Page 16 of More than Need

Well, this ganging-up bullshit could go and sit in the trunk and get pushed into a lake. “I hate both of you.”

“Just think, you started your day off so well that it can only go up from here,” Sadie said pleasantly, taking the plate of Vegemite toast Marshall handed her.

Dawson highly doubted it.

Gideon jumped when afolder slammed on top of his keyboard. Ange loomed over him with one perfectly arched eyebrow. Gideon couldn’t do that; he’d spent more hours in front of a mirror attempting it than he would ever admit.

“Okay, spill.”

“Spill what?” he asked, confused.

“You’ve been in a whole other world all day. You didn’t even beg me to stop at Bakers Delight for an apple strudel on the way back to the station after we served that warrant.”

“So?” Maybe he hadn’t wanted one today. Just because he always manipulated her into feeding him didn’t mean there would never be a day where he didn’t want to eat. Or where he forgot.

“I have to feed you every two hours, or you shrivel. You’re like a house plant.”

Another detective, Grady Donehue, snorted in laughter from his desk, so Gideon threw a pen at him. One of the sucky ones, not one of his good ones that he protected with his life. “That is untrue. I can last atleastthree hours.”

“Don’t be a liar on top of your other transgressions.”

“What transgressions?” He could honestly say he’d been on his best behaviour that day. Not one prank. Grady’s eyebrow hadn’t been made to twitch even once. Gideon should be getting a gold star, not a lecture. If they were trying to get him to behave himself, they were going in the opposite direction.

Ange forcefully spun his chair so he faced her and rested a foot between his legs. “We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the harder way.”

“What about the easy way?” Gideon squeaked. Shouldn’t agoodway also be an option? Good cop, bad cop didn’t work with two bad cops.

“You’re too stubborn for that. What’s gotten you so distracted today?” She narrowed her eyes. “You seeing someone? New girl?”

“No,” Gideon sputtered. What the fuck? “I amnot.” Technically a truth. Riley wouldn’t even kiss him. Not conducive to a successful relationship beginning.

Ange’s lips flattened, and Gideon wanted to call a ceasefire. “A boy?” she asked.

Was he that transparent? Safer not to ask. “I have the right to remain silent. Also, that’s none of your business.”

Her eyebrow did the thing again. “A boy, then.”

“There’s no boy!” Gideon protested loudly. Too loudly. Now Grady and his partner, Quinn, were looking at him from their desks. All he needed now was for the other detective duo—Greer and Henry—to come through the doors, and it would be a super-fun gawking session. He needed to start charging.

Ange nodded solemnly. “Want to do it the harder way, huh? With two dicks, that makes sense.”

“You’re actually making my dick shrivel a little,” Gideon risked his life to say. She shouldn’t be offended by that; she didn’t evenlikedicks. Not real ones anyway.Thathe wasn’t going to mention, because then his life really would be forfeit, and if he died, then Rileyreallywouldn’t kiss him.

The sound of his son yelling his name from the hallway leading to the bullpen saved him from the rest of the torture masquerading as an interrogation.

The second Ange moved out of the way, a bony, lanky six-year-old launched himself into Gideon’s lap. His knee grazed the same area Ange had been trying to shrivel. Guess no one wanted him to use that particular part of his anatomy.

Maybe Riley did. Gideon could ask him. For science.

“MumandIwentshoppingandthenandthenwewentforicecreamandthen—”

Gideon put a hand over Hudson’s mouth as he laughed. “One word at a time, buddy. Slow it down. Big breath. There we go. Try that again?”

“Mum and I went shopping,” Hudson said. He held up the toy garbage truck in his hand. “And I got a truck because Ned has a truck, and I wanted one just like him. And then we went for ice cream, but not too much ’cause Mum said I’ll get a tummy ache. Can we have ice cream after footy?”

“I’ll think about it. Mum is right, though. Remember what happened last time you had too much dairy?” Gideon placed Hudson on his feet. “Who’s Ned? New friend at school?”

Lucia appeared, holding Hudson’s backpack in one hand and a half-eaten sundae from McDonald’s in the other. She smiled warmly at the two of them, making her way around the desks.

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