind it.
Meeting at Boland Bubbles after closing isn’t exactly unusual but more often than not, Rio will send Mick only this time, he’s busy doing something far more important and while Rio doesn’t want to have to deal with Elizabeth tonight, he knows he’s gonna have to. Despite it all, the business is doing good. She’s held up her end of everything so well that he’s even thrown her a bone and given her some help and she’s managed to negotiate her way into a better split. It’s still nowhere near fifty, fifty and Rio knows that isn’t fair, knows she definitely does enough work to get that much, but she hasn’t complained. Surprisingly enough. Really, he shouldn’t have to drop by every month to triple check the books and discuss how things are going but there’s just that little bit of him that can’t ignore the bad times that have him keeping up these drop-ins just to be sure.
By the time he gets there, it’s only the light in her office that’s on. She’s hunched over her desk, flipping through some papers so frequently she can’t be paying much attention to them at all. She doesn’t lift her head, in fact, nothing about her shifts so Rio steps fully inside the room and lets the door slam shut behind him.
“Jesus.”
Rio grins, remaining by the door as he watches her carefully. She doesn’t actually look up at him, just swivels her chair away so she’s no longer facing him and stands up. For a moment, she fiddles with one of the many cupboards behind her and produces the books and some paperwork, settling them both down on the desk, all without looking at him. Instead of taking her seat again, she moves over to the two-seater couch and Rio doesn’t waste any time in taking her recently abandoned seat.
As he thumbs through the books, he scans them quickly with no real concern for what’s actually in them. She hasn’t tried to fuck him over in a long time and well, a lot of the ways she could fuck him over would just fuck her over too. Besides, he’s more concerned with watching her. The way she sits on the couch, with her legs crossed at the ankles, seemingly a little too interested in the rose pattern on her shirt. Other than the specs of red and green, it’s mostly black, a little faded along the edges and he figures it’s from deep in her wardrobe, something she wouldn’t normally throw on for work. Her pants are better though. Also black, slim-fitting, probably new but the rest of her, it matches the shirt. No make-up, he realises, hair pulled back into a haphazard ponytail, which now he thinks about it, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen her with her hair like that.
“You been here all day?”
She blinks up at him, confused. Ever since they got their own printer and she quit the card shop, she’s been here exclusively and she opens her mouth like she’s gonna tell him that he should know that, that she does the same shift every time, staying late whenever he needs her for business but she promptly closes it against whatever words are going to come out. Instead, she just goes back to looking at her shirt.
He shouldn’t give a shit, knows that so deeply that he’s already kicking himself for what he’s about to do but he pushes up from the chair anyway and moves over to the couch. She straightens up a little, pulling her legs in slightly, hands wringing together. He watches them for a moment and he knows that although they look so small and soft, they’re capable of some very dangerous things. He thinks about how they held his gun and pulled the trigger on him the same second he thinks about her way they grasped onto him in that bar bathroom and again in her bedroom. He thinks about how he's held one of them before and brushed his fingers against them a bunch of times.
There’s a lump in his throat that he has to swallow back as he sits down on the couch beside her and well, it’s smaller than it looks. Even with her sitting so straight and proper, he brushes against her as he gets settled. His arm and his leg press against hers and it’s electric, touching her, even through clothes. And it’s not like he hasn’t since he came crashing back into her life or since they sorted most of their shit out but somehow, this is different.
She tenses slightly, clears her throat. “I got here about an hour before opening,” she tells him in answer to his earlier question. “And other than my lunch break, I’ve been here since then.”
“Bet you’re in a hurry to get home.”
“Not really.”
And it’s his turn to blink at her. The sudden answer, the way she still doesn’t look at him and no, it’s not because she wants to be here with him but just-
“Trouble in paradise?”
“No paradise to have trouble in,” she says, not quite as quick this time with her response but just as assertive. In fact, there’s a pause, a moment where she draws in a breath and finally looks at him. “We had a fight.”
“Is it gonna be a problem?” he asks, motioning to the office and then the showroom.
Elizabeth rolls her eyes and it almost makes him smile. “No. We just realised that…”
She trails off and looks at him like she’s just realised who she’s talking to and Rio can’t help the way his eyebrows bunch together because while he’s never really wanted a play by play of her life, especially her marriage, now she’s started, he wants to know.
“Go on,” he says, rolling his hand as if motioning for her to do so.
“We have enough money saved that we could start discussing our divorce again.”
Rio chuckles, slouching down and putting his head back. “Let me guess, he ain’t happy.”
“I think he’s confused,” she admits. “At first, we put it off because of money and well, then there was also the factor of you being…”
“Dead?”
She hums, looking down at that. “And then you came back and things were shaken up again but we got this place and a routine that works and more stable finances. I guess we fell into being a family again and I don’t think he was expecting me to bring it up.”
“So what about this whole thing has got you staying here instead of going home?”
Surprisingly, she slumps down too, resting her head back and turning it to the side so she can look at him. “I guess I’m scared I’m going to slip back into what feels familiar again. I did it after you-” She swallows. “-Died. I did it after Dean got shot. I do it all the time. He’s been my safety net for so long and I guess seeing him so surprised over the divorce again and thinking about how things have been these last couple of years, I just, I’m worried I’ll go home and I’ll tell him to forget about the divorce, that we’re working the way we are.”
“And then you’ll be wearing a wedding ring again and juggling being a criminal, a mother, and a housewife all over again.”
“I stopped being a housewife the day I robbed you.” Rio grins and she rolls her eyes again. “What?”
“Just expected you to get all offended about being called a criminal.”
“Well, it feels a bit better than being called a drug dealer.”
