Page 87 of As Thick As Thieves

“Morning,” I yawned, Cruz mumbling a good morning too. Estelle chuckled, giving me the side-eye.

“I see you’re still not a morning person.”

“I didn’t get much sleep,” I admitted, her eyes narrowing on Cruz.

“Do I need to separate you and the horny boys?”

“Jesus, Estelle. I’m not going to fuck in your house,” I snorted, and Cruz grimaced.

“Yeah, I have no plans on doing anything under this roof.”

“Keep it that way,” she hummed, making herself a coffee as she continued. “I leave in half an hour, but you’re welcome to stay.”

“Maybe I should go with you and visit Daddy. Me showing up might put him in an early grave,” I suggested sweetly, sipping my coffee. She tutted me, hiding her amusement.

“Don’t say things like that, karma is always listening.”

“I think karma owes me one at this point,” I grumbled, checking my phone to find a message.

Owen: Hey, are you coming by today?

Penn: Not today. House got shot to shit.

Owen: Are you okay? Where are you? I’ll come to you.

Penn: We’re all fine, but we need to hide out for a little while. It’s safer if you don’t know where we are.

Owen: That makes sense. Call me if you need me, okay? Be careful.

I sent a smiley emoji back, glancing up to find Cruz’s eyes glued to my phone with a frown on his face. I turned the screen to face him, not caring if he read the messages. “Owen’s just checking in.”

“Don’t tell him shit,” he replied firmly, not caring about Estelle hearing our conversation. “He might be your friend, but you can’t trust him right now. For all you know, the person who’s after you might go to him and threaten him for information.”

“Should we hide him too?” I asked with panic, but he shook his head.

“No. You guys don’t hang out outside of the gym, so I don’t think that will happen. It was just the worst-case scenario. The only people that matter are under this roof.”

I knew he was right, so I didn’t argue.

Estelle sat with us while she had her coffee, then she hurried off to work, giving me a hug on the way out, leaving us alone. It wasn’t long before Knox and Drake wandered out, Knox leaning down to drop a kiss on my cheek.

“Sorry.” He looked highly uncomfortable, so I gave him a smile.

“For what? Going to bed without me? You should be.” My teasing tone caused him to relax, and he dropped down onto a chair beside mine while Drake made them both coffee.

“I’m not good with words, but I shouldn’t have gotten angry with you last night.”

“It’s okay. I was just worried I’d upset you somehow. Thank you for telling me,” I replied, tilting my head back as Drake moved behind me to bend down to give me a kiss.

“What’s the plan for today?” Cruz asked, and Knox shrugged.

“We need to go over the footage from yesterday to see if we can figure out who owns the car involved in the shooting. Maybe you or Drake should reach out to Beckett and see if they know anything. Penn can check in with Zavier.”

I perked up, turning to him in surprise. “I get to help?”

“You’re doing me a favor by dealing with that asshole,” he grunted, but his mouth curved into a soft smile. “Maybe once you’re done, you can help us go over some footage.”

“I get to work on this with you guys? Like, you’ll give me jobs to do?” I was going to hyperventilate with excitement soon, and Drake laughed, draping his arms around my shoulders and nuzzling into my neck.

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