Page 77 of Nest of Thieves
“You’re not?” he asks, turning toward me. We’re only a foot apart, and from this close, I can see faint flecks of brown in his irises.
I shrug. “I can eat later.”
“Wait here.” He jogs back inside the house, disappearing for a few minutes and returning with a bag of beef jerky, a fancy granola bar, and a Vitamin Water. He holds them out to me, not saying a word but staring at me until I take them.
“Thanks,” I say, clutching the snacks. “You’re embarrassing me,” I admit. “I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can, but I won’t be able to focus if I think you’re starving.”
Right. He has business to take care of. I walk around the car and get in the passenger side. Lark slides into his seat and checks that I’ve buckled in before securing his belt across his body.
“Eat.” He slides on a pair of black Ray-Bans and turns on the radio. Bass-heavy electronic music fills the car, and I settle in, doing as he asked. My mouth waters at the first taste of the thinly sliced jerky, and the electrolyte-filled water is delicious. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until now. I devour half the bag in a matter of minutes.
“You didn’t answer me.” Lark turns down the music.
“Sorry, what did you ask?” I didn’t hear him. I’d been so focused on eating, and the music was loud.
“Did you take one?” He side-eyes me as the car idles at a stoplight.
Take one? What’s he—oh. Oh. The suppressants. I chew on the inside of my cheek and look away, hoping he’ll get the hint. Silence fills the car until the one behind us honks. I snap my head toward Lark, catching the green light. He’s not paying attention to that, though; his eyes are focused solely on me.
“It’s green.”
“I don’t care.” Lark is so calm, but there’s a current of something fierce in his steady way. He may be the most reasonable of the bunch, but that doesn’t make him any less intense. “Did you take one?”
“Why do you care?” I ask, even though I think I know why. They were clear about their interests. An alpha being denied the chance to help an omega he craves through her heat is a blow to the ego.
He shifts the car into park. The vehicle behind us honks again, and Lark simply turns in his seat, pulling a gun from the side of the console and pointing it out the back window. I follow the barrel of the weapon. The man behind us blanches and immediately wrenches his wheel to the left, swerving around us and speeding away. Lark hits the hazard button and puts the gun back.
“A bit dramatic, don’t you think?” I ask with a hint of a smile as cars pass, swerving to miss hitting the Aston Martin. There’s power in the moment. Everyone adjusting to go around us, knowing we’re an immovable force.
Lark rests his arm on the console and leans toward me. “Answer me, Jo.”
“Oh my god. No, okay? No, I haven’t taken one yet!”
“Okay,” he says, settling back in his seat. He turns off the hazards and shifts the car to drive, passing through the intersection right before the light turns red.
Okay? All that for a simple okay?
Minutes pass, and he never turns up the music. Lark turns down the street the shop is on, and I set the granola bar in the cupholder. Lark lifts his eyebrows but doesn’t tell me to eat it like I thought he would. Once we’re inside the gate and parked, he finally speaks.
“Are you going to take one?”
The corners of my mouth turn down. “I don’t know.”
He nods. “Would you throw them away if I asked you to?”
“Do you realize what you’re asking?” I unbuckle my seatbelt and turn to face him. “If my heat comes—”
“We’ll take care of you.”
“I didn’t ask for that.”
“We’re offering it.” He holds my gaze. “You don’t have to ask. We’re already giving it to you. All you have to do is accept.”
“Everything is already so complicated,” I say quietly. “Sex comes with emotions.”
“And how do you know that?”
