Page 33

Chapter

Thirty-Three

GRACE

D inner was grilled burgers and fast fried potatoes with rosemary. Lunchbox was back before Bones or Voodoo reappeared. When I slipped into the kitchen to offer to help, he wrapped an arm around me and dragged me close.

“You can give me a kiss,” he’d murmured and I swore the knot of emotions inside of me twisted me up even tighter. Then his lips grazed over mine, more like miming a kiss than committing to it.

The whisper of his breath on my skin was even headier than the hint of a kiss itself. Shivers eddied over my skin as he lifted his head. “You are so damn dangerous.”

“Never to you,” he promised, then rubbed his thumb over my lower lip. “You okay?” The intensity in his eyes made them seem far darker than the blue they were normally. It was almost like they were a dark navy with hints of gray. Or maybe that was my imagination.

I sucked in a deep breath of him, the fresh and clean scent of his soap tickled my nostrils. There were hints of sandalwood around him but the cooking burgers and frying potatoes threatened to drown out the crisper notes.

Despite how short his shower was, he’d taken the time to shave and the lines of his jaw were sharp and angular. There was something innately beautiful about the shape of his features.

He could have been a model. The combination of his height and long, rangy body with his athletic build made for a potent combination. The t-shirt he wore fit him so well it might as well have been tailored, and hid nothing of his muscular shoulders. At the same time, the contrast of soft cotton with the harder body beneath made me want to lean into him.

“Grace?” Lunchbox leaned back to study me, before he shifted to flip the burgers while still keeping an arm around me. The ease in the fluid motion was so damn natural.

“I’m fine,” I said, stumbling a little mentally. I’d almost forgotten he asked me a question. Then I gave into the desire to just lean against him.

“Tired?” A hint of worry coated the word.

“She napped,” Alphabet said as he came to my rescue. “We’re all clear out there. His security is looking, but they haven’t even tracked the abandoned car yet.”

“Good,” Lunchbox said, glancing past me to Alphabet, then to the food. “If you’re tired, we call it and debrief in the morning.”

“I don’t want to call it,” I said before they could start making decisions for me. Was I tired? Yes, but I was also… “I am tired, I can admit that. It’s been a long day. But we did nap and I don’t want to go to sleep without debriefing about what happened and what comes next.”

“Good girl,” Alphabet whispered as he traced a finger along my shoulder before he eased past us to open the fridge and pull out the water and juice he’d stored in there earlier.

Pleasure flash fired through me at the comment. “I’m trying,” I said, embarrassment creeping through me.

“You don’t have to try, Firecracker,” Voodoo said as he strolled in and I swore, he looked so damn supple and lithe with each step. It was like he glided, more catlike than human. “Just say whatever it is or do what you need to do.”

One by one, the burgers were coming off the grilling pan, but Lunchbox still had his arm around me. The weight of his hand on my hip was both comforting and grounding. If he needed his arm, he wasn’t acting like it.

“What he said,” Lunchbox continued, as if picking up on the same thread. “You don’t have to do anything more than you already are. I just don’t want you to exhaust yourself. Even if you have the right to make the call for yourself.”

Even if…

I turned that over in my head as he pressed another brief kiss to the top of my head and gave me a squeeze before releasing me. “Need to swap out the potatoes.”

Scooting out of his way, I backed up right into Voodoo who looped an arm around my chest at shoulder height and glanced down at me. Heat scorched my face all over again at the knowing look in his dark eyes.

I didn’t think Alphabet said anything to them and Voodoo had said earlier he didn’t mind if Lunchbox was kissing me. At the same time…

“Stop worrying,” Voodoo murmured, folding around me like a cloak that wrapped me up in him. The teasing pressure of his lips against my ear sent another wave of sensation through me, especially since the softness of his beard tickled. “Seriously, Firecracker, don’t worry so much. It’s all good, okay?”

The reassurance helped, to a point, but also…

I tilted my head back and searched his face. Did he know…?

“Do I mean it?” Not one ounce of sarcasm marred the question. “Yes, I do.” He flicked a look from me to where Alphabet leaned against the counter.

When my gaze collided with his, Alphabet just lifted his chin. He’d said the same things earlier. If anything, he seemed even more confident now than he had then.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Voodoo’s second question pulled me back to him again. Playfulness reflected in his eyes, then he winked. The heat in my face seemed to bloom to a full-on sunburn before my stomach bottomed out then clenched.

He definitely knew or he was guessing.

“Yes,” was my answer. Because I really had enjoyed it. I’d enjoyed Alphabet and being with him. I’d enjoyed the closeness and the intimacy.

“Good.” The emphasis in that single syllable dared me to disbelieve him and that cracked the dam of worry inside me. Relief spilled through the openings and I thought I might have fallen if he hadn’t been holding me close.

“Food,” Lunchbox said, and he cut a glance toward me. “Voodoo is right. As long as you enjoyed yourself, we’re good.”

Then he shot a look at Alphabet I couldn’t quite interpret, but Alphabet just grinned at me and held out his hand. “C’mon Gracie-girl, let them feed us. We put in a lot of work today.”

“Is that what we’re calling it these days?” Bones desert dry observation was so deadpan it splintered the last of my reserve.

I laughed, which drew Bones' far more irritated gaze in my direction. That just made me laugh harder.

