Page 6

“He has a taser and he’s not afraid to use it,” the kid on the hobby horse said, oh so helpfully. “I saw him do it.”

The two kids scrambled to their feet before Ryden could say a word and sped out of there like actual Raptors were chasing them. Great. Now he’d have to deal with parents who thought Ryden had threatened to taser their kids and had possibly already done so.

“That was not helpful,” Ryden grumbled as he carefully picked up the volcano and headed out of the pen.

The kid rolled his eyes. “It worked, didn’t it?” He wrinkled his nose. “I’d taser them.”

“Oh, I bet ya would.” Ryden carried the volcano toward the snack table when something beeped. He stopped. “What was that?”

The kid’s eyes widened, and he took off. What the hell?

Ryden tapped his earpiece. “Red, did anyone say when this thing was set to go off?” He hurried toward the table when the top of the volcano erupted, shooting a giant cloud of red edible glitter into his face. “Never mind.”

This time, his so-called friends and coworkers didn’t bother to hold in their laughter. Ryden shook his head, red glitter raining down with every move. He leisurely walked to the table and placed the volcano down gently. Sure. Why not? He turned when something squawked overhead.

“What the…?” Ryden lifted his head, and a drone resembling a Pterodactyl swooped low, dropping a payload of foam darts onto his head.

He glared up as it circled again. “I swear to God, if that thing—” A second payload of confetti poured down on him.

He put a hand out. They were shaped like the word ‘roar’.

He would have blamed Ace, except Ace wasn’t working this gig.

The kids cheered and ran circles around him, Nerf guns in the air.

With a sigh, Ryden tapped his earpiece. “I’m goin’ to the bathroom to get this stuff off.

One of you needs to arrange security for Jay, because if ya don’t, I’m gonna murder him.

” He headed toward the house when a relatively robust older woman blocked his path.

Wonderful. Cordelia Rusticucci. The woman was one tight-curled hairdo away from being a villainous, Regency-era matriarch.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Did she not see the obvious? Ryden pointed to his face. “To wash this off.”

“Not in the house, you’re not,” Cordelia huffed. “There’s a sink in the gardener’s shed.”

Ryden forced a smile. “Of course.” He made to go around her when she blocked his path. Again. Fuck my life. What now ?

“What’s wrong with your eye?”

“Oh, I was injured during a trainin’ exercise years ago.

” Ryden was used to the stares and questions about his eye.

When it first happened, he’d been self-conscious about it, even covered it up, but that was before he accepted it as a part of who he was and no longer cared what anyone thought. It was what it was.

“Well, it’s ghastly.”

Like your manners.

“ Cordelia .” Angelica Rusticucci, dressed in a stunning, form-fitting white pantsuit, stopped beside them, her deep frown on her mother-in-law. “The man is a veteran. Show some respect.”

Cordelia huffed. “Well, it is. They shouldn’t have put him out here with the children. What if it frightens them?”

Ryden arched an eyebrow. The only thing these kids were scared of was having their allowances taken away, and maybe having to eat broccoli.

Did Cordelia forget that the children she spoke of were ten- to thirteen-year-old boys?

The ones who didn’t find it gross yet awesome thought it was the most badass thing ever.

When they were done grilling him for details, they took off and continued wreaking havoc.

“Why don’t you see if your other son needs a fourth Scotch?” Angelica hissed.

With a huff, Cordelia marched off. When she disappeared inside, Angelica turned her attention back to him.

“I’m so sorry. Cordelia, she’s just… Well, she’s a real bitch.”

That was unexpected. Then again, Angelica wasn’t like her husband and his family.

From what Ryden recalled, Bertram had just finished signing the divorce papers for his second heiress wife when he met Angelica at one of his company’s holiday parties.

They’d hit it off and soon after were married.

She’d been a file clerk at the time. It had been quite the Rusticucci family scandal.

From the looks of it, Angelica could hold her own.

Angelica’s smile was apologetic. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can clean up.” She motioned for him to follow.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Oh my God, please don’t call me ma’am. That’s what everyone calls Cordelia,” Angelica laughed, making Ryden smile.

She was younger than Ryden, with bright green eyes and soft, red curls that fell over one shoulder in a ponytail.

“It’s bad enough being called Mrs. Rusticucci.

There’s nothing like sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room and having the nurse call it out.

I used to get embarrassed. Now, I reply loudly, ‘It’s my name, not a condition.

’” She laughed again, and Ryden joined her.

