Page 28 of Claiming Veronica

“Of course, that’s more than okay. Eli, it’s so nice to see you. Glad that you’re stopping by.” My sister piped up quickly to fill the space, overeager to make him welcome, but I glared at him. “We just ordered a ton of food. I hope you’ll join us. Do you like Chinese?”

“Sure.” He hovered behind Pike, sticking near the edges of the kitchen as Natasha pulled plates out and serving spoons. “How’s the hand, Veronica?”

His lips turned up in an all-knowing smirk as he looked at me. What an absolute tool. I didn’t even need to look at my sister’s face to know that she was caught between shocked and pissed.

The kitchen stopped Pike freezing mid-motion, opening an egg fu young carton and turning from me to his brother. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Natasha pointed a serving fork at me. “Your hand? What’s wrong with your hand? There is a bandaid there. I’m the worst sister ever. I didn’t even notice.”

“Nothing is wrong with it. It’s fine,” I said.

“Shecut herself,” Eli said, ignoring my sulky and very pointed look at him to shut his mouth. His overly handsome face settled into a smirk. Maybe he was thinking better of outing me, he added. “It was a tiny cut, and I cleaned it.”

Pike looked like he was going to have a brain aneurysm, so I showed them my palm. “See. I’m fine. He isn’t lying. It was small and probably didn’t even need a bandaid.”

The last thing I needed was for Pike or Natasha to find out that I was off by myself at some shady warehouse investigating Victor, but I wasn’t sure how to explain where I ran into Eli.

Natasha pushed the chow mein and a set of chopsticks towards me. “Here you go.…” she started as if she would delve into asking me how I’d gotten cut and then stopped herself. “I’m glad it’s no big deal.” She tried to be nonchalant, but her words were stilted, and her poker face wasn’t that good because her eyes darted to Pike, me, and Eli. Clearing her throat, she said, “Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

Eli pretended he was a regular at our little bachelorette pad and made two plates before sitting beside me. I watched him, puzzled. One plate was a mess, with rice and chow mein on the bottom and bits of everything on the top. The second plate was small and carefully separated.On one side were the stir-fried vegetables that Natasha liked, but he had picked out all the nasty little corn cobs and water chestnuts. Then, he portioned some white meat chicken and beef pieces from the other dishes.

“Two plates?” I asked out of idle curiosity.

“This one is for you.” He pushed one towards me. “You need to eat real food.”

“I have chow mein.” I waved my chopsticks down at my container, but he rolled his eyes at me. The doctor had said I should eat better, and Eli had picked out the corn and water chestnuts. “I’ll have a little,” I conceded. “Only because the gross stuff is gone.”

“Good.” He pulled his food towards him without letting his eyes leave me.

“Stalker,” I whispered.

“I know,” he said shamelessly.

Pike and Natasha were surprised about Eli coming over, but they were highly unsettled at the idea of us having interacted without them present. It might not have been so bad if I wasn’tme— dateless and perpetually sick. I guess, and if Eli wasn’t … Eli.

They kept shooting us both looks while we ate, alternating from looking like they’d kick Eli out or lock me in my room. I’d be shocked if Natasha hadn’t already called Maxim and tattled.

As soon as we’d finished eating, Pike had declared that he’d had things to discuss with his brother. Even though Eli had said he would text me later, I wasn’t sure if he would.

That left me with my plans tonight to chat with my friends and pursue my leads.

Inestled back into my pillows and got comfortable, staring at the laptop screen as the glow of the dark web filtered through the dim light of my room.

My heart was still trying to settle from earlier, from being with Eli. The idea that he had been with me in the office and that he’d come back to the house and eaten with us. I’d liked how he’d taken charge — more than I would admit out loud—just remembering his bossy tone when he’d shoved my plate over to me, mixing with that counterpoint of care that he’d shown separating my food. It made me all hot and bothered.

I did need to focus and not daydream. I still wanted more information about Victor and whathe had been up to while he was here. Just because Eli came around didn’t mean I was giving up my search.

Luther Booth.

That name was my next stop.

Eli hadn’t said anything about me about me not looking further into what I’d found. That was my reasoning. I’d admit right now that it was pretty shoddy, but I wouldn’t stop.

I clicked through a few more hidden pages, my fingers flying over the keys, trying to piece together what I knew. Luther was connected to Victor, but it wasn’t clear how. The name came up with underground fighting circuits, dirty money, and violence. More disturbing than that, the fights weren’t just random matches—they were deadly. And now, Luther was starting to look like more than just a name. He was a gatekeeper to something much darker.

A low ping from my group chat pulled me out of my thoughts. I glanced at the notification from Calia.

Calia:You alive, V? You’ve been off for hours. Can we voice?

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