“You were a drug dealer.”
“Hardly the point.”
And honestly, how the fuck is it not the point? It’s such a ridiculous statement but it’s the way she says it, all prim and proper like she wasn’t dropping off cars full of drugs every week, it’s so her and Rio finds himself smiling almost instantly. Something soft and genuine that has her smiling right back at him before he can even think of making his face go blank.
He hums, looking away from her. His eyes drift up to the ceiling and he feels her shift but she doesn’t get up from the couch. When a moment passes without her moving again, he moves his leg just enough so it brushes against hers and tries not to think too hard about the way his heart jolts or how much more intense it is when she presses her leg back against his.
It’s not a big deal, it’s not. No matter how he’s felt about her in recent times, she’s always looked good and smelt good and felt good so he figures that sitting side by side with her and having one side of himself pressed up against her, it’s only natural that he felt the way he did.
The next time he shows up to her office, it’s a couple of weeks later and it’s not planned. Some fuck up with the printing of the money that ain’t actually Elizabeth’s fault but she’s determined to fix it herself and she does it. It’s such a quick turn around that Rio was genuinely surprised when Mick showed up at the bar to tell them they were back on schedule again and well, curiosity got the better of him.
It’s after closing just like it always is and again, she’s alone. This time she’s at her desk but she’s sitting up, head back, a glass of bourbon in hand. He stands in the open doorway and knocks the frame gently. It’s still enough of a surprise that she jolts a little, her drink sloshing around the glass but not spilling over the edges. She checks to be sure of that before settling it onto the desk and turning to look at him.
“I told Mick that we were back on track.”
“I heard.”
“We’re gonna print a little extra for the next few loads and we’ve already got plans on what to order for the store to cover the extra we need to wash.” She shifts nervously. “You wouldn’t think being out of a printer for almost two weeks would set us back so much but well…”
She does a half little shrug and he sees it, the tension in her shoulders, the dark circles under her eyes. He knows that because she fixed the problem so early on, things will go back to normal soon enough but now he sees that she’s only fixed it because she’s been working around the clock.
Suddenly, he doesn’t care exactly how she fixed it so quickly. He already, surprisingly enough, trusts that she’s done it for real and it’s not some temporary or haphazard fix. “How you feeling, mama?”
“A little naus-”
She blinks, the familiarity not lost on either of them, and Rio sees her tense even more as she averts her eyes. He steps into the room, moving around to stand behind her. It’s a little awkward with the high back on the chair but he’s able to place his hand on her shoulders.
At first, she curls away slightly but eventually, she sits up properly again. He squeezes gently, pressing his fingers into her skin ever so and rubbing his thumbs against the knots at her back. It’s slow to start. He lets her ease into it and waits a little until she slumps in her seat and she stops holding herself so tightly. When he digs his fingers in a little deeper and applies more pressure with his thumbs, he feels those knots begin to loosen and that tension in her begin to slip away.
“You fixed a big problem.”
“It was my problem to fix.”
“My guy fucked it up.”
“Printing is my thing. Your guys only know so much.”
“Only ‘cause you don’t want me stealing all of this from you.” He has to stop his movements as she rolls her shoulders and he gives her a moment more before resuming. “Or not?”
“It’s only because I don’t want you to have no reason to keep me alive.”
He rocks his jaw a little and digs his fingers in a little too hard, not that she makes any comment about it. “Thought we were past this?”
“We are,” she agrees. “But that was the reasoning before and I guess it’s just kind of stuck.”
“You made yourself sick.”
“I’ll be okay.”
Rio continues to massage her shoulders until the last bit of tension seems to slip away and then, for good measure, he continues on for a little while more. By the time he’s done, she actually looks like she could go to sleep. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to offer to drive her home but that’s not who they are.
Still, he can’t just leave like that so before he steps away from her entirely, while her back is still to him, he leans down. “Plenty of other reasons to keep you alive.”
He doesn’t stick around to see or hear her response.
Things continue to pick up after that with no more interruptions. Several drops pass, some of which Rio attends and others of which he sends Mick. There’s never any issues and they only last a few minutes. When Rio goes there’s some small talk and shared smiles, the air feels lighter somehow and while he doesn’t know for sure, he’s pretty positive there’s little to no talk when it’s Mick’s turn.
They don’t discuss it — Rio and Mick — other than a quick confirmation that all is good and they especially don’t bring up Elizabeth. The thing is, Mick’s not dumb. He knows enough about the past to put two and two together and he’s sure as shit going to be judgemental and insufferable if things ever overstep the line again but Rio finds, suddenly and harshly, that he can’t help himself.
Well, maybe not so suddenly.
It feels like it though.
He finds himself thinking about sitting on that couch in her office or giving her that massage. He’d expected it to hurt, to touch her like that, to be so close to her again but it had been nice, better even. Normally when something breaks their little bubble, he remembers why they can’t ever cross that line again (even if he does tease her sometimes) but with these two most recent occasions, he finds the bubble hasn’t broken but expanded instead.
The bar door opening wouldn't normally be enough to fully capture Rio’s attention but still, he straightens up from where he stands at the back of the room and his eyes fall on Elizabeth. She settles down onto a stool and waves the bartender — Joey — over who, moments later, pours her a glass of bourbon. She downs it almost in one go and then motions for another. This one, she sips slowly.
Rio glances back at Mick who’s also watching. The two share a look because well, Elizabeth was supposed to be printing tonight. Mick glances down at his phone but then shakes his head.
“I’ll be right back,” Rio tells him but he doesn’t wait for a response as he pushes forward towards where she’s sitting.
