Page 16 of Close Quarters

“Such suspicious minds at this table,” Mona said, pouring herself a glass of lemonade.

If I hadn’t witnessed it, I wouldn’t have believed Leon could roll his eyes, but there he was, rolling them at Mona like she probably didn’t eat men’s heads. I mean, she probably didn’t do that. She seemed like a woman who believed in everything the ranch was doing. That didn’t stop her being a terrifying person to deal with, though. The woman made me think she could read my mind and wouldn’t hesitate to roast me if necessary.

“To get back to the topic at hand,” Leon said, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. “Obviously with something like this, I have to turn it over to Mona.”

“Not completely,” Mona said, pulling a piece of cured meat apart and chewing it. “These two are your responsibility, probably more than mine.”

“Does that mean we’re safe or not?” I wondered aloud and then put a hand over my mouth.

Bewilderingly, Reno smirked at me. “It means she can overrule him at any time because she’s the big boss bitch, but she wants Leon to decide if our heads go on pikes or not.”

“You’re lucky I am, in fact, that big boss bitch, or I might be offended,” she told Reno with an arch of her brow and a smile. “Very lucky.”

“Uh…yeah,” he said, clearing his throat. “Sorry.”

Alright, it appeared even Reno knew his limits. I honestly thought Max was the only person I’d witnessed shrug off Mona’s weird…aura. From the way Leon had just spoken to her, it was clear he apparently wasn’t too shy about it, which was weird. Max struck me as someone who could let Mona roll off his back, considering his attitude, but Leon was gentler, more understanding, and perceptive.

Huh, that was interesting. It meant I was going about it all wrong, or he was ‘perceiving’ something I was missing about Mona. That wouldn’t be too surprising. I’d always been notoriously bad at reading people. More surprising was that Reno was apparently good at it if Mona’s approval and Leon’s quiet were anything to go on.

I usually liked learning new things, but it was always weird when the latest thing I learned ran opposite to what I thought I knew. I remember there was a word for that feeling, but it escaped me as I absently prepared another sandwich. It had to have been a psychology term, which was the sort of thing Riley was good at. Though now I couldn’t ask the guy since Reno decided to haul off and punch him, but he would know I was sure.

I looked around, finding three pairs of eyes locked onto me. Mona gave me a bright smile. “Welcome back.”

“Uh,” my face began to warm. “What’d I miss?”

“Well, I was asking if you two could eat while we talked, but you seem to have given me my answer,” she said, sounding amused. The arch of her brow was a little too sharp for my tastes.

“Umm, I’m here, I swear. I was just…lost in thought,” I said, taking a bite of the sandwich before I could say anything else. Generally speaking, I could be trusted not to talk with my mouth full, especially when I’d already made an ass out of myself. “Sorry.”

“Good,” she said with far more warmth. “Then I suppose, Leon? You’re up to bat. I’m just here to observe.”

It felt like she was here to do a lot more than observe, but once again, I clamped my bottom lip between my teeth to keep that thought to myself. I already knew trying to predict people was a losing game for me, and that was with your average person. Mona was…well, she was scary, especially because her mind seemed to work on levels well above mine. Trying to predict her was asking to be completely wrong, and end up with a headache.

My suspicion was confirmed when I caught Leon watching her, his lips pursing for a moment before leaning forward again. “Alright, I’m not going to pretend that what happened today wasn’t serious. Everyone here knows it was a serious offense. I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending otherwise.”

“I know what’s going on,” Reno grumbled, taking a piece of meat and wrapping it around some cheese. “Can we just get it over with, alright?”

“Get it over with?” Leon asked, tilting his head and peering at Reno curiously.

Reno gave a huff. “Look, I know I fucked up, alright? We don’t have to sit around and talk about our feelings or see if I get what’s going on. I fucked up, I’m going to get fucked for it, and I fucking deserve it, alright?”

I realized that despite all his obvious anger problems, this was the first time he’d actually ever yelled at someone. Except it didn’t feel like he was yelling at anyone in particular. Just…yelling, and in its wake was an uncomfortable and thoughtful silence as we all stared at him.

“What?” he asked defensively. “I’m just being straightforward. Why can’t you?”

“I’m attempting to cover this carefully,” Leon said, raising his brow.

I saw Reno’s jaw tighten, and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes or the heavy, exasperated sigh that came with it. For once, I thought I had an insight into what was going on in Reno’s head, or at least some of it. Christ, even when someone was trying to be nice and gentle with him, he had to make it a fight.

“Something to add, Elliot?” Leon asked in a voice that was oddly testy for him.

“Is that a real question?” I asked, glancing between everyone. “Like, do I actually get to talk, or will I be told to shut up again?”

Mona’s eyes found Leon’s, and there was a slight tilt to her head but little else. Leon’s expression shifted to something more neutral. “Reno?”

“Oh Jesus, just let him talk before he fucking explodes from holding it in,” Reno groaned.

“First of all, fuck you, you absolute dick,” I told him with a growl.

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