Page 44 of Lure

He’d been up most of the night digging down into the accounts of every single attorney at her sister’s firm. He had been, at least, when he wasn’t working on tracking Rojas operations, locations, and other resources.

Gracie wanted answers.

We wanted to give them to her.

“Should we let Goblin out?” She stood near the table, arms folded still, a worried frown tightening her brow.

“He’s probably fine. Alphabet was up until early this morning. But…” I considered for a moment as I steamed the milk and held the answer until I was done. Then I glanced at her. “If he isn’t up in the next two hours, I’ll get Goblin.”

That startlingly blue gaze tracked to mine and some of the concern bled away from her expression. Real relief reflected inthe faint smile flirting with her lips. “Good. He’s been really nice about letting me take him for walks.”

“Goblin is a big fan too,” I told her as I passed the coffee cup to her. The cinnamon rolls were almost ready to come out. “Alphabet doesn’t mind at all. Probably wishes he could go to walk with you both. I bet he jumps right into it when we’re all caught up.”

Another flicker of a smile but she didn’t say anything, just nodded. Fair. At least she took the coffee and wrapped both hands around the cup before taking a sip. She let out a slow, but intensely satisfied little sigh.

With a nod, I gestured to the table. “Grab a seat. First round of cinnamon rolls will be ready. Now, do you prefer bacon or sausage?”

She tilted her head. “With the cinnamon rolls?”

“Protein,” I said. “The rolls will be excellent carbs after that workout, but you still need protein.”

Taking another sip of the coffee, she watched him over the rim for a moment. “Egg white omelet? Or even scrambled egg whites with mushrooms and spinach?”

A part of me wanted to argue. That wasn’t a lot of calories. But I hadn’t brought up calories, I brought up protein. Egg whites or not, it was still an excellent source of protein. “Let me check for the spinach. I definitely have mushrooms.”

“Just mushrooms is fine.” No disappointment marred the words. My jaw clenched, caging my automatic response. The last thing she needed was me scolding her. Still, fighting to hold those words hostage had me damn near grinding my teeth.

No fresh spinach in the crisper. I snagged my phone and fired off some texts to Voodoo. “I’m adding spinach to our list,” I told her. “Any other fresh veggies or fruits you like?”

“It’s not that important.”

Lips pursed, I pivoted to face her. “They are already out. They are already planning to pick up food. Give me a list. Giving them something to do will help keep them out of trouble.”

Humor sparked in her eyes. “I like carrots, especially baby carrots. Broccoli. Raw. Lettuce. Tomatoes.”

I typed the requested items into the text field. At her pause, I shot her a look. “Apples? Bananas? Oranges?”

“Melon,” she added, scraping her teeth over her bottom lip. “Cantaloupe. Honeydew is fine, but I prefer cantaloupe.”

“Got it. What else? You have a snack you like? Nuts? Chocolate? Trail mix?”

Another flash of amusement but she shook her head. “I try to avoid too much in the way of excess sugar. One because I like it too much and two, it’s a lot of empty calories.”

“Dark chocolate then?” I offered. “Very healthy in moderation, low in sugar, and it can boost your mood.”

“My mood?” Another sip of coffee hid that luscious mouth and how her lips moved to frame each word. “Is something wrong with my mood?”

“I’m not going to insult you by pretending that everything is fine. It’s not.” Maybe I shouldn’t have to say it, but facts were facts. “I get grief. I get trauma. Maybe it doesn’t show, but we’ve all been through it.”

I hadn’t hit send yet.

When she didn’t respond, I pressed the advantage. The scent of cinnamon and sugar wreathed the kitchen as the rolls cooked.

“You don’t want to talk about what’s happened to you outside of some basic facts. That’s—that’s a survival technique. You’re controlling what you can control and you’re not focusing on what you can’t.” Fuck, I felt like an asshole. This needed to be said, however. “It’s okay to not be okay. As much as I’d like to wish it wasn’t true, everyone copes differently. Unfortunately, pretending it didn’t happen doesn’t mean it didn’t.”

The light in her eyes had gone out. How darkness could swim inside such beautifully jeweled eyes baffled me. Yet there it was. The oven beeped and pulled my attention away. Pivoting away from her, I took the reprieve to pull the cinnamon rolls out.

The icing would take a minute to whip together. That was pure sugar though, so better to check with her. I set the fresh ones on the rack and put another dish in to bake. Then I hit send on the list before going for the confectioner’s sugar.

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