With her back to the room, it’s easy enough for him to slip by her. He’s pretty sure she never even looked around as she stepped into the building. Still, when he slips onto the stool next to hers, she’s not entirely surprised to see him. She sits there, sipping on her drinking and letting the silence stretch out between them. There’s obviously something wrong, he can tell with the tension in her shoulders and the frown on her face whenever the glass was brought away from her lips.
“Of all the bars in all of Detroit, you walk into mine.”
That does make her smile. It’s only subtle, a slight turn up at the corners of her mouth but it’s there. “Isn’t that something you say when someone doesn’t know you own it?”
“I think it still applies here.”
She settles her glass down and angles herself towards him. It almost makes him laugh when she props her head up on the palm of her hand to look at him carefully. “That so?”
He hums, leaning on the bar himself. “Considering you probably have a bottle at home or somewhere else you could go...”
“Maybe I thought the boss would give me a discount.”
At that, Rio waves Joey over. “Keep these coming, yeah?”
There’s a simple nod before Joey tops up Elizabeth’s glass. She straightens up and offers him up a quick thanks which he nods to and goes back to what he was doing, being sure to hover close by whenever possible.
“And what’s that going to set me back?”
“Telling me why you’re here.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You pay the bill,” he says, motioning to her glass.
She picks it up, eyeing it carefully before she takes a sip, no doubt contemplating the benefits to his offer. “It’s a personal problem.”
“My favourite kind.”
She snorts. “It’s about Dean.”
“This gonna be like that time he had your panties stuffed into his mouth?”
Her nose scrunches up at that and he grins. “No.” She takes a drink. “I told him I doubled down on the divorce and that I'm going to get the paperwork started.”
“Oh yeah?”
She’s got a guarded look when she turns to him and he figures she’s not sure whether this is the kind of story she should tell him, whether he’s really interested or not and shit, he’s not sure if he is either. He let her open up not too long ago about this but drawing lines is what got them to a good place after the hell they went through and well, he’s not sure if busying himself with her personal life any more than he already has is a great step.
Still, when he doesn’t budge, she huffs, reaching for the glass again. “I guess I’m sick of always having something that keeps us together when we shouldn’t be especially not when now we can afford to do it.”
“Finances were really that bad?”
He watches then because, even with his determination to not give a shit about her life, he’s always wondered about that. The times she came to him asking for a loan or her determination to earn more. And sure, he knows that she was putting her cut towards a hitman but that was only after he came back and well, he figures there had to have been something else sucking her dry before then. Figures there are several moments he can guess didn’t help in the time they’ve known each other but he wonders if it stretches back much further to, perhaps, robbing a grocery store.
She hums before she finishes up her drink, settling the glass down for Joey to fill up. “Debt up right up to-” she holds her hand in the air above her head “-here or thereabouts.”
“That why I ended up being out half a mil?”
At that, she blushes. Not much, just a subtle colour across her cheeks, down her neck. She shifts a little in her seat, holds herself a little straighter. “If it makes you feel better, we were only hoping for thirty grand.” He can’t help but laugh at that and she glances his way, dragging her glass back towards herself. “That’s not why I’m here though.”
“What’s not?”
“Money.”
“Right, right.”
“I said I was covered,” she reminds. “But I’ve also got a plan.”
He catches sight of Mick slipping through the door that leads back towards the office and Rio gets up, dropping down from his stool. It puts him closer to her and she pulls away enough to twist slightly and look up at him. He tilts his head to the side, allows his eyes to drop down over her. He can see the remnants of that blush across her chest and he smiles softly. As he drags his eyes up to her face, his hand follows.
It stills his breath as he reaches out and lightly nudges her hair out of her face, dragging his finger down to trace the side of her face. Her eyes drift shut but as he curls his finger under her chin and tips her head back, she slowly blinks up at him.
In the moment it felt… Natural but now, as she stares up at him with her mouth a little slack and her eyes slightly wide, it feels like too much. It takes what feels like forever to withdraw his hand but it must be quick because she swallows and turns away from him like she’s been burnt and he wants to tell her that it’s not like that but he finds he can’t quite put into words what it is like so he takes a step back.
“Drinks are free while Joey’s still on shift.”
She doesn’t look at him, doesn’t move at all in fact, and she doesn’t speak either. It’s only as he’s turning away that he sees her shift out of the corner of his eye and as he’s walking away he hears her quite “thanks.”
Hours pass. Rio’s been in the office with Mick going over the inevitable expansion they’ll need to do with the counterfeit money. People and printers are what they need most. As good as it is, Boland Bubbles can only wash so much before it starts to get reckless and right now, they’re limited on how much they can print. None of it’s concrete and he’s not gonna leave Elizabeth out of all of it but right now, he can at least get a head start on it so he’s prepared when he does talk to her about it.
He’s thinking about her when he steps out into the bar. Thinking about her part in their business but more pressingly, their moment earlier when he brushed her hair out of her face. It hadn’t been that bad, fuck, it was a simple gesture. He’s sure he could’ve reacted better, played it off better. He wonders if maybe it’ll come back to bite him so it’s a surprise when he sees her still sitting at the bar.
She’s moved seats but she’s got a glass in front of her and she’s just swirling the contents. He’s pretty sure Joey’s shift would’ve finished already and it makes him wonder if she’s paying now or has somehow gotten away with more free drinks. He slips over to where she is and settles onto the stool beside hers.
“Joey told them to keep filling me up,” she explains. “But I don’t want any more, I’m taking my time with this one.”
“How much you had?”
“Not much.”
He hums. “Surprised you ain’t gone home.”
“I want a little longer before reality crashes back in.”
