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Chapter
Twenty-Two
VOODOO
Breakfast proved illuminating. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who noticed the shifting dynamic in play. Her night with Lunchbox just clarified that he was as committed as we were. Though, he wasn’t getting her tonight. Hours of listening to her had been a delightful torture and it had given me ideas.
Alphabet wasn’t focused on them so much as he was Bones. As aware of Grace as I was, I was with Alphabet on this. Something had happened with Bones and more than him just wrapping around her and getting her to sleep when her dreams woke her.
Nightmares. She wasn’t always aware of them. At least as far as I could tell. Sometimes, the nightmares would rip her out of sleep shrieking. Those, at least, released her. The other nightmares were more insidious. She would whimper, a lost sound that broke my heart.
It had happened in the van. Another reason to wrap her up tight. It was also why Goblin wouldn’t leave her. I spared a glance at Lunchbox and he raised his eyebrows. What did I need?
I lifted my chin in Grace’s direction. He held up two fingers and followed with a flattening of his hand. Two moments. She’d had two dreams, but he’d chased them away. Nodding, I leaned back in the chair.
Grace had eaten her french toast with gusto. Was her eating so enthusiastically what put the smile on Lunchbox’s face or was it all the sex?
Probably both. If it wasn’t both, I’d be more worried about him. Amusement trickled through me when Grace glanced at me. There was a sparkle in her eyes, even with all the quiet intensity marking her movements.
Uncertainty flickered in her eyes and I smiled. She had nothing to worry about. Sharing her with these guys was not a problem. I’d only object if some dick tried to cut any of us out. Biting her lower lip, Grace sent me a smile and I winked.
“If you two are quite done,” Bones stated cooly. “We need to get back to the briefing.”
“Oh,” I said easily. “I’m never going to be done.” The last I sent right to Grace. The pink that stained her porcelain cheeks satisfied me. But, I shifted my gaze to Bones anyway. “But don’t let that stop you. What’s the call?”
His stare was all steel and restraint, void of even a shadow of amusement. If ever a man needed to get laid, it was Bones. I kept that comment to myself, because as long as he waged a war against what he was feeling, we were going to have to deal with him.
Maybe we could find somewhere to spar. Or we could do a raid, nothing like beating the shit out of the bad guys to ease some tension.
“The call,” Bones said, tapping two fingers against the table, “is we’re remaining in this apartment for the next forty-eight hours.” He spared a glance at Alphabet. “Do you have an updated ETA on decryption?”
“It’s running,” Alphabet said. “Biggest problem is the processor on the laptop. Doesn’t have the power I need to speed the process up. If we picked up some more equipment, I could try to build something that would help. Even if Voodoo magicked it up for me this morning and I got it running by tonight, we’d still be looking at thirtyish hours. Go faster if we were at base. Travel time robs that advantage.”
He gave Goblin a slice of his bacon and the dog thumped his tail happily as he took it.
“We need to take him for a walk,” Grace said, twisting down to shower the very happy canine with some affection. I knew exactly how he felt.
“After the briefing,” Bones told her in a far gentler tone without an ounce of reprimand for going off topic.
He had it so bad.
I swallowed my amusement with coffee.
“Let’s see what we can do with equipment here,” Bones said after a beat andafterGrace sent him a small smile.
Yep, he had itsobad.
“Make a list for Voodoo to source,” Bones continued. “We need a full resupply anyway. Weapons, ammo, body armor. Include Grace in the last.” A frown tightened his brow. “You have someone here who can do custom sizing?”
Yeah, we’d need it. Grace was tiny. “I know a couple. I’ll put some feelers out. Big trick will be how effective it will be if we have to speed the process up.”
“Won’t they need to do fittings?” Lunchbox folded his arms, expression sober.
“Nope, I have her measurements.” A grin curved my lips when Grace shot me a look. “Don’t worry, Firecracker. I know every divot, curve, and line.” Tapped the side of my head. “All memorized. But I’ll definitely refresh before I head out.”
Laughter bubbled out of her and Alphabet snorted, amusement tinging the respect in his expression. “Smooth.”
I just spread my hands and inclined my head. “I try.”