Chapter Twenty-three

Fay shut the suitcase with enough force to cave in a ribcage. When she did, Aries darted around at her thinking it was a gunshot. He chose not to say anything about it. She looked too focused on relocating her possessions from the tabletop to the luggage bag in front of her.

His suitcases were all packed, and the only piece of furniture that he wanted to bring was the television. If he wanted to, he could come back to the condo after the move, but it was unlikely he was going to. He’d forget about it the second the house was out of sight. Hoisting his luggage up onto the couch, he took a breath out and stepped up behind his girlfriend, putting his hands on her shoulders. She felt his breath on the back of her head, but she didn’t say anything. All she did was move on to trying to fit the rest of her things into her other suitcase.

“Fay,” he said, resting his head against hers. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she spat, shutting the suitcase and leaning down to rest her forearms on it. The emptiness of the house depressed her. The walls were bare and the floor had been cleaned up. It was like all the time she spent in it had been erased. Aries let go of her and made his way to her side, sitting on the table. She took a heavy breath out and turned to look at him. “I’m really sorry if you didn’t want to move.”

He shook his head, “No, it’s fine. I got tired of this place a while ago. It’s just that we can hire security if you’re worried about Montgomery breaking in. I can get you a squad of guards in front of our house around the clock.”

“I’m not worried about Ed.” She yelled at him, looking back down after, apologetically. She didn’t see his face, but she could tell he was surprised. In all the time they’d known each other, she had never raised her voice at him. “It’s just that I don’t want to give him any advantages. I don’t know where he lives, so now he doesn’t get to know where I live.”

Aries shrugged, helping her shut a latch of the suitcase that she had forgotten about. “Okay then. That’s a good strategy. You’ve just been acting a little bit differently lately.”

“Have I?” she asked, looking back at him.

“I haven’t seen you so determined about anything before. I’ve got to be honest�"I’ve never really seen you as a girl that makes these kinds of moves. We could have used this new you for the Rubella’s robbery a few weeks ago.”

Enough of her anger washed away that Fay laughed and leaned in to peck his lips. She had missed kissing him. She was so busy all the time lately. “Well, is that a bad thing?”

“No, not at all,” he said. “I’m just a little worried that you’re enjoying this. You’re not supposed to be doing this stuff because you’re enjoying it.”

She shook her head with a half-smirk that took her a moment to realize was unjustified.  “I’m excited to end this thing between me and him. That’s all.”

“Okay,” Aries nodded, reciprocating her smile and getting back on his feet. He put his hand on her wrist, cueing her to turn around and face him. She put an arm on his waist and gave him the best smile she could manage. He missed seeing her smile at him. Her telling him that she wanted to move was the first full conversation that they’d had in weeks. “And you’re still keep that knife in your pants?”

Fay laughed and put her arms around Aries. “It’s there. It’s always there.”

“That’s my girl. So what’s your next move, princess?”

She looked up at him, resting the bridge of her nose on his chin. “I need maps of the train stations.”