“I’m more concerned about what you’ll want from me in exchange.”
Grim’s back goes ramrod straight. “And what did you expect in return when you offered it to me?”
“Nothing.” I snort.
“Yet you made it, shared it with me—why?” Grim’s questions come quickly.
“Because I thought you were my friend,” I spit.
“Damiana, I want nothing from you other than for you to listen to me…and the others.” Grim’s lip lifts in a sneer when he saysthe others.
I focus on his words to see if I sense a lie, but he’s not easy to read. None of them are. “Why isn’t it obvious if you’re lying or telling the truth?”
“I could speculate, but I don’t know for certain,” Grim tells me.
I lift my hand in an invitation. “By all means, speculate away.”
“Would you care to join the others downstairs?” Grim’s face is sedate again. At least I know he’s capable of emotions.
“Fine, whatever, so long as it means you’ll answer me.” I rise, and Grim’s gaze tracks my movements, those tiny little lines of heat warming up his cold gray eyes. Interesting.
He lifts his hand and motions for me to go ahead of him. I put a little extra sway in my steps, nothing wrong with working with what you got.
I can hear the clang of pots and pans when I’m halfway down the stairs. “What the hell is going on down there?” I cast an accusatory glance at Grim behind me.
He lifts his hands in the air as if to deny involvement. “I was with you,” is all he says.
“My kitchen better not be a mess. Linda and her crew don’t come for another two days. I’m not cleaning up after them.” I stomp down the rest of the stairs, coming to a halt when I reach the kitchen.
There are plastic bags all over the counters, each bulging with food. “Where did this all come from?” I note the name on the side of the bag isn’t from my usual delivery service.
“I ordered it.” Calix pops his head up from around the backside of the island. “You didn’t have any real food, just a bunch of junk.”
“And this is normal for you? You just go into someone’s home, insult them, and then take over like you live there?”
Calix watches Grim. “I thought you were going to talk to her?”
“I did; now we are here.” Grim comes up directly behind me. He’s close enough that I feel my hair stir as he breathes.
Calix licks his lips. “So, she doesn’t know we’re not leaving?”
“She did not,” Grim deadpans. “I thought we should ask her instead of tell her.”
“What do you mean you’re not leaving?” I step to the side and turn so I can see both of them.
“Well, it was your idea actually,” Calix coaxes. “Yesterday, when we made the deal to stick around until all your questions were answered.” He lifts his hands like that explains everything.
“And that translates into an invitation for you to move in how?” I look around at the messy state of my kitchen. “You’re cleaning this up,” I demand. “Is that a fucking roast?”
Gunnar comes out of the pantry. “Did you know you had a Nettle Rat living in there?” He pokes his thumb back toward the pantry.
“That ‘had’ you just used, as in past tense, better not be your doing.” I glower at him. If he did anything to Dare, I’ll show him I can go fucking berserk on his ass.
“I just saw a nest near the back. I didn’t touch it,” Gunnar defends.
“You better not. That goes for all of you. If you do anything to my friends, I’ll make sure you regret it.” I walk over and slam the pantry door. Gunnar hops out of the way to avoid being hit by the door.
“You know Nettle Rats sting, right? They’re venomous,” Calix informs me, as if I’m a fool.
