Chapter 174 Less Terrible

Chapter 174 Less Terrible
Renzo showed up at the clubhouse six days into his two-week recovery, sling gone, arm moving stiff but functional, and immediately started arguing with anyone who tried to send him home.

"I'm fine," he told Cade, who'd found him in the back lot going through supply crates like nothing had happened to his shoulder at all.

"Doctor said two weeks."

"Doctor's overly cautious." Renzo lifted a crate one-handed, testing it, wincing slightly before covering it fast. "I've got six more days of sitting around doing nothing. I'll go out of my mind."

"You could try resting. Novel concept, I know."

"I've rested plenty."

"Six days isn't plenty."

Renzo set the crate down harder than necessary. "I watched everyone else keep working while I sat on Lina's couch getting handed tea like an invalid. I'm done with that part."

Cade studied him for a moment. "This isn't about the shoulder, is it."

"It's exactly about the shoulder."

"It's about feeling useless," Cade said. "Different thing."

Renzo didn't answer that directly, which told Cade he'd hit somewhere close to the truth.



Dante caught him an hour later trying to volunteer for perimeter watch, and the conversation went about as well as Cade expected. "Absolutely not," Dante said, not even looking up from the report he was reading.

"I can hold a position fine."

"You can barely lift a crate without wincing. I watched you do it in the lot ten minutes ago."

"That's different from watch duty."

"It's exactly the same," Dante said, finally looking up. "Watch duty means being ready to move fast if something happens. You're not ready to move fast. You're barely ready to move normal."

Renzo's jaw tightened. "So what am I supposed to do. Sit around for another week doing nothing while everyone else handles things."

"Yes," Dante said simply. "That's exactly what you're supposed to do."

"That's not an answer, Dante."

"It's the only answer I've got." Dante set the report down, giving him full attention now. "You got shot four days ago, Renzo. In the same shoulder that was already hurt. I'm not putting you back on active duty just because sitting still makes you restless."

"I'm not asking for active duty. I'm asking for something. Anything besides watching everyone else work while I heal."

Dante studied him for a long moment, something shifting in his expression. "This isn't really about the shoulder."

"Everyone keeps saying that like it's some big revelation."

"Maybe because it's true," Dante said. "What's actually going on."

Renzo was quiet for a moment, some of the fight draining out of him. "I don't do well with stillness," he admitted finally. "Never have. Give me a job, a threat, something to move toward, and I'm fine. Give me nothing and I start thinking too much."

"Thinking about what."

"Everything," Renzo said, vague on purpose, and Dante didn't push further, reading the boundary clearly enough.

"Fine," Dante said instead. "You want something to do that doesn't involve your shoulder. I've got exactly that."

Renzo looked at him warily. "What."

"The legitimization paperwork," Dante said. "Lyra's building the financial structure, but there's a mountain of licensing research that needs doing first. Reading through regulations, understanding what we need to file and when. Desk work, it doesn't require two working arms."

Renzo's face fell slightly. "That sounds like torture."

"It sounds like exactly what you need," Dante said, unmoved. "Something to occupy your mind without risking your body. Take it or keep sitting on Lina's couch drinking tea."

Renzo grimaced at the reminder. "Fine, the paperwork."

"Good." Dante almost smiled. "Lyra's set up in the back office most days now. Go find her. She'll walk you through what needs doing."



Lyra looked up when Renzo appeared in the doorway of the back office, papers spread across the desk in front of her, a system slowly taking shape that hadn't existed a week earlier.

"Dante sent me," Renzo said, sounding thoroughly unenthusiastic about it. "Something about paperwork."

"Licensing research," Lyra confirmed, pulling out a chair for him. "Sit. I'll show you what I need."

Renzo sat, eyeing the stack of documents warily. "This looks worse than watch duty."

"It's less likely to get you shot again."

"That's a low bar."

"It's the bar we're working with right now," Lyra said, sliding a folder toward him. "These are the categories we need researched. Business licensing requirements, zoning regulations for the properties Dante wants to convert, tax structure options. I need to know what applies to us specifically before we file anything."

Renzo flipped through the folder, grimacing at the density of it. "This is a lot of reading."

"It is."

"I'm not exactly built for reading."

"You're built for whatever you decide to be built for," Lyra said, not unkindly. "You held a fence line against armed men four days ago with a bad shoulder. I think you can handle regulatory text."

Renzo glanced at her, something almost like respect flickering behind the reluctance. "That's fair."

They worked in relative quiet for a while, Renzo slowly making his way through the first section, occasionally asking questions that Lyra answered patiently, the two of them settling into an unexpectedly comfortable rhythm.

"This is actually less terrible than I expected," Renzo admitted eventually, setting down one document and picking up another.

"High praise."

"Don't get used to it." He rubbed his eyes, clearly still adjusting to the mental shift from action to paperwork. "How do you do this all day without losing your mind."

"I like it," Lyra said honestly. "There's something satisfying about untangling something complicated until it makes sense. Same feeling as the ledgers, just bigger."

"You're built different than me," Renzo said. "I need to move. You need to solve things sitting still."

"Maybe we balance each other out then," Lyra said. "You keep me from getting too buried in paper. I keep you from getting shot a third time."

Renzo huffed something close to a laugh. "Fair trade."

~~

Cade found them there an hour later, papers spread wider now, both of them deep in some discussion about zoning categories that clearly meant nothing to him at a glance. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Terrible," Renzo said, without looking up. "Educational, but terrible."

"He's actually doing well," Lyra said. "Found an inconsistency in the second document I'd missed."

Renzo looked faintly pleased at that despite himself. "See," Cade said. "Useful without getting shot. Revolutionary concept."

"Don't push it," Renzo warned, though there wasn't much heat behind it.

Cade studied his friend for a moment, something easing in his own chest at seeing Renzo settled into something productive instead of fighting everyone about being sidelined.

"Dante says you've got six more days on desk duty before he even considers letting you back to regular work."

"Six more days," Renzo repeated, sounding pained.

"You'll survive," Lyra said.

"Barely," Renzo muttered, but he picked the next document back up anyway.