He looks around, it’s practically empty now and he’s not sure if that helps or not but he stands up anyway. Elizabeth lifts her head, watching as he moves over to put some different music on and turns the volume up a little. The tune is slow, gentle and from the way she sways, he figures she recognises it even if he doesn’t.
While she’s lost to the tune, he moves over and stands beside her, holding his hand out. She looks at it, then up at his face, then back at his hand.
“What’s that for?”
“Come on.”
There’s a moment where he thinks she might not but then she sighs, takes a generous mouthful of her drink. She doesn’t take his hand though. Instead, she sets her glass back down and pushes up off the stool herself. As she turns to him, she smooths out her clothes.
“Where are we going?”
“Nowhere.”
He leads the way over to the most open part of the floor and turns to her. His fingers wrap around her wrist and he tugs her into him. She huffs as she stumbles a little and grasps onto his shoulder with her free hand for some support. He lets go of her only to slide his arms around her waist. She watches him tentatively for a moment before her arms slip up around his neck, hooking around his shoulders.
It’s burning, at first.
He wants to back off and tell her it’s time to go home but this was his idea so he powers through. Clearly, his methods of dealing with their situation aren’t working anymore and, if he’s being truly honest with himself, he knows he has to find a way to be around her, to be close to her, and not feel like he’s standing too close to an open flame.
They move. It can’t be more than a few moments after they held onto each other but it feels like a long time. He wonders if she’s thinking about it, how strange this is for them. Even before it all went to shit, this wasn’t their kind of thing. Swaying, dancing.
Maybe it should’ve been, he finds himself thinking.
Her arms are only lightly hooked around his shoulders, her fingers dug ever so slightly into him to stop her arms from slipping away from him entirely. He can feel them, relishes in it. He knows it would be easier to move if he settled his hands on her instead of having his arms wrapped around her but he likes the feel of it too much, especially now the burning is starting to subside.
There’s something about her being physically close to him, not quite pressed up against him but close enough nonetheless. It shocks him just how quickly that burning pain is giving way to comfort.
They continue to dance. Nothing special. Slow movements, a subtle sway, a rhythm beneath it all. Rio finds it’s not just nice but also… Fun. Sure, he’s been enjoying getting her all riled up and pushing her buttons in order to find any kind of entertainment or joy whenever they meet up but for what feels like the first time in forever, there’s something more genuine and subtle to make him feel that way.
He can feel her fingers curl a little into his shirt to anchor herself that way instead. He can feel the warmth of her skin beneath her own shirt and he itches to press his palm underneath it to feel that warmth properly. There are layers between them but he knows her skin is soft. He can remember it, hasn’t really ever forgotten it.
“I definitely don’t think I’ve drunk enough for this.”
It’s a comment that’s said under her breath. Words so quiet that if the place was a little busier or the music a little louder, he might not have heard her.
He hums. “Could always go home to that husband of yours.”
She jabs his chest with her finger, hard enough that he feels it, although he manages to hide it before any pain becomes apparent as her other hand slips around to gently hold onto his shoulder. “You,” she starts, jabbing her finger at him again and making him, unfortunately, wince as it hits the same spot, christ, maybe she had had enough to drink. “Just want to annoy me.”
Before she can think to poke him again, Rio grabs her hand and holds it against his chest. She blinks at him but he just grins at her and, after a moment, she rolls her eyes and opens her mouth to make a comment only, he spins them both around before she can. It’s a little awkward with her hand still trapped against his chest and the fact she isn’t prepared to move. She stumbles into him a little, her grip on his shoulder tightening as she tries to find her footing.
“Only like getting you all riled up because you make it so easy.”
"I do not make it eas-" She cuts herself off as her voice grows shrill and she shakes her head, composing herself before speaking in a much calmer tone. "I don't make it easy."
"Sure you don't," he says, not even trying to hide his amusement as he sways them in time with the music. His hand itches to hold hers properly but instead, he continues to hold it against his chest. "Feeling better?"
She stares at him for a moment as if the question confuses her but then she diverts her eyes, giving a slight nod as her fingers curl a little against his chest. "A little."
Rio doesn’t see her again for a few days. When Elizabeth doesn’t show for a scheduled meet, he’s pissed, a little concerned maybe but generally just ticked off when she doesn’t turn up. It’s not like she’s never late but it’s pushing it even for her so Rio goes looking, his anger bubbling in a way that he knows will burst when she gives him whatever lame excuse she has.
He checks her house first but that mama van of hers isn’t there, just Dean’s car and then Rio thinks… Printing. She was supposed to be doing another batch tonight before their meet and really, the whole thing had become a bit frustrating. Her fix had been a good one but it seems their printer is pretty much on its last legs and of course, Elizabeth had made a big deal about not stealing the printer from the card shop she used to work at when buying it clearly wasn’t an option.
Their printer does work, technically. The quality is good enough but according to her, whoever owned it hadn’t taken care of it so the whole printing process takes a little longer than it should. True to her word, it still all gets done, especially now she’s got unlimited access to their shitty printer and hell, she’s gotten so good at preemptively noticing and solving the troublesome parts that he hasn’t even had to worry about the quality or quantity of the cash.
Still, as he drives across Detroit to where they’ve stashed it for now. He knows he’s gonna find her elbow-deep trying to fix some obscure part of it because it broke again. He’s waiting her out mostly, knows she’ll snap eventually and then they can just get the one from the card shop — he’ll buy the whole damn place if he has to, it’d be a good enough investment — and have access to that one whenever they want instead especially considering they know it works well. The only reason he’d agreed to her quitting her job there was because their printer had seemed promising at first and ran somewhat flawlessly for the first few months. Plus, her full focus being at Boland Bubbles was much more desirable.
