Page 24 of In Prey We Trust

“Ugh, stop making sense, Fitz. You’re supposed to agree with me and curse Zhenga’s entire heritage.”

I grin as Felix rolls his eyes at the two dueling pouts being aimed at one another. “By the look on the Raj’s face, angel, it doesn’t seem like you’re being fair to the lioness.”

Felix snorts hard. “She isn’t. Yes, it was grueling and hot, but nothing Z did differed from what Fitz and I did with the male team. In fact, she practiced right alongside our team.”

“And fuck, are these kids pampered. I mean, shit. I thought our whiny Council heirs and adjacent business morons were spoiled rotten.” Fitz kicks off his shoes, then comes over to flop on one of the large cushions with a disgruntled expression. “Noooo. They might be spoiled, but these fools are being told they’re in peak professional competition level condition, but they are not.”

Tilting my head, I reach over and brush the hair that’s escaped from his topknot out of his face. “Really? The children of athletes and all that shit are soft? By Bloodstone standards or… normal pred standards?”

“Uh, by any fucking standards, bro,” Felix says in disgust. “Z was about to lose the plot when one girl asked if she could schedule practices so they didn’t fall around her moontime because it makes her slower.”

I frown. “But…”

“Exactly. No pro-league is going to even consider that shit. Hell, no serious competitor would even ask that,” Fitz growls under his breath. “We have our work cut out for us and we will not make friends with the parents. We can’t have the Khan name on this bullshit or dear old Dad will be displeased.”

Dolly walks over with an ice cold bottle of water from the fridge, her skin flushed and smelling delicious from her workout. “At least I wasn’t as insipid as the others. I think it earned me a few points with Zhenga.”

“More than you know, Princess. You might have groaned, but you did every gut wrenching step of the run and continued working until she called time. Trust me, that earned you some credit.” Felix rakes a hand through his hair and frowns as he looks at the surrounding mess.

“What the hell is all this?”

I chuckle. “While you guys are out sweating to the whining, my bosses sent me a shit ton of work. After Ren and I finished getting the list for our shipping excursion done, I dug in. I want to get it done so we can spend time together tomorrow, too.”

His eyes narrow. “Our shopping excursion?”

“We’re all going? Everyone?” Dolly beams and claps her hands, suddenly finding her second wind. “I’m so excited! I definitely have to go grab a shower so we can get moving. Fitz, come on. If you hurry, I’ll let you massage my troubles away before we go.”

‘Let you?’ Felix mouths at me with a smirk.

“Fuck off, big bro. She can let me do anything damn thing she wants while you chuckleheads nurse your blue balls in here.” Fitz bobs his brows, flipping Felix off before trailing along behind our girl like a happy puppy.

“He’s absolutely off his rocker for her,” I murmur with a fond smile. “It’s amazing.”

My ambush mate sighs and nods, his own expression soft. “She’s amazing.”

“Agreed.”

Forgiveness

Delores

By the time Fitz and I emerge from his soapy adventure, the rest of my guys were waiting in the living room. I threw on a crop top and joggers with flip-flops, so I'm comfortable trying on clothes and Fitz mirrored me. It gets eye rolls from everyone but Chessie, but he clearly does not give a fuck. His confidence is one of my favorite things about him and I wish I could wake up with even a fraction of my excitable tiger’s self-esteem.

“Are we ready?” I ask as I adjust the strap of my small crossover bag.

“Absolument. The Captain had one of his crew bring the Land Rover around.” Renard rises, dropping his keys in Aubrey’s hand before he comes over to kiss my cheek. “Alons1, gentleman.”

Aubrey heaves an annoyed sigh as he joins us, shaking his head. “As you can tell by the French, he’s excited. He and Chess mapped out some grand plan.”

Chess grabs my hand, squeezing the one Fitz isn’t hogging to thread our fingers together. “We found the best stores and route to take while minimizing the exposure along the way. I’d think you and Felix would be pleased, Aubrey.”

“Less talking, more walking,” Felix grumbles from the back. “We’ll never get home if you all don’t shake a leg.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” I call over my shoulder. “Over and out.”

“Dionysus on a unicycle, this is going to be a pain in my ass.”

Fitz snorts as we all walk down the hall to the back entrance. “I’m sure we could arrange that, bro. I see they have an interesting dungeon on the list. Our girl might enjoy topping your grumpy ass.”

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