Page 125 of Retribution

“Of course you do,” Isolde sighs. “I wasn’t planning to fall asleep, but Leila is so cute. I locked the door, laid down to watch her, and must have closed my eyes.”

“Have you eaten yet?” Lucas asks, moving over to the fridge. I put everything in there at one point when I realized that she wasn’t going to eat yet.

“I haven’t,” she admits. “I mean, I had some cheese while I was feeding Leila her bottle. Watching her eat reminded me to.”

Nodding, Lucas pulls out the tray and sets it on the counter.

“Turkey, salami, or veggies?” he asks.

“If you’re offering,” I say lazily from the ground, “I’ll take salami.”

“Cute,” he mutters, picking up a sandwich to place it on a plate.

“You know what I’d like. Veggie, please,” Isolde replies.

“Perfect,” he says, getting everything together. I see that there are also little bags of chips, and stand to grab a few.

“Now you’re up,” Lucas grumbles, handing me my plate.

“You need to eat,” I grunt, ignoring him as I walk over to sit next to Isolde.

“Come here, grumpy,” she teases him.

Lucas pouts and pulls out a blanket from the diaper bag to lay it out on the floor before bringing over the food and water glasses.

“I can be grumpy and adorable,” he mutters, taking a large bite of his sandwich. “Goddamn, why do I do this to myself?”

Shaking my head, I say, “You’re a glutton for punishment.”

“Probably,” he sighs, swallowing his food. “I have a few more meetings now that I have the rundown of the office gossip. Apparently Theresa O’Neil is fucking one of the new interns.”

“Isn’t he like twelve?” I snort. I’m not serious, but he’s fresh out of college. Theresa is in her fifties.

“Please don’t be serious,” Isolde says, making a face.

“Don’t lose your appetite, darlin’, the intern is twenty-two. She is going to have a very uncomfortable conversation with Human Resources soon,” Lucas says. “I have a non-fraternization policy unless it’s explained to HR. You can’t help who you’re attracted to, but you do need to be transparent about it.”

“Is this a new fling?” I ask, continuing to eat. Maybe I also enjoy gossip. I’ll never tell.

“Paula says they’ve been fucking in her office after work for the past six months at least,” Lucas says.

“This is a very odd office catch-up conversation,” Isolde teases him.

I glance at her as I polish off my sandwich, worried she might feel territorial or jealous. I can’t feel anything like that through the bond, but it’s still a concern.

Lucas will often have a closed door meeting with his assistant once a week, but there’s nothing sexual or inappropriate about it.

“You’d be shocked about what I find out from her,” he says. “I’ve caught criminal activity, fired people for breaking company policy, and more over the years. People think they can get away with shit just because I’m not here every day.”

“It’s rare that things go down like people stealing from the company,” I add. “I’ve heard staff members say that they think Lucas is clairvoyant and omnipotent which doesn’t help his large ego.”

“Damn, you’re very lucky that my ego is impenetrable. Years of building it all by myself has helped,” Lucas chuckles.

Isolde has a private smile teasing her lips as she finishes eating. Lucas and I roughhouse and spar at home. There’s no audience, and it’s how we act with the rest of our newly formed pack as well when we’re in private. I think our omega enjoys theway we can just exist when outsiders remain where they should be.

Outside.

I’d much rather hang out in my bubble.