Page 15 of Defenseless
“Am I interrupting something?” Ryan asked.
Cursing his brother, Chad dropped his hands and took a step back.
Sabina smiled at Ryan, Chad’s youngest brother, and took her own step back. “I’d make some comment about a cop being in a doughnut shop, but it’s a tired cliché and not worthy of me.”
“Definitely beneath you,” Ryan said. “I hear Chad roped you into the haunted house?”
He’d started his new campaign to gain her trust byinformingher that she was expected at the haunted house kickoff planning meeting. He hadn’t asked. She’d given him a skeptical look but hadn’t outright declined.
She glanced at Chad. “I suppose I have,” she answered. “I’ve never been part of a haunted house before.”
Well, there was one new—although not earth-shattering—piece of her history. And judging by the look Ryan flickered in his direction, he’d noticed it, too. Since Chad hadn’t spoken to Ryan about Sabina, he could only assume his brother had talked to Ethan.
“It’s a good time. Matt and the twins have been discussing some new ideas,” Ryan said. Matt, Josh’s son, and the twins were so close in age, that despite being second cousins, they often had their own unholy trinity. “Something about a creepy circus,” Ryan added, casting Chad a questioning look and silently asking if he’d heard anything.
Chad shrugged. “There better not be any fucking clowns,” he muttered. Sabina snorted, and his brother grinned. “And don’t pretend I’m the only one who doesn’t like them,” he continued. “Remember that time when Nana and Gramps were in DC, and they took us to that fair?”
Ryan chuckled. “Mitch and Cody screamed when the clown tried to give them a balloon animal.”
Sabina laughed, a warm, husky chuckle. “I bet the press had a field day with that. A sweet innocent clown was given a photo opportunity with the president, the first lady, and their beloved grandchildren, and it all ends in tears.”
“There was nothing innocent about that clown,” Mitch said, joining the group. Chad hadn’t heard him come in, and his gaze swept over his cousin as he came to a stop beside Ryan. He hadn’t seen much of Mitch since arriving, and Chad took in his bloodshot eyes and the fatigued movements of his body. It was still peak fire season, and while they may not have had any big ones this year, the team was on constant watch. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It was taking its toll on his cousin, but Mitch and the crew wouldn’t have it any other way. No one wanted another Paradise or Caldor fire.
Sabina snorted. “You all are too cliché,” she said. Mitch shot her a look but said nothing. Instead, he took two steps to the coffee carafe and poured himself a big cup.
“What are you all doing here?” Mitch asked after he’d taken his first sip. Sabina had met his brothers, cousins, aunts, and uncles as they’d all stopped by the offices in the first few weeks. In fact, the only members of his family she hadn’t met were the twins and his grandfather. And of course, his parents, but they’d died long ago in a car accident. Sabina had never asked about them, so he assumed that she—like the rest of the United States—knew that William Warwick’s oldest son and his wife had died in a seven-car pile-up on a mountain road blanketed in fog. Gramps was only a few months into his second term when it happened. To everyone’s surprise—except the family’s—he and Nana had scooped up their three orphaned grandsons and moved them into the White House. In retrospect, he recognized their decision as being the right one for him and his brothers, but also a way for his grandparents to ease their grief.
“I’m paying my rent,” Sabina said, answering Mitch’s question and surprising Chad with her forthrightness. Then again, he already knew she’d been paying her rent, so that horse had left the barn.
Mitch glanced up. “You the one who rented the upstairs?” She nodded. “Nice place. One of our new firefighters was looking at it, but his girlfriend decided she wanted a yard. Although I might trade my yard for the views you have.”
Sabina smiled. “I love it. I set my bed up to face that big slider on the top deck. I like watching the sunrise.”
Ryan and Mitch shot him less-than-subtle looks when Sabina mentioned her bed. He scowled at both.
“I’m here to pick up the doughnuts Chad owes me,” Ryan said.
“And here you go,” Bethany said, bringing out four large pink boxes.
“Wow, all of those are for you?” Sabina asked.
“I can sense your barely leashed desire to make a snarky comment,” Ryan said, taking two of the boxes. Chad reached over and took the other two. “Thanks, Bethany,” he and Ryan said at the same time.
“Me?” Sabina asked, her eyes wide and her tone mocking.
“I lost the poker tournament last week,” Chad said. “The cost was doughnuts for the department once a week for a month.”
“You? You lost the poker tournament?” Sabina asked dramatically. Ryan and Mitch snorted.
“Shut up,” he mumbled. “I’m not that bad.”
Sabina snorted. “You are. We all know it. There are many things you are good at, Chad Warwick, but I think we all know poker isn’t one of them.”
“She’s right,” Ryan said with a shrug.
“Truth,” Mitch said.
“Fuckers,” Chad muttered. “You’ll get no doughnuts today, ma’am,” he said to Sabina.
