Bending over, I set Bombs onto the floor. “Make yourself at home,” I say to both him and Red. She pauses to remove her boots before following suit, setting her rabbit down as well. They cautiously bob their heads and practically army crawl across the floor, scoping out the new territory.
I go straight to the kitchen and fill two big glasses of filtered ice water from the fridge. The high-tech appliances gleam like new. They’ve barely been touched since I bought this place.
I hand Red one of the waters. “Here, you need this.”
The fire and smoke made my throat sore and parched, so I know hers must be too.
We both greedily drain the glasses.
After a thought, I retrieve a small ceramic ramekin and fill it with water then go set it near the rabbits who have taken refuge under my coffee table.
Rabbits in a wolf’s home. Ridiculous.
I return to the kitchen to refill my glass and gulp down another.
After several long minutes of Red’s gaze bouncing from her glass to the rest of the apartment, I say, “What is it?”
“What?” she asks, with wide eyes.
“You clearly want to ask me something. What is it?”
Her nails tap her glass, and my gaze momentarily slides to her bare torso. What I wouldn’t give to nuzzle up to that bare expanse of creamy skin right now. To lick her warm flesh and move further south until I lose myself in her. . .
“How much is Gigi paying you?” She sets the glass down and runs a finger around the rim as if agitated. The shock from the attacks is wearing off, but I’m not sure I like where this is going.
My surprised laugh comes out as a dry cough. “That’s not a polite question, little Red.”
I grab her glass and refill it before handing it back.
She blushes. “Sorry, I just. . .you seem so rugged and rough? I didn’t expect you to live like this. I kind of expected some remote, run down cabin with a stone fireplace. Not GQ penthouse.”
I shrug and glance at the modern gas fireplace in the living room. “Unlike you, I embrace wealth.”
She blinks.
Then I concede, “To your credit, I do in fact own a cabin like you describe. That’s where I reside most of the time, though it’s not run down. This is only one of my abodes.”
And the fact I’ve brought her here at all proves I must be suffering from temporary insanity. I own a number of houses and condos across the country and even a few abroad.
“My grandma doesn’t pay you for this,” she says matter-of-factly.
For a minute my heart stops in my chest, and my brain is too sluggish to figure out how she has finally concluded I’m sticking around to kill her kin.
“I mean, she doesn’t pay youthismuch,” she throws a hand at my apartment. “You told Hunter you work as a subcontractor. I just didn’t realize howwell employedyou are. Is this all from private security?”
My heart starts beating again. “Yes.” I lie.
She worries her lower lip. “You do more than private security.”
It’s like she is able to peel back my layers to see what’s underneath, and I don’t like anyone under my skin.
I start toward the back of the apartment, expecting her to follow. “I’ll call a service to get some supplies for your pets, so they don’t piddle on my nice wood floors.” My words drip with disdain.
But the truth is, between the effective warning from the rabbits, along with the affection I received in the car, my insides have gone a little soft for the fluffy creatures.
Fucking ridiculous.
“You’re a mercenary, aren’t you?” Red asks, still right behind me.