When they get there, he tells Mick to hang back but, unsurprisingly, he doesn't listen, just trails behind as Rio makes his way into the building. The main lights are still on which is a good sign but a lot of the shutters to the storage units are down. He passes by the ones that have work stations set up to prep the pulp and add the finishing touches once the cash is printed but every single one is closed up. He knows when Elizabeth prints alone — something he’s constantly advised her against — she likes to do everything out of one or two units for ease.
He makes his way towards the back of the building, towards the unit where they keep the printer with Mick in tow. As his frustration bubbles, Rio is all too ready to stop playing games and tell her that they’re getting the other printer whether she likes it or not. They’ve done far worse than steal from some old lady who probably ain’t getting the most out of it anyway.
The shutter for the unit in question is up and he can already tell something isn’t right. The printer sits to one side of the room but the bulk of the space is taken up with a long workbench underneath which lies supplies but in amongst them, he’s sure he can see someone.
Rio waves his hand back at Mick, hoping he gets the point to stay there as he closes the gap between himself and the unit. His gun is already out, ready to use it, but as he carefully rounds the table, the only thing he’s greeted with is Elizabeth sitting on the floor. She’s got her back against a large cardboard box and her hand, wrapped in some kind of rag, is clasped to her chest.
He puts his gun down on the workbench and drops down to crouch beside her, her eyes are closed, head tilted back. He reaches out to brush her hair out of her eyes and she jumps, eyes growing wide as she glances around.
Gently, he squeezes her shoulder and shushes her. “Mama, hey, it’s me.”
She lets out a breath and settles back a little. “What are you doing here?”
“You never showed up.”
There’s a moment where she reaches out but then she sighs. “I don’t know where my phone is.”
“We’ll find it,” he says, waving it off. “What are you doing on the floor?”
“Oh, the damn thing broke again. I thought a part of it might have broken for good or come loose and I cut my hand trying to get to it.” She shrugs, holding her hand a little tighter to her chest. “I got fed up and decided to sit down for a bit.”
He carefully takes her hand, promptly ignoring the way she protests and pulls her hand closer to him. Slowly, he unravels the rag that’s wrapped around it until he’s presented with a long, shallow cut across her palm. It doesn’t seem to be bleeding anymore and it seems she managed to grab a clean rag at least but it still doesn’t look that great.
“Look, ma, if you’re struggling-”
“I’m not struggling.”
“-you can tell me.”
Elizabeth blinks, surprised etched across her face. “I… I’m fine, just a little tired and this-” She wiggles her fingers, wincing a little. “Was the final straw for tonight.”
“I know you don’t want to talk about it anymore but we really need a better printer and right now, the one at-”
“No,” she cuts him off. “Ruby, Annie, and I have been looking for one, okay? And I’m sure you have as well. It’ll be fine.”
“It ain’t worth getting yourself hurt over.”
She raises a brow. “Who are you?” She looks around dramatically. “And what have you done with Rio?”
He narrows his eyes at her a little. “Well, you’re the one that made a good point... Without you or your girls, my money doesn’t get printed properly.”
It makes him chuckle, the way she looks so proud of that fact but beneath it, he sees relief and shit, he gets it. The whole thing has been tiresome for him as well and sure, it’s fun getting her all riled up sometimes but there’s something so appealing about making things easier.
Letting her take her hand back, Rio stands before reaching down to gently help her up. He does a quick sweep of the place to put away anything that’s been left out, grabbing his gun and her phone in the process, and ushers her towards the shutter, closing it behind them as they exit and leaving the printer to be dealt with another day.
“We’re gonna go get your hand cleaned up and then I’ll drop you wherever you need to go.”
“I brought my car,” she tells him as he locks the unit.
“Give Mick your keys and he’ll follow us.”
She eyes Mick as if only seeing him for the first time. He gives a short nod before holding his hand out and it takes Elizabeth a moment longer than it should to realise he’s asking for her keys. She fumbles as she pulls her keys out of her pocket and quietly hands them over.
“We’re gonna go to the bar,” he tells Mick.
“I can drop your car wherever you’re planning on going after.”
“Do you know where my sister lives?” she asks to which Mick nods. “There’s not much parking outside her building but there’s usually some spots further up on the street. If you don’t mind, you can put the keys in her mailbox.”
Mick gives a slight tilt of his head and then he’s gone, leaving Rio to lead Elizabeth to his car and hoping above and beyond that her hand isn’t going to be too complicated to sort out. She isn’t complaining which he figures is a good sign but he does notice the way she winces as she wraps her hand back up and holds it against her chest.
The whole drive to the bar, she’s silent. Rio does everything in his power not to keep looking over at her even though he’s sure she won’t even notice. She’s too busy staring out of the window and he knows there’s more that’s weighing on her mind than just the cut on her hand.
At the bar, she doesn’t rush but she doesn’t wait either. She climbs out and hangs around just long enough for him to get out as well and then she’s heading towards the building, going in through the front door. He’s a few steps behind but he manages to catch the door before it closes shut behind her and then he’s by her back, being careful not to push in too close and he navigates her through towards the office.
Once they’re there, he motions for her to sit on one of the seats at the desk as he grabs the first aid kit. She’s already beginning to unwrap her hand by the time he sits down next to her. At first, she goes to take the box from him but he holds it out of reach because while he’s sure she’s probably had to help herself enough times, he wants to see this one through himself.
“It really isn’t that big of a deal,” she says as she reluctantly holds her hand out.
Rio takes it carefully, letting it rest on his leg as he opens up the first aid kit on the desk. “Yeah and all I want to do is clean it and patch it up.”
