Page 168 of Wilde and Deadly

The thought came out of nowhere, hot and sudden, and he shoved it down immediately. Jesus. Not going there. Not with Rue.

Not when she was halfway across the world, about to drop herself into one of the most isolated, dangerous places on the planet. Not when he was supposed to be thinking tactically, not about her mouth and what she’d sound like if?—

Nope. Not doing this.

She huffed out a breath. “If you don’t come with me, I’ll just pick someonereallyincompetent. Maybe that guy who almost shot himself in the foot during training?”

Jesus Christ, she was impossible.

“Unless you want to volunteer…” she said sweetly and let the suggestion dangle.

“You mean unless Davey lets me volunteer,” he corrected.

“Ugh. I know.” She sighed. “Your brother is so overprotective. So are you, for that matter.” She made a face. “Maybe I don’t want you to come after all.”

Elliot smirked. “Yeah, well, you don’t exactly make it easy to look after you.”

Rue gasped, offended in the way only Rue Bristow could be. “I amveryeasy to look after.”

Elliot huffed a laugh. “Right. That’s why your file is flagged as a flight risk.”

She scoffed. “Okay,first of all, WSW has a file on me? Can I see it?”

“No.”

“Fine.” She pouted. “And, secondly, that was one time?—”

Elliot arched a brow. “Four times.”

“Semantics.” She waved it off. “What can I say? I’m the fun Bristow sister. Rowan’s the scary one.”

Elliot huffed a quiet laugh. Not wrong. “Can’t argue with that. Your sister once looked me in the eye and told me she could kill me with a hairpin.”

Rue snorted. “She wasn’t bluffing.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

She grinned. “ButIwould never say something like that.”

“No, you’d just wing it and hope for the best.”

“Because I’m the fun one,” she insisted.

“You’re a catastrophe in the making.”

Rue gasped again, this time with dramatic flair. “Excuse you—I am adelight.”

Elliot exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. “A menace.”

“A delightful menace,” she corrected. “Anyway, since you’re considering signing up for three weeks of my company, I figured you should know something important.”

Elliot frowned. “That sounds ominous.”

Rue tilted her head, a slow, syrupy grin spreading across her face. “Well, I hate to break it to you, El…” She leaned in slightly, those golden eyes filled with unholy amusement. “…but once Rowan and Davey get hitched? You and I are family.”

Elliot froze.

She cackled, the sound bright and wicked like she was savoring every second of torturing him. “Ooooh, that look on your face. You just realized, didn’t you?”

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