Page 19 of Three

Lori glares at me. “One of my bosses is a plonker, so I made my position clear.”

“How?” Michael frowns.

“His nose broke when it came in contact with the hard top of his desk,” he shamelessly explains. Lori is slender, lithe, and petite, but he can fucking fight and be quite vicious. I’ve seen him in action a couple of times, he’s like one of those dwarf venomous snakes: if he gets too close, you’re fucked.

“What did your boss say to you?” Sari’s wet hand lifts to cover his mouth.

Lori grabs it and starts drying it. “Nothing your innocent ears should be acquainted with, Angel.”

“And the firm didn’t fire you?” My tone has a hint of disbelief in it.

He shrugs. “They moved me to another department.”

“Why didn’t Gabe tell us?” Sari wonders out loud.

“He’s the big boss. He doesn’t care or have time for all the HR tosh.” Lori grabs a purple nail file and does what I can only describe as attacking Sari’s nails.

“He should,” Sari insists. “I bet if you tell him…”

“No. It’s done. My ex-boss has a high position in the firm. And I’m only a paralegal. Iamrather self-destructive, but even I know when it’s best to let it go.” He carefully starts to apply the white polish.

If using the guy’s head as a basketball is Lori’s way of letting go, I can’t imagine what he’s capable of doing for revenge. I’m damn glad he’s on our team.

“I must have inflicted carnage in my past life. Maybe I was Cruella the puppy slayer or a dietitian,” he ponders. He looks unfazed by the event, but I suspect he’s just used to putting on a strong front.

“Or a gremlin,” I add, winking at him.

“Wanker,” he mutters. “Like?” he then asks Sari when he’s done with his nails. My brother smiles at him and nods enthusiastically, making his long black braid shift on his shoulder. “Wow.”

“Michael, you’re up.”

Sari slides off the stool to let Michael take his place at the kitchen counter while still staring dreamily at his hands.

“Why don’t you go back to study? You could reach a high position in the firm that way,” Michael tells Lori.

“Mmm, and have my own minions… Me likey. Ollie does make studying look like fun.”

After a long hiatus caused byfamilyissues, Ollie went back to university a month ago. He already works with Rague at his construction and demolition company, but he wants to help him with the administrative side of the business too.

“I’m actually thinking about teaching at university level,” Michael suddenly says. “I went with Sari to a few symposia, and I found them stimulating and enlightening. You were amazing when…”

“I was?” Sari seems surprised. He doesn’t like to have all the attention on himself, but he gives speeches at universities and charities from time to time if it helps people to get acquainted with his and Raph’s work at Bear-Stone Labs, the research company they founded together.

“Of course! Your work is groundbreaking.” Michael is Sari’s biggest groupie.

“You’d be a great professor thanks to your enthusiasm, clarity, and comprehensibility, like when you describe new or ancient torture methods. Add to that the way you always keep up with new interesting medical techniques, and you’re the perfect candidate for a university teaching position.”

Sari is right. “Your torture fun facts are like small educational gems.” I nod.

It seems like Michael appreciates the sentiment. He pulls Sari to him for a tight hug while smiling big at me. I think I hear a muffled and emotional thank you.

I almost look away since hugs are a painful reminder of what I can’t have. But Lori’s purrs stop me. His curly head leans toward me. “Blimey, please tell me his hands are going to slide to Sari’s perky derriere while they snog…”

“I’m married, and Sari is my brother-in-law!” Michael scolds him, letting Sari go and ruining the nice porn fantasy that Lori was feeding me.

“I’m already on board with it, Bones, don’t need to give me more material.” Lori smirks at Michael.

“You’re nuts.”