“And I happen to like sitting on the floor,” she tells him like that isn’t a weird statement. “Even like to lay on it sometimes.”
“Let me guess, you only like the floor when shit goes wrong?”
“No.”
The answer is too quick, too sharp and her body is too poised so Rio promptly ignores it and begins cleaning her hand. It’s not an easy task between the dried blood and the obvious pain. He tries to move gently but purposefully as he works on cleaning her up and thankfully, there’s no need for stitches.
She relaxes her body a little, her hand going limp in his as she allows him to move it freely as he patches and bandages it. The silence between them lapses into a more comfortable one. Her eyes begin to drift around the space without really looking and Rio loses himself in what he’s doing until her hand is secure.
“It shouldn’t need stitches,” Rio tells her, bringing her out of her thoughts. “But give it another check when you change the dressing.”
With a slight nod, she flexes and wiggles her fingers testingly and it suddenly hits him that the back of her hand is still laying snuggly against his palm. He adjusts his grip a little, enough to run his thumb across the skin between where the bandage ends and her wrist begins. Neither of them speaks but he knows if they were anyone else, they’d probably say a whole lot.
Rio had taken her to her sister’s place after that. She hadn’t said anything at all after he’d finally let go of her hand but then, once they’d shown up and Rio had parked right outside the building, Elizabeth had gotten out and then leant back in. For a moment, he’d just stared at her, waiting, and then she’d simply thanked him before pulling back and closing the door between them.
In the three days since, he hasn’t seen or heard from her. One of their usual Boland Bubbles meetings is coming up and he’s planning to make up for the meet they lost out on when she hurt her hand but even though it’s not that far away, he finds himself unable to wait a moment longer.
It’s late when he caves so he goes by her house first and it feels like a stroke of luck when he sees her car parked there and noticeably Dean’s car isn’t. There’s a light on, faint, probably from near the back of the house but he can see it through the gap in the curtains in the living room. It’s not enough to go on, he realises, but the kids are bound to be asleep.
Not that it matters. Rio’s out of his car and moving around the side of the house to the door at the kitchen and he knocks once, twice, three times before the light shifts as someone moves around inside and a moment later, it opens. Elizabeth blinks at him, draws back slightly and then frowns.
“Hey.”
She looks more sceptical but she does pull away to give him more space to step inside. “Hi.”
He glances around. “Alone?”
“The kids are asleep.”
“And the husband?”
She holds herself a little higher. “At his mother’s.”
He raises a brow. “Temporarily or permanently?”
“He’s permanently not going to be here if that’s what you’re asking.”
Rio can’t help the way a smile forms, the corners of his mouth tugging up so quickly Elizabeth catches it and rolls her eyes before moving towards the coffee pot. A mug already sits there and she drags another one down from the cupboard, not even bothering to ask before she fills both. When she moves to the island, settling them both down, Rio comes to stand beside her and she slides one cup over to him slightly.
“And you’re good with that?” he asks and when she looks at him, he adds, “him not permanently being here.”
“It’s a long time coming,” she comments. “But he’ll still be here from time to time. We’re gonna split time with the kids but there’ll be occasions for him to be here when it’s not his week.”
“He agree to the divorce then?”
“Kind of.” She doesn’t look at him, concentrates on drinking her coffee but he waits her out until she sighs. “A trial, he’s calling it. See how we do living apart and putting the kids on a schedule to fit it and then in a few months we’ll talk again about divorce.”
“Don’t that just sound exhausting?”
“Extremely.”
“Then you should tell him no, make him sign the papers.”
“I want this whole thing to be as pain-free as possible in the long run,” she tells him. “I’m looking into getting something drawn up so that he can’t wiggle out of this six-month thing. He gets his trial and if I still want a divorce at the end, he’s going to have to deal with it. It’s the furthest we’ve ever gotten with this.”
If Rio’s being honest, he doesn’t really get it but then he supposes it was easy with him and Rhea even despite the hiccups along the way. It hadn’t seemed worth the trouble to drag it out and give it another shot not when things were obviously broken, not when they could put their effort into making co-parenting work instead. And sure, what they’ve got ain’t perfect but it’s better than pretending.
He might not have many details but he’s known Elizabeth long enough to know that shit ain’t been good with her and Dean for a long time. That it should be well past divorce at this point, none of this trial bullshit, but then he sees it, on her face as she sips her coffee. That exhaustion just bubbling below the surface, purposely contained and then there’s the time they’ve known each other, all the twists and turns, the bullets and pain, and he wonders if maybe she had forgone sorting this out with Dean in favour of giving herself a break with everything else going on in her life.
He figures maybe pretending they were some happy family wasn’t the shortest straw for.
As Elizabeth sets her mug down on the island counter, Rio takes the opportunity to step in closer to her. She begins to turn towards him just like he’d hoped and as he reaches up, his fingers brushing her hair out of her face, she turns completely. His hand slips down, cupping her face gently and she leans into it, eyes momentarily closing before she blinks up at him.
“I know you don’t need me to tell you that you should take care of yourself.”
She scoffs, leaning away from his touch and he shifts his hand to wrap a strand of her hair around his finger. “If I could go on vacation right now and disappear for a while, I would.”
“The kids?” he asks knowingly.
“And everything else.”
A soft noise escapes her, not quite a laugh. It makes him miss her actual laugh, a rare sound but one he instantly thinks of when he thinks of her. And not just the sound of it either but the way her nose scrunches up and she gets those lines and that little canine tooth pokes through. Those little signs that it’s genuine, that whatever it was that made her laugh struck her so suddenly that she couldn’t even think to hold it in.
