“Morning, bud,” I greeted him, and he gave me a shy smile. Ryan shot up from the table and went to him, crouching down to get on his level.
“Hey… how did you sleep?” he asked the boy softly.
My heart swelled at the sight of it. Seeing him interact with Caleb now, I couldn’t believe how much I had misinterpreted the situation the night before. I supposed Ryan had just had a bad reaction to the news that the kid had been injured. I would need to be more careful in the future. A little pulse of anxiety shot through me at the thought that I very well could have killed Ryan for no reason.
What a shame that would have been…
“I slept ok,” Caleb said, his voice small.
“Do you want some breakfast? We’re having scrambled eggs and bacon,” Iris said, and the kid’s eyes lit up.
“I love bacon!” he exclaimed, scrambling toward the table. I chuckled and pulled out a seat on the opposite side of me.
“Who doesn’t?” I asked, and he wrinkled his nose up at me.
“Vegetarians.”
“Ah, yep. You’ve got me there,” I agreed, thinking of Cass and her weird tofurkey we always had to make when she came over.
Whatever. To each their own.
Ryan and Iris sat down at the table with us, though Ryan couldn’t seem to take his eyes off me. He was glaring at me with such intense hostility that I could feel his gaze burning into the side of my head.
If he thought he was going to be able to scare me away with a few dirty looks, he was sorely mistaken. He was just a little kitten compared to the assholes I usually ate with when working for Apex.
This breakfast, despite his hostility, was closer to what it was like when I shared meals with Naomi and Cass, and honestly, I was fucking loving every minute of it.
I would be inviting myself back very soon.
“See something you like, ginger snap?” I teased him, grinning as I took a bite of my eggs. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head aggressively.
“Keep dreaming, you freak,” he snarled, and I narrowed my eyes right back at him.
“Watch it. There’s a child present.” I warned, making sure he heard the threat in my voice. I was fine with him being a little grumpy raincloud, but I wouldn’t be disrespected or allow him to call me names.
I had killed people for much less.
He opened his mouth to say something else. I could tell by the expression on his face that it was going to piss me the fuck off, but luckily for him, Theo walked into the kitchen before he could get a word out.
“Someone’s here for the kid,” she growled, stalking up to the table, looking even more agitated than she had the day before. She was in the same black shorts and T-shirt combo, with her signature bun tied at the nape of her neck.
She was still hot as fuck, but decidedly less so now that I had met her brother. Theo’s angry gaze flitted to mine, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise to find me sitting at the table like a self-proclaimed member of the family. Her jaw dropped, and she rounded on Ryan.
“What the fuck is this guy doing here?” she growled, and Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an exasperated sigh.
“It’s a long story,” he grumbled.
“Perhaps we should focus on the task at hand.” Iris piped up sagely from her end of the table. She had pulled Caleb into her lap and was stroking his hair fondly. “We seem to have a bit of a problem, and we would present a stronger front if we worked together.”
Have I mentioned that I fucken loved this lady?
The.Best.
I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked at the Fairview siblings, raising my eyebrows at them expectantly.
“See? Iris gets it.” I grinned.
They both looked at me like they wanted to see what I would look like with my throat cut.
