Page 12 of Peaceful Chaos

Lucien gags. "That's fucking gross. She's my baby sister. I don't want to hear that shit." There's no heat behind his words like there would have been a few months ago. We've come a long way, and somehow he's managed to accept Raven and I together. That odd feeling in my chest grows, and I'm not sure what to do with it.

"Of course the two of you snuck out here to light up," Holbrook snaps.

Gotta give him credit, he moves pretty stealthily for a cop. "Chill out, Holbrook, it's legal in California."

"Not federally, and I'm an FBI agent. Why do you guys keep forgetting that?"

"So don't smoke it," Lucien snaps, grabbing the joint back from me.

Holbrook shifts his weight from foot to foot. "Look, Brett laid into me pretty hard. I still think you're all reckless, dangerous, immature—"

"You know when you started this word salad, I thought you were going to apologize. If that's the case, you're absolute shit at it," I tell him, the weed really kicking in.

He exhales and nods his head. "Right. What I mean to say is, while I still think you are all of those things, I heaped a load of my own guilt on you too."

"You're right," Lucien says, looking at me. "He's shit at apologies."

"You two drive me insane," he grumbles.

Marks steps out the back door, and I groan. Looks like we're having a freaking party in the yard. So much for me finding a place to think.

He hands a phone to Holbrook. "The DA is on the line and wants to talk to you."

Holbrook's chest puffs up. It's things like this that make me not trust him. This crusade might have started to find his sister, but there's little doubt he doesn't appreciate the benefits it's had on his career. Bringing down Damien Blackthorne could make him a legend up there with the men who brought down Al Capone.

Once Holbrook has gone around the front to take the call, Marks turns to us. "Did you tell him about the house?"

"You found a house?" I ask Lucien.

"Yeah, it's perfect. Outside of town, has a fully functioning perimeter fence Shane says he can add to, and it was never on the market."

I raise my eyebrow. "You found a house not on the market?"

He smirks. "Some people are highly motivated to sell when they meet me. Can you imagine?"

"Please tell me you didn't go scare an old lady."

Lucien smiles, and unlike with most people, the look is frightening. "Not an old woman. I'll admit, before I met certain people I would have just seduced her, but turns out a large sum of cash did the trick."

"I hope you didn't offer her everything I have in my account," I grumble.

"Nah, the place needs a little work. Shane is setting it up as we speak. She needed cash after a divorce, and to scare away her clingy ex. I promised her both, and we struck a deal."

Looks like there's only one other question I need answered. "It's big enough for all of us?"

"It's got six bedrooms," Marks intrudes. "I was not aware of the arrangement to scare anyone." He crosses his arms and glares at Lucien.

Lucien waves at him dismissively. "Again, relax. I'll have a chat with him, there won't be bloodshed. I am capable of not killing people."

Marks rolls his eyes at Lucien’s comment. The gesture lacks the judgment his partner would be eyeing us with.

"Is there any way to keep Damien from finding out about it?" It's a ridiculous idea really, trying to hide something from the constant watchful eye of the kingpin of the Blackthorne syndicate.

"There's a gatehouse outside of the fence. We're working on wiping the other building off the records, and we'll purchase that one with his money. It has four bedrooms, so it appears adequate on paper. Once we've managed to erase the existence of the other property off the records then we'll use your money to make the purchase. I know you said Carina was hiding your accounts, but do you know how deep?" Lucien asks.

"I'll find out, but not over the phone this time. I don't trust we aren't being monitored. I can’t put my finger on it, but I’ve got a bad feeling." Lucien's tech skills have been used a few times to engage in some corporate espionage in the past. He’s not the only hacker Damien keeps around, so we know Damien is capable of spying on us.

Holbrook comes back around the house, and by the look on his face he overheard part of our conversation.

---