Page 85 of Lost Kingdom

“I had some family stuff to take care of. And I wouldn’t be late if not for the coffee line.” I flash a beaming grin. “For the record, Chief.”

“Mmhmm.” She sits back, her chair squeaking in protest, and picks up her coffee to inhale the bitter scent. “We’ll do rounds and stuff shortly. But before we get to that…”

“I’m married. And sleeping with your brother-in-law. And yes, last night, some asswipe thought he could lead Tim into an ambush that would end his life. That cover everything?”

“I wondered if it was an ambush, too.” She sips her coffee and studies me over the lip. “There’s no way Booth and his people are unaware of Tim’s claim. Marriage and all that mess aside, six months ago, even before he touched you, everyone knew. So them cornering you last night, but not hurting you, was a message they wanted to get back to the home base.”

“They almost succeeded, too. He was pissed, and he was ready to tear them apart.”

“As one would expect of a Malone. Tim creates an unprecedented situation, because he was born into his power, but refuses to carry it. Whoever is pulling Booth’s strings is attempting, but failing, to figure him out.”

“Hard to figure a guy out when he’s notoriously quiet and controlled. He could be impulsive, like Felix and Cato, or deadly like Micah. Or he could be a complete outlier, like Archer, who chose to pick up a badge instead of an army. But they can’t know, because Tim has refused, up to this point, to show his hand.”

“Which would have come undone last night if not for your intervention.” She drags her lip between her teeth and studies me. “How’d you figure it outso quick? It took me, Archer, Fletch, and Cato an hour to come to the same conclusion you did on the spot.”

“Intuition.” I snag my coffee—a venti vanilla latte with four shots of espresso, four pumps of vanilla, two pumps of caramel, double whip, and salt on top—and take a slow, satisfying sip. “Some could say it was a lucky guess.”

“No.” She shakes her head, impressing me with the confidence in her voice. “Not lucky. You saved his life.”

“I had eggs on toast, and fantastic sex.” A blush warms my cheeks and spreads down into my chest. Because maybe it’s true, and maybe I’m a grown ass woman, but it wasn’t so long ago I was a complete novice on the subject. “It didn’t take a great deal of convincing on my part.”

“Clothes off. Crook your finger.” She snorts. “Works every time. Are we doing this now?”

“Talking sex?”

She rolls her eyes. “During business hours, even. Jesus, this is not who I am.”

“You’re banging a Malone. I’m banging a Malone…”

“Complaints?”

My cheeks fire red. “No. You?”

She snickers. “No. If anything, we’re getting better at it as time goes on. Marriage?”

“I’m gonna ask for a divorce.” I push up to stand when the elevator dings outside her office and the mayor steps out in a crisp black suit. “I didn’t consent, and so, he doesn’t receive. It’s either that, or he goes on the Dead To Me list. And considering I actually kind of like him, I’d rather he stayed off.” I turn from my chair and stride across to the glass door, pulling it wide, and grinning at the guy old enough to be my father.

But holy hell, objectively speaking, he’s sexy enough toalmostcreate competition for Tim. “Good to see you again, Mayor Lawrence. I’ll leave you both to it.”

“You can stay.” He stalks across the threshold, unbuttoning his suit jacket, and completely ignoring the contempt with which Minka regards him. It’s a love hate relationship mostly rooted in the former. “Chief Mayet.” He sits in my seat and lifts his ankle to rest it on the opposite knee. “You look rested.”

“Eight straight. Can I help you, Justin?”

I take my venti abomination and dance to the sofa pushed up against theglass wall. Because watching these two duke it out will always remain in my top five favorite pastimes.

“Checking in on the Bay murders.” He picks at an invisible speck of lint on his pants. “And you have all six bodies inside your facility. I cannot effectively run a city if I don’t know what’s happening within it.”

“I can confirm all six are dead.” She sips her coffee like the evil warlord she is, grinning behind the lip. “All six died of a bullet wound. Some were close range. Some were not. Though ballistics are not yet complete, so it’s not really for me to make a determination on that. None of the six were biologically related, so far as I can tell. Though testing is pended. Our lab is a little backed up.” Her eyes flicker with mischief. “My birthday is coming up, Justin.”

His lips flatten instantly. “You want me to buy you a gift?”

“I could do with an extra tox tech. Effective immediately.”

He barks out a laugh. “You want an eighty-thousand dollar a year gift?” He clicks his tongue. “You won’t take my calls, but you’ll take my money?”

“In a New York second. Do we have a deal?”

“Absolutely not. But seeing as how we’re at the end of another year, put together your reports and show me where your budget is going. Then we can discuss.”

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