“If you’d like a punch in the face,” Archer offers. Ah, so the man does have a sense of humor after all.
Bane, looking exasperated, waves a hand. “Off you go, then, we’ve got shit to discuss.”
“Fine,” she says, cradling Dozer in her arms. Then to Payden, she says, “Come find me when you’re done listening to them dribble shit, and I’ll give you a grand tour.”
“Bye, Ivy,” Shadow growls as she finger waves at the table.
“Peace out, bitches!”
My eyebrows raise involuntarily and Bane coughs into his hand. “My sister is… uh, a handful.”
“She’s out of control,” Shadow says. “Anyone would think she was raised by a pack of wolves, and we all know she wasn’t.”
“It’s her way of rebelling,” Viking adds. “To get under our skin because she thinks she’s untouchable because she’s Bane’s sister.”
“But we can’t be mean to her,” Hornet explains. “Because if we are, she’ll poison our food.”
“How long has she been the cook here?” I ask. I distinctly remember some talk about Ivy being missing for a few years, but I don’t know what happened there.
“Long enough to give us all a permanent migraine,” Shadow sighs. “I think you need to give her another talkin’ to.”
Bane nods. “I’ll speak to her. She’s just showin’ off because of our guests. When I give her chores to do this afternoon, she might not be so chirpy.”
“Hey, did I miss all the fun?” a man’s voice booms across the room.
“He smelled the food,” Viking says, grabbing three rolls off the tray before they get snagged.
“Radium, why don’t you make yourself known?” Shadow mutters, shaking his head.
“Oh, we have company, and I’m late,” he drawls, giving me a chin lift. “Logan.”
“Radium.”
His eyes shift to Payden. “This your ol’ lady?”
“You could just ask me,” Payden counters, smiling sweetly.
“She’s sassy,” Hornet points out, his mouth full of cinnamon roll. “And smart, too. Logan hit the fuckin’ jackpot. We need some classy broads around here.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Raidum wipes his hand down his cut, then holds it out. “You need anyone trackin’ down, diggin’ up, or need someone to disappear on paper, I’m your guy. Well, Phoenix helps out, but he always sits in the back broodin’.”
She shakes his hand. “I’m Payden. The NOLA Rebels on-retainer lawyer. I just saw my entire floor wiped out by a mad gunman, had my apartment ransacked, faked my death, and had to flee the city I call home all in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Sounds like you need a drink,” he muses, taking a seat. “It’s three o’clock somewhere in the world, right?”
“Which is why you’re gonna keep a low profile,” Bane says. “Hang here, help my sister, do what you want, but no goin’ outdoors without your ol’ man, got me?” He glances at me. “Assumin’ you weren’t followed?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Sawyer found a whole heap of bugs in her purse, shoes, phone?—”
“You bring one with you?” Radium asks. “Would love to see it. I have a fascination for shit like that.”
“Nope, but Sawyer dismantled one,” I say. “Point bein’ that they were trackin’ Payden for a while. Sawyer has access to her files. One of the guys there that day was hacking into the mainframe. He got in, but Sawyer managed to firewall his ass before he got what he wanted.”
Bane glances at Payden. “Do you know what they wanted?”
“No,” she sighs. “But I have some theories, and none of them are good. One of them involves one of the whistleblowers, her name is Becca. She left me a voice message right before the shooting and I haven’t been able to get hold of her since.” She glances at me. “No luck yet?”
I shake my head. Willow is involved, and that shit’s gotta be bad.
