Page 38 of The Boss

Huh. She’s not whiny anymore. Still acting, but not the crazy caricature from before. So shecanplay along in front of the men. Convincingly. I adjust myself under the table and study her.

“Fine,” I say to her. “Someone fix him a bowl in the kitchen,” I say to anyone.

“I can—” She starts to walk behind me to the double doors but I catch her around the waist, shift my chair back, pick her up and deposit her onto my lap.

In her shock I’m not sure she even notices Sheila grab the dog off of her arm. I pull the chair back closer to the table and Luna remains stiff as a board, upright against the arm rest of my chair. I pull her into me.

“You need to eat,Lasairéan,”I say, handing her a piece of cornbread soaked in stew sauce. She’s frozen, mouth hangingopen, staring at my fingers. I lean into her neck and speak into her ear. “Relax and eat,wife, or I will start spoon-feeding you in front of everyone.”

I lean away, pleased at how her lips are parted and her breaths have picked up. Pleased she’s not totally unaffected by me. It’s just not quite enough, I want to see more. And she still hasn’t taken the damn bread.

“Open.” I say, ready to feed her. And fuck me, she does. She sucks the bread from my hand, making sure to lick my fingers.

I clear my throat as she bats her lashes and says, “Thank you,” her voice breathy. She offers me a smile that is…shy.

Ah.

She almost had me going there for a second.

First unhinged, now she’s playing what, the sweetheart? Not fucking likely. She sets her plate down and moves to cut into a chunk of meat. Or, really, to shift her perfect ass in my lap.

“What does that mean?Lasairéan,I, um, couldn’t google it.” She asks, genuinely curious and falsely doe-eyed.

Focusing on my food and her little act—not her soft body—I grit out, “You won’t like it.”

“I’m shocked,” she laughs. She’s being sarcastic but still playing, no bite to her words.

I wouldn’t mind her new breathy tone and fluttering eyes, nor the way she moves or the little moaning noises she’s making about the stew, except I’m sure I’m not the only man who is enjoying the show. Luckily Cormac and Collin distract everyone when they barge in late and take their usual seats by me at the end of the table.

Luna gives a silent smile to Mac when he says hello. But then when Collin sits and gives her a wave she stops eating and does a double take with her head. A real one, like those that only happen in the movies. She stares.

I fight a few urges that pulse through me.

Collin is a handsome fucker.

He’s also a lot closer to her age.

And he has an easy next-boy charm about him that I never minded. Until now.

“Hi,” She says back, sounding…affected.

“Right. We’re done.” I say, surprising myself, grabbing Luna by the waist and putting her upright, then standing close behind her.

“We are?” She asks me, still chewing. I grunt before pushing back the chair and stalking away, her tiny hand firmly in mine. She follows, though she fights for a second, pulling away to grab another roll from the bowl on the table.

As we go through the dining room, I’m stopped a few times.Well done, Boss. We showed that fucker, Boss. Skulls Quinn, Mother Fuckeeeers!All the words and men blur into white noise but I nod and pat their backs or shake their hands in agreement with them.

Once we make it out of the congested areas, Luna tenses, but fights what I’m guessing is the urge to pull her hand away.

“Quinn?” She stops in her tracks and shakes her head a bit. Her voice sounds less sweet now. More real. She steps closer and asks, “What exactly is going on around here?” I just cock an eyebrow. She’ll have to be more specific. “Why do all these men live here? Why are they so young? Why do they all look like you and act like you and why do they all wash dishes and scrub toilets?”

“Everyone does everything here. We all pitch in. I thought Sheila explained.”

“Huh,” she says. I watch the wheels turning in her head. “That’s actually…kind of impressive.”

The sweet, false smile is back and she’s not done, so I wait. A couple men make their way around us carrying a few cases ofbeer. Patty smiles and says, “Been too long, Boss! Can’t fuckin’ wait to tear it up!”

I lift my chin at him and when I see Luna’s brow furrow even more I explain, “Throwing a party for finding the rat.”