She distractedly held up a finger to me before she tugged the headphones into place. “I’m here. I’ll get it back. I said I’ll get it back.” There was silence before she gave a sarcastic laugh. “Right. I’m sure. How about this? Whoever gets it has inventory choice.” Another beat of silence. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
A countdown started on screen. As soon as it reached zero, the game loaded fully. It was some shit with aliens and futuristic weapons. I had no clue what was happening other than Lo was locked the fuck in.
And she was good at it, too.
Her thumbs were a blur on the controller, and her real-life body ducked, dodged, and darted along with her character on screen. Her kill count racked up fast, but her pretty face was set in a determined scowl till some glittery thing appeared in front of her.
“Cry harder, boys,” she said with an evil laugh. “Less than two minutes, and the precious is already back where it belongs. And now I’m logging off for the night.” She gave an even more evillaugh before exiting out and tossing the controller next to her gun on the coffee table.
There was something symbolic about the two next to each other.
And I was grateful she wasn’t holding either when she scowled my way. “Okay, what the hell is all this about?”
“I came by to check on you and thought I heard a struggle,” I lied.
Thankfully, she seemed to buy it. “Just the struggle of killing some extraterrestrial scum.”
“Right. Cool. Neat.”
What the fuck?
Neat?
When have I ever said neat in my life that wasn’t related to a drink?
Her lips tipped. “Very neat.”
I walked to the door. So close. So damn close to not making shit worse. But when I opened my mouth, I didn’t say goodbye like I’d intended. “It’s been long enough. And with the shit earlier, it makes sense for you to move in this weekend.”
“Whatever you say, barman.” She stood and moved to me as I opened the door. She grabbed it from my hold and looked up at me with a sweet smile. “Thanks for checking on me.”
Get the hell out before you do something stupid.
Worth it.
But stupid.
I lifted my chin and stepped onto the stoop.
“Hey.” Her smile turned from sweet to sinful in a blink. “If you ever want to be the one giving it to me and seeing how well I can take it, you know where to find me.”
And then she closed the door.
But not before I heard her evil laughter aimed my way.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
FIRE AND PAPER UMBRELLAS
LUNA
Even with the bullshit callon Thursday night, I’d assumed my captain would end the investigation. An easily debunked tip wasn’t exactly a crime that would land someone on the most wanted list. Other than a shooting that might or might not have been related, there wasn’t enough to justify my presence.
But a Friday morning text from my bestie—named so ironically in my contacts since Murdoch was foe not friend—said otherwise.
I was staying in.
Which gave me more time to torture Rhys.