He liked her. There was a twinkle of mischief in her eyes.

She reminded him of—nope. “What?” she asked. “You made a face.”

Man, he was shit at schooling his expressions. “Sorry, you just remind me of someone I know.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked, amused as she led him to the mansion’s side entrance. “I can’t tell from your expression.”

“Uh, both?” He shook his head with a chuckle. “I’m not sure.”

She smiled slyly. “Pretty girl?”

Ryden pressed his lips together, and she gasped playfully.

“Oh, pretty guy.”

“Well, he is that,” Ryden admitted. “He’s also the one who got me assigned this job.”

Angelica barked out a laugh. “Oh no! I have to say, I don’t even know him, but I like him already.” She gave him a knowing smile. “What did you do to deserve such a fate?”

“I was an ass.”

She hummed. “And what are you going to do about it?”

How had he gone from cleaning glitter off his face to talking about Jay? He couldn’t escape the guy, even on the job. “It’s complicated.” They stopped by a door that looked like it led into a mudroom.

“The bathroom’s just inside to the left. Also, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Trust me. Your heart knows what it wants. It just takes your head a little longer to accept it.” She winked at him before walking off. “Think about it!”

Even if Ryden were to admit—which he wasn’t going to—that he felt something for Jay other than irritation, who said Jay felt the same? Okay, he was not going to think about this now. He had a kid’s birthday party to survive.

It took far longer than it should have to remove all the visible glitter, and he was sure it would be falling off him for days, along with sand from the pit. Jay was going to pay for this.

Not long after he resumed his post, the kids started to crash from their sugar highs while the few sober parents were no doubt reconsidering their life choices. Susan, the animatronic Stegosaurus, had been powered down before she could destroy any more dinosaur-shaped fruit.

Thank goodness this day was almost over. Ryden stood by a cardboard cutout of a Raptor, arms folded over his chest. A heartbeat later, Red appeared beside him, carrying a soda and a plate with a piece of cake. Ryden couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle, remembering Jay’s words.

“From Angelica. She said she thought you could use this.” Red handed the soda and cake to Ryden.

“Thanks.” Ryden unscrewed the cap on his drink. “I’m still gonna murder Jay.”

Red nodded. “Could you maybe do it off the clock? Too much paperwork. You are aware that Jay has seen every second of today.”

“Oh, I know he has.” And if by some miracle he hadn’t, Ace or Joker would have shown him the surveillance video. “Have you ever considered early retirement?”

Red chuckled. Despite everything, standing there in companionable silence with Red was nice. That’s what Ryden loved about him. He had such a calming presence. The party was quieter now, the sun starting to set as a nice breeze came in from the ocean.

“You know, you two can’t keep this up forever,” Red said, his voice soft.

How did everyone know what, or who, he was thinking about? Was it that obvious? He needed to get some advice from King on how to be more stoic.

“I can try.”

Red sighed, and Ryden sipped his soda before speaking up.

“Okay, yes. I know we can’t keep this up forever. I just…I don’t know what to do with him. He drives me batshit. Everything about him is so… ugh .”

Jay wasn’t like anyone Ryden had ever known.

He was as bold as his fashion choices and didn’t give two shits what anyone thought of him.

The guy could hold a grudge until the end of time, but he was also funny and thoughtful and son of a biscuit eater!

He had to find a way to get Jay out of his head.

Red hummed. “Well, talking it out doesn’t seem to work for you two. Maybe you two just need to, I don’t know, fuck it out.”

Ryden had not been prepared for that and started choking on his soda.

“Shit! You okay? Breathe, man.” Red slapped Ryden’s back as Ryden gulped for air and did his best not to die.

“What the hell?” Ryden wheezed. “Where’d that come from?”

Red shrugged. “It seemed to work for Lucky and Mason. Before they got together, we figured they were either going to kill each other or fuck.”

“That’s…” Ryden shook his head. “That ain’t what’s happenin’ here.”

“No? So Jay didn’t try to lunge at you to inflict bodily harm after you put a fake spider in his desk?”

Okay, that happened. Still….

“Could you at least call a truce?” Red asked.

“I’ll think about it. No promises.”

Behind them, the chocolate fountain whirred, screeched, then caught fire. Ryden let his head hang. “They’ve managed to set chocolate on fire, Red. I don’t even know what to do with that.”

With a laugh, Red patted Ryden’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go put out the chocolate fountain. Think about what I said.”

Ryden nodded. He thought about it.

Truce my ass .