“I’m already sure we won’t.” He strides past me but stops a few feet ahead. “Although we did make a decent team.”
“Ha! I knew it! I distracted the bartender with my feminine wiles?—“
His shoulders tense and he looks back at me. “Don’t.”
I want to tease him more but I can tell it’s actually bothering him. I don’t know why, but I like that a lot. “Come on, youbig jealous idiot. Let’s go back to the house and you can stomp around and act mad all you want, okay?”
I take his arm and I think he’s going to tell me off, but instead he lets me walk him back into the evening, through the crowd near the bar, and back toward home.
CHAPTER 13
BRENDEN
Iroll the bottle opener between my fingers, deftly flipping it around and around as a glass of bourbon sits at my elbow, barely sipped. The bar’s nearly empty after the lunch rush but before the work crowd starts filling the booths.
“You good, man? You need anything else?”
I look up and picture ramming my hand down Justin’s throat, grabbing the root of his tongue, and ripping it straight through his broken jaw.
“No, thank you, I’m fine.”
“Let me know.” He walks off to polish some glasses. I make the opener reappear and continue fiddling with it.
I don’t know what I expected when I told Tallie to get his name. I figured it would be possible but difficult, especially during a busy time like happy hour. She’s a girl who’s used to getting whatever she asks for, and I wanted to see if she could problem solve in an unfamiliar situation under pressure. I assumed it would happen sooner or later, but only after a few awkward attempts.
Instead, she exceeded my wildest predictions.
At first, it looked like she was going to fail. Poor Tallie seemed uncomfortable with the whole exercise, and I thought she might quit before seeing it through.
Then everything changed.
It was like a ghost took her over. I watched her go from meek and nervous to sitting up straight and exuding pure confidence. Tallie’s a beautiful woman and I swear she always seems to glow, but she was using that brightness to her own benefit.
I’ve seen transformations like that in very skilled actors?—
And very skilled thieves.
A shadow falls at my elbow as a man sits beside me. I turn to look and flinch with surprise to find Alexan Sarkissian, my brother-in-law, flagging down Justin.
“Scotch on the rocks and a refill for my friend here—?” He looks at me questioningly.
I tilt my glass. “I’m all good.”
“Thanks then.” Justin walks off to fill the order. “I didn’t peg this as your kind of place.”
“It’s usually not.”
“So what are you doing here then? Drinking at noon?”
“Something like that.”
Alexan accepts his glass. He’s a big man, taller and broader than I am, but his size and frame hides an extremely sharp mind. He’s one of the best computer specialists on the east coast and he’sincredibly analytical. I’ve come to deeply respect him, not only because he saved my life. He loves and treats my sister like she’s a goddess.
We share a companionable silence. I know he’s not here for a social visit, but it’s nice to have company for a while. I like Alexan, even if our stations in the family don’t allow us much time together. He’s part of the core family, and I’m a has-been thief hanging on to the fringes.
“Riley was talking about you yesterday. She’s worried you’re not acclimating to your new wife.” Alexan says this like he’s relating the local news.
“My sister would worry no matter what.”