“Food,” Lunchbox said, mouth quirking as he cut between me and Bones. Voodoo tugged me over to the breakfast bar and the counter stools spread there. They only had four, but Voodoo just parked himself next to my seat and Alphabet climbed onto the one next to me. That put Lunchbox and Bones the furthest away—well Bones got the very other end of the counter.

It was kind of funny how swiftly they prepped everything. Lunchbox had apparently pre-prepared stuff before they left. There were slices of tomato, onions, lettuce, bacon, and peppers. The potatoes were the absolute perfect form of crispy and the rosemary just added a hint of spice.

The guys built enormous burgers and I took the beef patty, but skipped the bun and I added some sliced tomatoes and even though the potatoes smelled fantastic, I limited it to just a few.

I should probably have skipped those and just went with the lettuce and the onions, but I wasn’t as big a fan of the onions. Voodoo grabbed me a knife and fork without me even asking.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You sure you don’t want more?” Lunchbox asked. The guys had also limited how much they’d taken.

“No, I had lunch.”

“Like nine hours ago,” Alphabet argued.

“We also had sandwiches at six.” Or maybe it was five. I cut into the patty.

“We?” Alphabet countered, pointing one of the crispy potatoes at me. “I had a sandwich, then finished yours because you didn’t want that much.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I wasn’t that hungry then.”

“Enough,” Bones said abruptly. “As fascinating as the food conversation is, she’s an adult. She can decide what she wants. We have other issues to debrief on that don’t involve what Miss Black did or didn’t eat.”

Bones’ interruption landed with a hard thud in the middle of the meal and the guys switched their focus from me to him. I frowned, and made myself take a bite of the burger.

What appetite I’d managed fled in the face of the rising temperature. Voodoo straightened. “If we’re boring you, feel free to go to bed, Bones. We can debrief without you.”

The two men just glared at each other and I chewed until I could manage to swallow the meat. The taste had gone to ash.

“Really?” Bones seemed to just dare him. “Pack it away, based on how it smells down here, you won’t be scoring any points in her bed tonight anyway.”

“Hey,” Alphabet snapped as he pushed back from the counter abruptly. “Watch it.”

“Woah,” Lunchbox rose to get between them and I choked down that bit of beef. It got stuck in my throat and it seemed to just scrape its way down my esophagus. I went for a glass of water.

“Guys, this isn’t helping anyone,” Voodoo said and despite his relaxed posture, there was a core of steel in his voice.

My heart slammed against my ribs. The tension in the room seemed to wrap in ever tightening coils of barbed wire and violence.

Blowing out a breath, Bones raised his own glass. “Apologies, Miss Black. My opinions notwithstanding, you didn’t deserve the comment.”

The ballooning strain popped abruptly and Alphabet glanced at me. A muscle ticked in his jaw, even if some of the scruff hid it. I summoned a smile, I might not be feeling it at the moment but I knew how to put on a show. If he needed me to be okay with this to let it go, then I would be okay.

Frown deepening, Alphabet brushed his knuckles against the back of my hand before he took his seat again. This time when he met my gaze, the smile wasn’t as challenging.

I licked my lips then said, “Apology accepted, Boney Boy. It’s been a long day.”

That sent the last of the anxiety encircling the room down the drain and Lunchbox chuckled.

“Wait, I should have said Mr. Boy, since we’re being formal and stuff.” That earned me more laughter from the guys and a bland look from the “boy ” in question.

“Debrief,” Bones said, then continued without waiting for any of us to add anything. “The snatch went clean with no injuries.”

“Oh, there was at least one,” Voodoo said. “The bodyguard has at least a broken wrist.”

“Two,” Lunchbox volunteered. “The driver wasn’t all that willing to part with the vehicle. Pretty sure I dislocated his jaw when he argued.” He shrugged with a small smile that just said, “oops” without saying a word.

“Fine, negligible injuries,” Bones resumed. “We were able to divert the target from his security, then take him into custody with minimal damage.”

It was so weird to hear them talk about it like that. “He’s downstairs?”

“He is,” Bones said, turning his icy gray gaze toward me. It was like looking into the face of a winter storm. “Where he will remain until we begin questioning tomorrow morning. We go back to working sleep shifts tonight. We need someone on guard at all times. Everyone sleeps with a weapon.”

Before I could let my inner smart ass out to play, I took another drink of water.

“Miss Black, do you wish to be present for the questioning?”

Did I? That was a fair question. I put the glass down and reclaimed my fork to move some of the food around on the plate.

“Yes,” I answered, without looking at any of them. I didn’t want to see rough sympathy or doubt in their gazes. Honestly, I didn’t want the encouragement right now. “I am assuming questioning will involve some kind of torture. Not sure I’m one hundred percent comfortable with that, but I’m not opposed to it either.”

“You don’t have to stay for that part,” Voodoo offered.

“Yes, I do,” I countered as I cut a tomato slice into quarters. “You’re questioning him about me and about Amorette. I want to be there for his answers.”

All of them.

“We won’t keep anything from you,” Lunchbox offered, and I glanced from Voodoo to him to Alphabet. All three of them were reaching out in their own ways.

Weirdly though, it was the absolute lack of anything resembling sympathy or objection in Bones’ flat-eyed gaze that boosted me. “I know,” I said, speaking directly to him. “But this is about me, I should be there. For one, I’ve dealt with him before. For another, I’m the one he was offering so much money to see.”

If he had anything to do with Eleanor’s death, then I wanted to know.

“I have to know.” That was what it came down to.

“Then get some sleep tonight,” Bones told me. “Dawn will come early.”