He smiled up at me and licked his lips. I found myself smirking back as heat simmered between us. He dropped his gaze down my body and a sharp stab of need stirred in my groin. I sucked in a breath.
Vane’s office door opened and he stepped out. Ever preceptive, it took him all of about three seconds to raise an eyebrow at me. I put my hand in my pocket and ignored him as I walked to my desk, where I gathered a couple of stacks of papers he had to deal with personally. I handed them off. He tilted his head at me, gaze darting down my body and back up as he bit his lips to fight off a laugh.
“Medicine seems to be kicking in already,” I noted blandly.
He nodded. “Yes, thanks for that. You’re the best.”
“I know.” I shook my head at him, and he lost his battle and snickered.
Max let out a small noise, and I turned to him as Vane disappeared back into his office, but he was hunched over his papers again. The rest of the morning was the usual boring drudge of catch-up work that happened when we had an unexpected day off, until about half past eleven when a girl breezed her way through the doors. She had familiar deep brown eyes, blonde corkscrew curls, and was dressed nicely. The gold Gucci logo on her red bag flashed my direction, though I didn’t think it was purposeful. Immediately I knew she needed all of my attention or she’d be a pain in the ass. She was dressed too well to be ignored. I beamed at her.
“How can I help you, miss?”
“I’m here to see my…. Oh!” Her attention snapped to Max, who had sat up on his knees like a gopher popping out of a hole. “My brother.” She pointed and giggled. “What are you doing on the floor, Maxwell?” She shook her head and came off as nice enough, but I didn’t like the way she appeared to be judging him for doing his job.
All at once things clicked together in my mind. This was his sister, someone who should have been keeping him safe and helping him. She was one of the people who had driven him to live with a virtual stranger who… well, should by all rights hate him and not be the one protecting him.
“Hello, Brea.” Max smiled, but his reply was small and anxious, and all at once I didn’t want her anywhere near him. He’d been much happier alone with me last night.
“If this is social, come back at noon,” I snapped.
She stepped away as if I’d struck her. “But—”
“Maxwell is employed, miss—”
“Brea Kalinski,” she said, voice cold.
“Miss Kalinski. His job is essential to the function of this office, and I won’t let him go a second before I have to.”
Max sent me a look that somehow managed to be infuriated and grateful all at once. I ignored him, and her. She took a seat on the couch across the room and we all had a stiflingly awkward half-hour wait for the clock to strike twelve. The moment the time ticked over, Max’s sister hopped off the couch and dragged him toward the door by the arm, not even allowing him to stop for his things. I went to the pegs on the wall, grabbed his coat for him, and then chased him across the hall to where they waited for the elevator and thrust it his way, without acknowledging his stuttered thank-you.
Shaking my head at myself, I was back in the office just in time for Vane to zombie-walk toward me with Jaxson at his side and my own coat in his hand.
“Let’s go. I feel like shit, so I’m buying Mexican,” he said, and how could I ignore that?
We walked over to El Sabroso Sur and went inside, immediately uplifted by the warm air perfumed by spices and cooking meat. The walls were covered in bright Mexican-tile murals that could make even a New Gothenburg winter seem cheerier. The steel-topped booths were taken up by a variety of people, most of them city hall employees, from Ross Midberry, the mayor, in the corner talking to a barely legal boy I was pretty sure he shouldn’t be seen with in public, to a gaggle of interns. I waved at Midberry as we chose a booth and sat. Vane and Jaxson slid in together and huddled close on their side. Jaxson glanced up at Vane with an adoring smile, and Vane ruffled his fingers through Jaxson’s curls.
“How goes Project Scare Off the Weasel?” Vane asked, sniffing in an unappealing manner that had Jaxson sliding a little away from him. Love must only go so far when it came to mucus. He unrolled his silverware and handed Vane the napkin. “Were you actually being nice to Kalinski earlier? Please tell me you haven’t gone soft, JP.” He chuckled.
I froze and then smiled.Soft? No. Soft Daddy Dom? Maybe.I didn’t consider saying that out loud with all the ears around us. “Of course not. He’s learning his lesson.”
Jaxson shrugged out of his coat while Vane blew his nose, earning a glare from the nearest diners, but I left my coat on to fight off a chill that settled into my chest.
Jaxson smiled at me and rested his elbows on the table. “You’re a better man than I am. I’m not sure how you can stand to spend so much time with him. He’s Olympic-level annoying. I’d have murdered him and stuffed him in a closet somewhere by now.”
Irritation bubbled in my stomach as I forced a smile. “It’s fine. How is Mark as a supervisor? Midberry’s office treating you well?”
Jaxson winced. “Mark’s great. But kind of… extreme.”
I chuffed out a laugh. “Too nice, too positive, and too focused on the job?”
Jaxson bobbed his head. “And wound too tight. He’s going to worry himself to death.”
I slid a glance toward the corner where Midberry lounged, leaning too close to the platinum-haired boy there who was dressed for a tropical getaway, not New Gothenburg winter. There were strategic holes in his jeans that showed off a lot of skin. I covered my mouth as Mark marched over there and sat down with Midberry, leaning close, no doubt to yell at him for the man he was dining with. To anyone with a brain, he’d clearly been paid for. Vane noticed what I was looking at and groaned. Jaxson snickered.
“Is it any wonder?” I murmured. “Ross Midberry could send anyone to an early grave.”
“But seriously, do you need me to crank up the heat on Kalinski?” Vane sat forward and rubbed his hands together, an evil gleam lighting his eyes. “I’ve had a few ideas, but you always tell me you have it handled.”
