I’m sure my eye twitches as I glare at my brother. “Depends on the day of the week.”
Ella pulls a face. “Lovely. Well, imagine you’re not. Imagine you’re dating a lovely, five-foot-four, blue-eyed brunette, who also happens to be hilarious.” She places herhand on her chest, and now I roll my eyes. Asher is looking at her like he’s already half in love. “And you’re walking in the park one day and some guy runs by and snatches the brunette’s purse.” She looks between us. “Are you with me so far?” Asher nods. I’m wondering how slowly I can kill her. “What would you do?”
Asher doesn’t falter. “Probably run after the guy and beat the living crap out of him and get your purse back.”
Ella looks at me. “And you?”
I sigh dramatically. “Same.”
“Guess what RoboCop did?” She pats Asher to indicate she’s finished with his bandage. My brother looks reluctant to take his arm back, and I want to throw something at him for being so fucking obvious.
“No-thing.” She emphasizes each syllable.
I arch a brow at the cop. “You watched a guy mug your girlfriend and you did nothing?”
“I did get my purse back, though,” Ella says. “BecauseIchased him!”
Asher barks out a laugh and leans back, draping his arm over the back of the couch behind Ella. “Wow.”
The cop falters. “I was off duty; no one was in dangeruntilElla ran after him! It was a reckless thing to do, and you know it was!”
“I avenged myself!” she cries. “My purse had my pen in it!”
What the fuck is with this pen?
I lean against the open door and stare at the cop. “That is pretty shitty.”
“She put herself in danger,” the cop insists, but the splotches of red on his neck and cheeks tell me even he doesn’t buy his own bullshit.
“Because you were too busy pissing your pants,” she says.
I cackle, and Irarelylaugh. The cop glares my way, but I have about four inches on him, and now I know the guy is a chicken. I’d easily, and happily, beat him up.
“You really chased the mugger and got your purse back?” Asher asks Ella.
“Yep,” she says proudly. “And I used this kick-ass line, too; I caught him and tripped him up and was all ‘You give the city a bad name!’ I was awesome.” She grins, and Asher is looking at her the same way he’d looked at Motor when I first brought him home: absolutely head over fucking heels.
“You were reckless,” the cop says.
“And successful,” she snaps back.
“You make bad decisions, Ella! I mean, for Christ’s sake, you’re sat in an apartment with two strangers. They could be serial killers! No offense.”
“None taken,” Asher says. I don’t bother responding.
“Your dad would have been worried, too,” the cop says.
“My dad worries about me because he’s my dad,” she hits back. “And you’re only sucking up because he’s your boss.”
Boss?
“Just because you’re dating the chief’s daughter, doesn’t mean you have to kiss ass,” she adds.
Chief?
Great. Two contract killers, a dead body, a detective, and the chief of police’s daughter all in the same room. What could possibly go wrong?
Ella’s phone rings.