He unravels her hair from around his finger, watching it bounce up in a slight curl before he cups her cheek again, bringing her eyes to his and then, without thinking too much about it, he leans in. His lips brush her jaw first and he feels her shiver as his hand drops, settling at the back of her neck as he drags his lips up over her cheek and then he’s drawing back just enough to look at her with her eyes closed and her face calm.
Rio breathes her in and places a kiss to her temple.
“I know we don’t get much time off in our line of work but even I know it’s needed sometimes,” he tells her and when she looks at him, he pulls away completely. “Just something to think about it.”
And he’s almost tempted to joke that maybe he can tag along but when the mere thought of it makes his stomach do flips, he doesn’t dare. Not to mention the way she’s looking at him. It’s like she doesn’t recognise him while simultaneously finding comfort. He can see the conflict move across her face as her hand reaches up to ghost her fingers along his hand before he pulls it away from where it had been gripping her neck.
“Get some rest.”
His voice feels thick and he thinks that maybe it’ll give him away. He turns abruptly, heading straight for the door without even a glance back at her.
Rio manages to let weeks pass this time. Not that he’d admit it out loud but it’s easy enough considering he’s taken over all the meetings and given Mick other things to do instead. It fucks with him how much it helps just to see her. Even sitting across the desk from her does a lot to help that urge that grows inside of him to be closer to her.
They never talk about that moment in her kitchen. He expected the first time they met after that to be a little awkward or rather, for her to overcompensate and try to play it cool only to, well, not. She hadn’t though. She’d waved him into the office, offering him the books and opening up conversation about how they might proceed moving forward. It hadn’t been cold either, she offered him a drink once he was settled and didn’t hurry him away once they were done.
Their meetings had continued like that, only sometimes minus the drink. It had become a comfortable routine for them. He hadn’t even felt the urge to get her all riled up unless, of course, she made it easy for him because who was he to pass up the opportunity? And even if he won’t admit it to her face, it’s more to see that blush of hers and the way she stutters a little around her words and on occasion, when he really teases her and riles her up, he gets to bask in the way she bites back.
This time, however, they meet elsewhere.
An art gallery clearly isn’t what Elizabeth’s expecting and she glares at him as he parks up. He smiles as she glances at the building then down at her outfit — a sweater and pair of jeans he’s pretty sure she’d probably only throw on to quickly run errands — and pulls her coat closed around her.
“You could have warned me.”
“You’re fine.”
He climbs out of the car before she can say anything but it doesn’t stop her for long. She hurries to get out as well. As she comes to stand beside him, she eyes the people coming and going. While none of the guests are dressed to the nines, they’re definitely a lot fancier and Rio can’t help but chuckle as Elizabeth angles her foot to check out the boots she’s wearing. It’s not even like he’s dressed up for the occasion either but it’s always easier to blend in when you’re dressed almost entirely in black and have a nice coat to capture most of the attention.
Her eyes snap to his and he can’t help but grin at the murderous look she gives him. Without waiting, he leads the way inside, knowing she’ll follow, that she’ll be too curious to know why he dragged her down here with little to no warning.
On the way inside, he grabs a couple of flutes of champagne and barely stops as he holds one back to her, picking up his speed again the second she takes it from him. The crowd is spread out enough that it’s easy to weave in and out as he leads the way to the stairs near the back of the building.
“What are we doing here?” Elizabeth asks as he removes the rope blocking the stairs and motions for her to go up.
He motions for her to keep walking. “You’ll see.”
At the top of the stairs is a platform that overlooks the whole gallery. Rio takes the lead, guiding her over to the railing and leaning against it, watching the people below. He can see her watching him carefully out of the corner of his eye.
She takes a drink of her champagne before leaning on the railing beside him. “Am I supposed to guess why we’re here?”
He smiles, sipping some of his own drink before he points out a cluster of people across the room. “See that guy in that deep plum suit?”
“Yeah, short with blonde hair?”
“That’s the one, his name’s Riley.” Rio turns, leaning back against the railing. “He and his father are big into antiques and they might be our best way to get ourselves a printer that works.”
She tilts her head to the side a little, her eyes drifting over the gallery. “Will they want to be involved?”
“No idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I ain’t asked them about it yet.”
Her brow furrows as she straightens up. She looks at him then out towards where Riley stands and then back to Rio. “How come? With the other one constantly messing up, I figured you’d be-” She sighs, her eyes closing. “Am I the one who’s going to have to pay for it?”
Rio stays still and waits for her to open her eyes. As she does, the corners of his mouth tug up as he shrugs. “Was actually figuring we could talk to them together.”
She stares at him in disbelief. “Together?”
He hums. “And if they got what we’re looking for, I thought we could both take a hit money-wise to cover it.”
“You’re involving me in this?” she asks, eyeing him carefully. “From the get-go?”
“It’d probably make things easier.”
“Are we approaching him now ?”
He shakes his head, pushing off the railing. “Not tonight. Tonight we’re just gonna have a look around and enjoy ourselves, tomorrow we’ll figure out the next steps.”
Without waiting for a response, he moves over to the stairs and leads the way back down them. At the bottom, he waits for her to step down before he closes the stairs off again. She leads the way this time, moving past a couple of art pieces until she finds one to the side with hardly anyone around it. Rio almost laughs loud and bright when he sees it. A painting of a man and a woman standing at a bar, the two of them leaning against it, slightly angled towards one another. A colour palette that’s warm and deep.
It doesn’t really cross Rio’s mind that it’s not really something they do as he reaches out, his fingertips finding her arm, slipping down over her wrist, across her palm, — eliciting a shiver from her in the process — and pushing his fingers between her fingers until he can squeeze her hand.
