Dexter was moving in next door?
What the fuck.
A vein immediately jumped on Lip's forehead. His irritation spiked through the roof.
"What's wrong?" Tommy asked, noticing Lip's reaction.
"Nothing," Lip said, shaking his head. He didn't explain. He turned around and walked straight back into the house.
Tommy didn't care enough to push it. He pulled out his phone and started making calls, rounding up his guys to get moving right away.
Dexter was a rich client, the easy kind. Tommy was more than happy to do a fast, clean job—laying the groundwork to squeeze even more money out of him down the line.
Lip went back inside.
Only Liam and the nanny were home.
After a brief chat with the nanny and a little time playing with Liam, Lip dropped onto the couch, exhausted and pissed off. He shut his eyes, his head a tangled mess.
Karen.
The baby.
And now that bastard Dexter moving in next door…
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. The rage burned in his chest.
---
### XXXX Hospital
Bianca was writing a report in her office when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
A nurse walked in, carrying an outrageously large bouquet of flowers. She was grinning ear to ear as she set them on Bianca's desk.
"Doctor, delivery from the florist. Looks like someone's got a secret admirer."
Bianca's life had been dull for a long time—work, work, and more work, with zero romance. Seeing the flowers, she immediately guessed who they were from. The only surprise was that he actually sent them.
She stood up, took the card tucked among the flowers, opened it, and confirmed her suspicion.
A faint smile crossed her face.
The nurse caught it instantly—her gossip radar lighting up. "So? Which handsome guy sent these?"
Bianca wiped the smile off her face at once and put on her usual professional expression. "A patient."
"What? A patient?" The nurse clearly didn't buy it. "Then why were you smiling just now?"
Bianca felt a little awkward and quickly changed the subject. "Ahem. Back to work."
"So mysterious," the nurse teased, clicking her tongue. She didn't push it, but added over her shoulder, "You should bring him by sometime. Let us see this 'patient.'"
Bianca didn't respond. She sat back down, lowered her head, and went back to her report.
Only after the door closed did she glance back at the flowers.
She smiled again, just a little.
She was still a woman. And women liked flowers.
After staring at them quietly for a moment, Bianca stood up, moved the bouquet to the corner of the room, then returned to her desk.
But her focus didn't quite come back with her.
---
### Evening
### The Gallagher House
Carl and Debbie came home from school and were thrilled to see Lip sprawled on the couch.
"Lip! You're finally back!" Debbie ran over and threw herself into his arms.
Carl, being Carl, asked bluntly, "Did you get raped in there?"
Lip hugged Debbie, then shot Carl a look and puffed himself up. "Those assholes were begging me for mercy. Who the hell would touch me?"
His face was still bruised and battered, clear proof he'd been in a fight.
Carl didn't doubt him for a second. He gave a thumbs-up. "Nice."
Debbie asked, "Where's Ian?"
"Probably at the grocery store," Lip said. It was the safest guess.
"Why'd he go there as soon as he got out?" Debbie didn't get it.
Lip wasn't about to explain. "Who knows. Ignore him—he'll be back. But you guys, come sit. Tell me about the last three months. Anything happen?"
Debbie and Carl sat down beside him.
Carl didn't have much to say—just a few short sentences.
Debbie, on the other hand, couldn't stop talking once she started. Before long, her voice cracked and tears started pouring down her face.
Lip's heart clenched. "Hey, hey, don't cry. I swear, nothing like that's gonna happen again."
Debbie nodded over and over.
A while later, the front door opened.
Ian walked in with a black eye.
Lip and the others turned toward the noise and immediately noticed it.
"What happened?" Lip frowned. He knew for a fact his punch earlier hadn't landed anywhere near Ian's eye.
Ian shot Lip a cold look, didn't answer, and instead smiled at Debbie and Carl. "Hey."
Lip frowned deeper but didn't press him.
Slowly, the Gallagher house settled back into its usual chaos.
Debbie was genuinely happy—from the bottom of her heart.
Carl was happy too, but for very different reasons.
He was excited because now he could ask about juvie.
"Was juvie fun?"
"Did you learn anything?"
"I heard it's full of interesting people."
"I kinda wanna go live there for a few months."
"How do you get in?"
He asked each question with complete seriousness.
Debbie was speechless and smacked him more than once.
The four of them made a noisy mess in the living room.
Then—
Steve walked in, arms full of shopping bags, smiling like nothing in the world was wrong.
"Lip, Ian—welcome back! I bought a ton of stuff. Let's celebrate."
Lip hadn't forgotten the night Steve chickened out and refused to go into Roberta's house. He still looked down on him and fired back immediately.
"Celebrate what?"
Ian didn't have much against Steve and greeted him casually. "Steve."
Steve just laughed it off. He didn't bother arguing with Lip. He opened the bags instead. "Beer, popcorn, steaks…"
Not long after, the nanny finished cooking.
The five of them ate, drank, and talked, the mood lively and loud.
It was oddly warm.
Even though Lip clearly despised Steve, he still drank his beer and ate his food—while continuing to treat him like crap.
Which only proved one thing: Steve had an impressive amount of patience.
After they'd been eating for a bit, Steve spoke up. "How about we go pick up Fiona the day after tomorrow? She's probably dying to see you guys. I can get a bigger car."
"Yes!" Debbie said instantly.
Carl agreed too—though his main interest in prison hadn't faded.
Ian nodded.
Lip missed Fiona badly. "Yeah."
"Cool. Then I'll pick you up tomorrow morning," Steve said with a grin.
After another half hour of hanging around and making sure everyone was okay, Steve said his goodbyes and left.
Outside the Gallagher house, he let out a long breath and shook his head.
Those kids…
He really had no interest in dealing with them. Putting up with it all for Fiona's sake was exhausting enough.
"Sigh…"
Steve lit a cigarette, walked quickly to his car, and drove off.
---