Page 13 of Veiled Justice (The Other Detective #1)

It was cruel not to have warned my family about the identity of the second lunch guest. When I rang the doorbell, Mum answered with a wide beam that promptly faltered as she caught sight of two things: one, an ogre, and two, her daughter in the uniform of the Connection.

She assessed the situation instantly and clearly one of the issues was more egregious than the other. She glared and I felt Krieg tense a little next to me. ‘You know how I feel about you coming here in uniform,’ she scowled.

The tension slid out of Krieg; she wasn’t cross because of him. ‘My fault entirely,’ he said smoothly. ‘I drove her here and I don’t have any spare clothes for her in my car yet.’

Yet? What the hell did that mean?

‘Of course you don’t.’ She reached out and patted his arm. He blinked then stared at the place where she had touched him so casually. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen that happen – did people not usually touch him? He was a king, not a fine piece of china.

Realising I was being impolite, I decided to get the formalities over and done with. ‘Mum,’ I said reluctantly, ‘this is—’

‘Robert,’ Krieg interrupted me. ‘But call me Robbie, please.’ He gave my mum the deepest bow I’d ever seen him give to anyone.

Robbie? My jaw dropped.

‘Wonderful to meet you, Robbie. Do come in for some lunch – though I have to tell you, the conversation is leaving a little to be desired.’ Mum looked at my bird. ‘How lovely to see you again, Loki.’

‘Pleasure mine,’ he trilled, fluttering over and nuzzling her neck. Krieg wasn’t the only one sucking up.

Mum led the way and we trailed in after her. Krieg missed nothing as we walked down the hallway, his eyes lingering on photos of my father in uniform, and a far younger me snuggling up to our family dog, Gus.

‘Why are you brown-nosing my mum?’ I hissed to Krieg.

He looked at me blandly then whispered softly, ‘She’s feeding me and controlling the size of my portions. Being polite is only sensible.’

Hmm. I couldn’t argue with that.

We followed Mum into the dining room. ‘Everyone,’ she announced loudly, ‘this is Robbie. Jules, Grant, scoot over won’t you?’ She disappeared into the kitchen to fetch us some food.

Eyes wide, the men freed up some space at the now-crowded table. Somehow Krieg seemed to take up room wherever he was, sucking up oxygen and space like he was a sexy black hole. ‘Miss Grey,’ he said to Ava and politely inclined his head.

‘Lovely to see you again, Your Excellence,’ she responded with a charming smile.

If Krieg was upset that his status was out of the bag, he didn’t show it. She gave him a low, respectful bow, which he acknowledged with a cool inclination of his head.

My brothers and Grant were all gaping at Krieg as Mum bustled back in with two plates heaped with food. Rupert regained his composure first and snapped his mouth closed with a clack.

My tummy gave a loud gurgle. ‘Excuse me,’ I said as my ears turned pink with embarrassment. I looked at the size of the plate she’d set down in front of me. ‘Mum, that’s huge!’

‘That’s what she said,’ Grant snickered to Jules. Julian elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

Mum frowned a warning and they settled down.

‘You told Rupert you were ravenous, dear. Dive right in. Can’t have you wandering around hungry.

’ She paused and pursed her lips. ‘Forgive me,’ she said to Krieg.

‘I know that ogres have some rules on food and drink but I don’t know them.

Is there anything I can do to assist you in that regard? ’

He smiled warmly at her. ‘My thanks for your consideration, Mrs Wise, but such rules only extend within the den. When I am out and about, things are a little looser.’

Julian let out a strangled noise. He was not looser at having ogre royalty in mum’s front room.

The plates were piled high with bread, cheeses, hams, pickles and a small side salad. Mine was overflowing, but I was game. I started constructing a huge sandwich before realising that the room was totally and weirdly, silent. I looked up. Everyone was still looking at Krieg.

‘He’s just a man. Get over it,’ I snapped as my restraint finally snapped.

‘He’s not just a man,’ Rupert murmured. ‘And you know it.’

‘Gosh, well.’ Mum was flustered, but at that point she was the only one who didn’t know who Krieg really was; she thought Rupert was just being a bit weird about having an ogre guest. She smiled brightly. ‘I expect those horns come in handy for gouging enemies and such.’

I groaned. ‘Mum, that doesn’t help.’

‘They’re tusks actually, rather than horn. They’re made of enamel.’ Krieg’s lips twitched. ‘And I hardly ever use my tusks in combat,’ he admitted. ‘Weapons are easier. Besides, it’s a pain to get the entrails out of my hair.’

Mum blinked rapidly then nodded as if that made perfect sense. Silence fell again. I crunched some cucumber as loudly as I could. ‘You’re so gross,’ Rupert huffed.

‘Not as gross as your feet,’ I shot back.

‘Actually, they’re much nicer since I took him to my beauty salon,’ Ava said serenely.

I snickered. ‘You got Rupe to have a pedi?’

Rupert squared his shoulders and looked down his nose at me. ‘It takes a real man to have a pedicure.’

‘Plus,’ Ava added guilelessly, ‘his sharp toenails kept scraping me when he put his cold feet on me in bed.’

‘We get pedicures,’ Grant blurted. Julian nodded.

All eyes slid to Krieg. He paused mid-bite. ‘I have never had a pedicure.’

‘You just like … use a sword?’ Rupert said.

Krieg grinned unexpectedly. ‘I file my nails.’

‘Right, sure.’

As always, Mum had set a Dr Pepper in front of me; Lord knows, I needed the caffeine. I cracked open the can and slurped a sip. Julian and Rupert started talking about the weather loudly, making their own conversation whilst we ate.

I gave a hum of pleasure at my second sip of Dr P and wriggled in my chair, only half a second away from a happy dance. I slid Krieg a look. ‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’

‘I’m beginning to get an idea,’ he murmured.

‘You sure you don’t want?’ I offered him the can.

His eyes darkened with something I didn’t want to name. ‘Oh I want …’ He trailed off and gave me a wry smile. ‘But not here.’

I swallowed – hard. I was pretty sure we weren’t talking about Dr Pepper anymore.

I couldn’t deny it anymore; Houston, we had definite flirtation.