There’s a jolt inside his chest when she holds his hand back.
When Rio sees her again, it’s unexpected and happens just over twenty-fours after the art gallery. He’s in his office at the bar, packed up and just about to get out of his seat to leave when the door flies up to reveal Elizabeth. Right behind her stands Mick looking surprisingly flustered as he gives Rio a pointed look.
“Told her you were going home.”
She shifts ever so slightly like she’s about to turn to Mick but stops. “And I said it’d only take a couple of minutes.”
“It’s fine,” Rio says, feeling the corners of his mouth tug up as he directs his attention to her. “You get two minutes.”
At that, she steps into the room and turns back to look at Mick. From the angle he’s at, Rio can just about see her face and the way she pops an eyebrow and puts a hand on her hip, waiting for Mick to leave and close the door. Rio’s pretty sure if he had free reign, Mick would’ve pulled out his gun and shot her before now which is saying a lot considering he rarely ever loses his composure.
“Why don’t you head home?”
“If you’re thinking of calling me for help,” Mick starts. “I won’t be picking up.”
As the door is tugged shut behind him, Elizabeth turns, biting her lip as she tries not to smile. The way those laugh lines deepen and her eyes start to sparkle a little, Rio knows she’s not here for any bad reason. It has him taking the first steps, moving across the room towards her and she begins to close the gap too and well, that creates a familiar pang inside of him.
“Two minutes,” he reminds.
“If you’re not stubborn, I won’t need that much time.”
He draws back a little, amused. “That so?”
“Did you mean it?”
“Mean what?”
“That we’ll work together to get the printer.”
“Yeah.”
She starts to shift a little on the spot and he can see the way she tries to hide the pleased look that’s starting to show on her face. “And what happens after we get it?”
“Business as usual until we get that sorted and can make more changes.”
“I want to be involved,” she states and after a moment, he motions for her to go on. “Whether we up the amount we produce, or get more people involved, or make new business deals, whatever it is, I want to be involved in the decision making.”
Rio keeps his face blank, simply tilts his head to the side a little.“Yeah?”
“A lot of time has passed and I deserve at least fifty of what we have because you said it yourself, you wouldn’t have this business without me.” Elizabeth straightens up, juts her chin out at him. “And if you think I still need to make it up to you then figure out how I need to do that so we can finally move on-”
“Okay.”
“Because we can’t keep moving around in this same circle-” She blinks at him, mouth slightly agape. “Okay? Just like that?”
He shrugs. There’s definitely an opportunity in there to tease her some, she’s certainly left the door wide open for it, and as determined as she sounds, he’s also pretty sure he could squeeze a lot more out of her before he gives her a break and lets her have her equal split. Only... “Just like that and you ain’t gotta do anything to set us straight. We already are.”
“I know we were moving forward but not like this…” She frowns. “What’s changed?”
He reaches up to brush her hair lightly out of her face. “I figure we should enjoy what we’ve got instead of always worry what the other might be up to.”
“It would be nice.”
“It’s gonna be a long process though,” he tells her, gently tucking her hair behind her ear as his hand slips around and down slightly to grasp the back of her neck gently. “You can’t just suddenly be involved in everything.”
If his hand bothers her, she doesn’t let it show. In fact, she stands up a little straighter, puffs her chest out a little more. “Well, I have my secrets about how the money is being made so I guess it’s only fair.”
He smirks. “Does this mean you’re gonna boss me around?”
“We both know you like it when I do.”
And fuck, she has the audacity to flutter her eyelashes at him and step a little closer. Rio swallows and tries to act like she’s wrong but it’s hard when she’s right there, his hand still at her neck, her fingers tentatively touching his chest. It’s not like she ain’t been bossy as all hell in the past but it has been a long time since it was for anything other than an argument.
He still remembers the way she had pushed him down on the bed that time in her bedroom or how she’d lifted her dress for him in the bathroom. Those times had been about the both of them, something that brought them closer together instead of posing them on opposite sides, and it had been enthralling the way she could demand something without actually having to say it.
Right now, however, he really wants her to say it, to ask for whatever she wants. He knows it wasn’t that long ago that they were in a bit of a stalemate but he hopes that she knows they’re in a place now where she can do that.
“Let’s say I do like it…”
“Well, then…” She pulls away from him, his hand slipping away to let her and he watches with some amusement as she moves over to the desk, gently pushes things away from the edge, and lifts herself up onto it. She hooks her finger, motions him over but he shakes his head. She frowns until suddenly she narrows her eyes. “Rio… Come here.”
He grins at her before doing just that. He wastes no time, pressing between her legs, and leaning forward. It forces her to hook her arms around his shoulders as she leans back to accommodate and his hands land on the desk for the support. A little more and he could have her lying down but he doesn’t push. His lips hover closer to hers and he relishes in the feel of her fingers digging into his skin as she holds on, her legs tightening around him.
Her eyes dart down to his lips and then back up. “Kiss me.”
Rio gives her a look of innocence, eyes wide. “That all you want?”
She pinches him hard enough to make him drop that look and grin again. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you exactly where I want you. Now, I told you to kiss me.”
At that, Elizabeth tightens her arms around him just enough that she can pull herself forward, effectively drawing him in and he wastes no more time in pressing his lips to her. He’s not sure which of them groans first but he knows he makes her sigh first as his tongue trails along her bottom lip and she swallows his moan as she hooks her legs properly around him, her nails gently raking his scalp as she slips her tongue into his mouth.
Rio deepens the kiss, eager to find out what she demands of him next because he knows that too much time has passed pretending like he won’t do whatever it is in a heartbeat even if he does draw it out a little just to get her to bite back first.