Page 92 of Lure

“Thank you,” I said.

“You sure you don’t want more?” Lunchbox asked. The guys had also limited how much they’d taken.

“No, I had lunch.”

“Like nine hours ago,” Alphabet argued.

“We also had sandwiches at six.” Or maybe it was five. I cut into the patty.

“We?” Alphabet countered, pointing one of the crispy potatoes at me. “I had a sandwich, then finished yours because you didn’t want that much.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I wasn’t that hungry then.”

“Enough,” Bones said abruptly. “As fascinating as the food conversation is, she’s an adult. She can decide what she wants. We have other issues to debrief on that don’t involve what Miss Black did or didn’t eat.”

Bones’ interruption landed with a hard thud in the middle of the meal and the guys switched their focus from me to him. I frowned, and made myself take a bite of the burger.

What appetite I’d managed fled in the face of the rising temperature. Voodoo straightened. “If we’re boring you, feel free to go to bed, Bones. We can debrief without you.”

The two men justglaredat each other and I chewed until I could manage to swallow the meat. The taste had gone to ash.

“Really?” Bones seemed to just dare him. “Pack it away, based on how it smells down here, you won’t be scoring any points in her bed tonight anyway.”

“Hey,” Alphabet snapped as he pushed back from the counter abruptly. “Watch it.”

“Woah,” Lunchbox rose to get between them and I choked down that bit of beef. It got stuck in my throat and it seemed to just scrape its way down my esophagus. I went for a glass of water.

“Guys, this isn’t helping anyone,” Voodoo said and despite his relaxed posture, there was a core of steel in his voice.

My heart slammed against my ribs. The tension in the room seemed to wrap in ever tightening coils of barbed wire and violence.

Blowing out a breath, Bones raised his own glass. “Apologies, Miss Black. My opinions notwithstanding, you didn’t deserve the comment.”

The ballooning strain popped abruptly and Alphabet glanced at me. A muscle ticked in his jaw, even if some of the scruff hid it. I summoned a smile, I might not be feeling it at the moment but I knew how to put on a show. If he needed me to be okay with this to let it go, then I would be okay.

Frown deepening, Alphabet brushed his knuckles against the back of my hand before he took his seat again. This time when he met my gaze, the smile wasn’t as challenging.

I licked my lips then said, “Apology accepted, Boney Boy. It’s been a long day.”

That sent the last of the anxiety encircling the room down the drain and Lunchbox chuckled.

“Wait, I should have said Mr. Boy, since we’re being formal and stuff.” That earned me more laughter from the guys and a bland look from the“boy” in question.

“Debrief,” Bones said, then continued without waiting for any of us to add anything. “The snatch went clean with no injuries.”

“Oh, there was at least one,” Voodoo said. “The bodyguard has at least a broken wrist.”

“Two,” Lunchbox volunteered. “The driver wasn’t all that willing to part with the vehicle. Pretty sure I dislocated his jaw when he argued.” He shrugged with a small smile that just said, “oops” without saying a word.

“Fine, negligible injuries,” Bones resumed. “We were able to divert the target from his security, then take him into custody with minimal damage.”

It was so weird to hear them talk about it like that. “He’s downstairs?”

“He is,” Bones said, turning his icy gray gaze toward me. It was like looking into the face of a winter storm. “Where he will remain until we begin questioning tomorrow morning. We go back to working sleep shifts tonight. We need someone on guard at all times. Everyone sleeps with a weapon.”

Before I could let my inner smart ass out to play, I took another drink of water.

“Miss Black, do you wish to be present for the questioning?”

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