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She’s been away for a couple of days, visiting a friend who’s just come out of hospital, and no doubt hasn’t a clue about our new guest.
She places a plate down on the breakfast bar as I grab myself a glass of orange juice from the fridge.
“Will Miss Whitmore be joining you this morning,” she questions with a raised brow, and I almost choke on my juice.
“Damn, Maria, are you trying to kill me?” She passes me a cloth to wipe up the mess I made. “How the hell do you do that? You’ve barely been back five minutes.”
She chuckles as she takes the cloth back and replaces my empty glass with a cup of tea. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Zak.”
Maddox enters just as I’m laying my cutlery on my plate.
“Morning,” he grumbles, taking the tea Maria offers him and joins me at the breakfast bar. I don’t get to ask him anything else as his phone rings. Pulling it from his pocket, he frowns at whoever is calling him at this time in the morning.
I listen as he answers, his voice gruff and pissed off already. I can’t hear the voice on the other end, but I sure as shit hear Maddox when he lets out a deafening reply.
“Fucking hell! How in God’s fucking name is this possible, huh?” I faintly hear the person on the other end as they talk. “No, don’t move anything. I’ll be there as soon as.” He ends the call, dropping his phone to the counter with a clunk as the armoured case meets the marble.
I don’t really need him to tell me what’s happened because his reaction, the tic in his jaw and the metaphorical steam billowing from his ears is enough.
“They took it, right?”
“Of course, they fucking did, Zak. Every damn time for the last three shipments. It wasn’t even there twelve hours, for fuck’s sake. He’s fucking toying with us. Axel knows more than he’s telling us. He’s going to tell me today before I rip his tongue from his fucking head and deliver it in person to his mother.”
“Well, isn’t this a pleasant conversation to have over breakfast. I’m so glad I came down here for it,” says a voice behind us. All eyes turn to Roxy who is standing just inside the door to the kitchen wearing the same pyjamas and robe as last night. Only this time she has the collar of the robe turned up in an attempt, I’m sure, to cover up the bite marks and hickies I saw last night. She steps into the room, eyes landing on Maria who smiles knowingly at her.
“Ah, here she is. Please, come and sit. Would you like some tea or coffee, Miss Whitmore?” Maria asks, gesturing to an empty seat at the breakfast bar.
“She’ll have tea, white no sugar,” Maddox says, and Rox’s eyes immediately snap to his.
“Shecan speak for herself.” Turning to Maria, she says, “A tea would be great, thanks.” Ignoring the empty seat at the breakfast bar, Rox stalks past both of us and drops down into a chair at the dining table.
I look at Maddox, who’s eyes have tracked every movement she’s made since she so eloquently announced her presence.
“I take it Axel is your other prisoner?” she probes, bringing one foot up to rest on the chair and dropping her chin to it.
“You’re not a fucking prisoner, Roxanne,” Maddox bites back, and I’m not in the least bit ashamed to admit their snarkyness turns me on.
“My cage is certainly better than his, but let’s call a spade a spade, shall we.” Without giving Maddox a chance to volley back at her, she continues, “Why’s he here?” She thanks Maria as she places her cup of tea in front of her and waits for one of us to answer. Her eyes flick between us. “Well, don’t all answer at once,” she says with a roll of her eyes, bringing the cup to her lips and blowing gently before taking a sip.
Climbing from my stool, I walk over and take the seat opposite her. “Let’s just say he has information we want, but I think he’s holding back because he’s protecting someone.” I pull out my phone and load up the details I have for Eva Trent.
“Isn’t he one of your guys?” she asks, frowning.
I nod, turning the phone and handing it to her. “Do you know her?”
I watch as she scans the details I have on Eva, then they widen before immediately snapping up to mine.
“You don’t know who she is, do you?”
Maddox and I share a look before I look back to her. “No, but you obviously do. So, who is she?”
She passes me my phone back and takes several sips of her tea before answering, and I can almost see the cogs turning in her head.
“What do you want with her?”
“Fuck that. This is not how it works, Roxanne,” Maddox states.
Rox shrugs. “From where I’m sitting, this is exactly how it works. You want my help, then you tell me why you’re interested in her. Simple.”
