CHAPTERTEN
With extreme casualness, Mina asked, “So is this your new hotspot for pizza?”
“I’ve been a little busy, Mina.” Theron ran his fingers through his hair. “Pizza hasn’t really been on my mind. It’s my first time here.”
Mina’s sigh was so profound her ample chest heaved. Her smile returned, and she stopped cleaning. “I liked the pizza too. And I’m famished.”
“There she is,” Theron muttered, tipping his head to a young woman stepping out of the backroom. He rested further against the booth and then turned his attention to us. With a snap of his fingers, he barked, “Pick out what you want. Don’t make her wait.”
We stared. At him. Startled at his abrupt, harsh order.
He bared his teeth on his bronze face. “Do I have to tell you all twice?”
“Nope,” Mina chirped swiftly, grabbing a menu from the middle of the table with a shaking hand. “I’ll be ready when she comes over.”
I followed suit and grabbed a menu.
Rune and I shared the menu, our heads tipped together while everyone else gradually grabbed at menus, doing as told. My back stiffened at the prices. It was ridiculous. The pizza had to be made of gold for these price tags.
I muttered, “I may just get a salad.”
Rune pressed his mouth against my ear, whispering, “Theron’s paying.”
My gaze blasted right to the most expensive items. Fuck salads.
I pointed at one of the meatlover’s pizzas. “Want to share a medium? I can’t eat all that.”
“Make it a large, and it sounds good. I can eat all that.” His lips curved, and his eyes twinkled with merriment. “I’m a big boy. I need lots of food. And lots of other things.”
My shoulders shook in amusement. “I’m sure you do.”
Wolfe groaned across the space. He turned his head to their dangerous ‘leader’ and grumbled, “Is that shit, like, contagious? Because there aren’t many of us left.”
“You should be so lucky,” Theron commented, his dark eyes on his menu. “If it happens to you, Wolfe, rejoice in it. It won’t happen twice.”
Wolfe glared at the side of his leader’s head. “I don’t have time for…,” he waved an irritated hand at Rune and me, “…thatto happen.”
My brows snapped together. I set the menu down, our choice for dinner made. “What do you mean? You don’t have time for fun?”
Wolfe’s gaze traveled to Rune and then gradually back to me. “Yes. That’s what I meant.”
“You should make time for it.”
“It’s been a little hectic lately.”
I cocked my head, eyeing him. “Looking for Mr. Valentine?”
“Yes. He needs to be taken out.”
I nodded in agreement. “After that, though? Do you normally have fun when bad shit isn’t happening?”
Alaric cut in. “He knows how to have fun.” He patted his friend’s shoulder. “Wolfe just needs to get a little more sleep, is all. He’s been keeping late hours almost every night working on a code.”
Wolfe rubbed at his forehead, his eyes closing. “I’m almost done with it too. Maybe a few more days. Then all of our systems will be forever hack proof.”
“Damn.” I grinned and leaned against Rune’s side, the hardness of his body enticing. “That’ll be killer out there. That’s the next big money maker.”
He merely shrugged, humble and quiet. “It is needed.”
