Page 135 of Serpent In White

He rubs the back of his neck with his hand. “Well, no… But he said to show her around, and she’s really interested in the business.”

“Of course she is,” I huff.

“I go to Business School,” the girl chirps.

I roll my eyes. “Of course you do. Look, I don’t have time for this. I need to speak to my brother.”

I turn away from them but feel a hand on my arm. I already recognize the firm yet tender grip.

“Drake,” Abdiel says my name in that voice again, and I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me that it creates a tiny flutter in my gut. He just has the sexiest damn voice… “Please? Just a quick tour. Nothing too involved. Even just your terrarium in your office would suffice.” His pouty lips pull into a tempting grin. “For me?”

Honestly, what is it about this kid that makes me want to push him onto his knees right here?

Taking a deep breath, I watch him carefully, his thoughts telling me about how he missed me, and how much he loved what we did in the woods before he left. It’s twisting me up, which is beyond frustrating, since I’m already twisted up.How much more can a person twist??

“Fine,” I growl.

Abdiel smiles before his tongue trails his lip, the sight of which is hardening me up good in my pants.

The girl’s thoughts are simmering beside me, distracting me with all her mischievous wonderings, about me, what I do, where I’m from… About meandAbdiel together.

There’s tension between us. I was hoping it wasn’t obvious, but if this stranger is picking up on it, maybe someone else could, too?

It’s not good, and now I’m even more irritable as I bark, “Five minutes inside the lab. That’s it. Stay by my side. If you wander off, I can’t promise my men won’t shoot you.”

Abdiel grins, likely believing that I’m kidding as I stomp in the direction I came, back up the steps to the lab. The girl’s head is ridden with angst at wondering if I’m serious.

Hopefully she doesn’t find out the hard way.

We go inside and walk the corridor, toward the lab. With the girl by my side, I hear her scattered thoughts while her face bounces back and forth, taking everything in.

“When did you get back?” I ask Abdiel.

“Earlier this morning. We’ve spent the last hour or so getting her settled in my trailer and taking a tour of the lake, housing, the farm…”

“She’s staying with you?” My shock is apparent.Darian would never…

“She’ll be using my trailer,” Abdiel corrects me. “I’m staying in the Den.”

My chest tightens. “Are you now…” My jaw does, too.

Abdiel gives me a side-eye.You can come stay with us… You know that, right?

My gaze narrows, chest tightening at the thought, for just a moment before I shake it off.

Pushing open the large double doors, I bring them inside the lab. There’s a platform with handrails where you stand to overlook everything happening below, in the actual lab, stairs leading down to where my chemists are bustling about. The three of us stand up on the platform, observing them hard at work, mixing, stirring, and boiling in beakers and flasks, using machines to create and measure.

“Wow,” the girl sighs. “This is incredible. This place is so different from everywhere else I’ve seen.”

“How so?” I ask, knowing what she means, but wanting to watch her as she explains her thoughts. I like that.

“Well, this entire place… theExpanse… there’s so much going on here. Little sections, almost like boroughs within your commune. And this place, this lab, is the only spot with technology, it seems.” She pauses to collect her thoughts. “I could be wrong. Obviously, I haven’t seen everything in only a couple of hours. But… I like it in here.”

I nod, accepting her compliment. And it is one, for me, since this lab is mine. I designed it, set it up. I run it.

It’s my haven within our haven.

The business side of it is something I have to do because I don’t trust anyone else with it. Darian helps, sure, but he focuses more on dealing with the political side. I have to run the exporting and trade, even though it’s not my favorite thing.