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Her demon’s will was stronger.
“So,” began Keenan, flicking her laptop a quick look, “did anything go down last night that we need to know about?”
“No,” she replied. “Nothing major happened. There was a minor argument between two neighbors, but that was quickly resolved. A drunk couple had a somewhat loud dispute in their friend’s front yard, but they were quick to simmer down when members of the Force showed up. Personally, I’d say that our lair will continue to be on their best behavior until they’ve emotionally recovered from the video that Levi leaked of our newest prisoners being tortured in Knox’s Chamber.”
The reaper shrugged his broad shoulders. “I thought it would be good for the lair to have a reminder of how bad it would be for them if they betrayed their Primes.”
Larkin let out a soft snort. “You thought it would be good for them all to have a reminder of how terribly they’d suffer if they caused any harm to your mate the way those other two bastards did,” she corrected.
Levi inclined his head. “That, too.”
Minutes went by as the guys engaged in more chit-chat. They asked her general, easy, mundane questions, clearly attempting to lull her into a false sense of security. And she knew that, at any moment, they’d slip in a more serious question.
But she didn’t call them on it. Didn’t reveal that she’d sensed what they were doing. No, she waited patiently for them to get to the point.
Tanner scratched at his jaw, his blunt nails scraping the five o’clock shadow that was slightly darker than his short hair. “So, how long exactly have you and Teague been dating?”
And there it was.
“Long enough for me to know that it’s going somewhere,” she replied simply.
His gold eyes narrowed slightly. “Huh.” Doubt rang through the word. “I never got the impression that you two were seeing each other.”
“Yeah, you really did fly under the radar,” said Levi ever so casually.
“That was the plan,” Larkin reminded him.
“Why change it?” asked Keenan, a small note of challenge in his voice.
She closed the lid of her laptop. “As I said yesterday, I don’t want to hide the relationship anymore.”
Levi observed her closely, his steel-gray gaze unflinching. “You’re truly serious about Teague?”
She let her brow furrow, as though she were confused by the question. “I don’t know why you feel the need to ask that. You know I don’t enter relationships lightly.”
Folding his arms, Keenan cocked his head. “I wouldn’t have thought he was your type.”
“I wouldn’t have thought that Khloë was yours.” She shrugged, adding, “Life is just full of surprises.”
The incubus snapped his mouth shut, his neutral expression cracking briefly. His frustration was perfectly evident to see. For all of two seconds. Then his ‘I’m simply curious’ mask slammed back up.
Tanner licked the front of his teeth. “I didn’t even think that you and Teague got along. You always seemed to be sniping at each other.”
Larkin lifted a brow. “A little like you and Devon used to, huh?” She almost smiled when his mouth flattened. “That kind of stuff seems to be foreplay for hellbeasts.”
Widening his stance, Levi carved his fingers through his rich brown hair. “What I don’t get is why you gave him a chance in the first place. I mean, you usually avoid hit-and-runs. That’s what he is. Until now, obviously,” he hurried to add.
If she hadn’t known him so well, she might not have picked up the trace of disbelief in his tone. She also might not have sensed that it was killing them all to feign cool and casual when they most wanted to accuse her of blowing smoke up their asses. Which they likely would have done if they hadn’t been perfectly aware that it would only make her clam up and flip them the finger—that wouldn’t gain them the answers they wanted.
She had to admit, it was fun to know that they were internally antsy and annoyed. Welcome to my world, boys, she thought to herself.
Levi flicked up a brow. “Well?”
She tipped her head to the side. “Well, what?”
“You’re ignoring my question.”
“You didn’t ask me a question.”
His lips thinned. “What makes him so special that you’d go against your personal rule and take him for a one-night spin that, evidently, turned into more?”
She skimmed her gaze over the three males in front of her. “What makes you all so special that I should tell you every little detail about my relationship when you’re closemouthed about your own?” she calmly shot back. “I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told that something isn’t my business.”
His mouth bopping open and closed, Keenan thumbed his earlobe. “We’re just curious, that’s all.”
“So was I when I had questions,” she said. “I was also concerned and feeling a mite protective. You all still told me to butt out. Well, now I’m telling you the same thing.”
