Page 5 of Tactically Acquired

I rang the doorbell and waited for Vira to answer. Unfortunately, it was Isabelle who answered, leaving me with a woman who instantly tensed at the sight of me.

“Hey, is Vira here?”

“Yes. Please, come in.”

She was always so formal, so stiff around men. I wanted to tell her that I wouldn’t hurt her, that she didn’t have to act like I was anything like that piece of shit husband of hers. But I wasn’t sure she would believe me if I told her a thousand times.

She stepped aside and I walked inside, heading back to the kitchen to set down the pizza and beer. Vira came in from the back, quirking her eyebrow when she saw me standing there.

“I didn’t know we were getting together.”

“I brought pizza and beer,” I said, waving at the counter.

“I can see that.” She cocked her head to the side, staring at me with questioning eyes.

“I brought enough for everyone.” I rubbed the back of my neck, uncomfortable as hell. Fuck, it shouldn’t be this hard. It wasn’t like I was actually spying on Isabelle. I just needed to make sure she was okay. This was for Knight.

“Sure,” Vira nodded, glancing behind me. “Do you want some pizza, Izzy?”

“Izzy?” I asked, turning around and looking at her with a smile. “I can see it. Much more informal.”

Izzy tucked a slip of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. “Thank you for bringing dinner.”

“You’re welcome. So, what are you guys doing tonight?”

“Movie night,” Vira answered. “Why? Do you want to stay and watch chick flicks with us?”

“Sure,” I answered a little too quickly.

Vira instantly narrowed her eyes at me. Shit, that was too fast. I grabbed a slice of pizza and shoved it in my mouth, hoping I could salvage this somehow. But the way Vira was watching me, I knew we were about to have a come-to-Jesus moment.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked. “Outside.”

Right. That moment was now. “Sure,” I said, swallowing the last of my pizza. I smiled at Izzy and followed Vira out back. Ialready knew what was coming before she spun around to face me.

“Vira—”

“Don’t,” she snapped. “What the hell are you doing?”

I sighed, shoving my hands in my pockets. “I just?—”

“Slider, either you’re here to try and build something out of nothing, or you’re here to check up on Izzy in some weird bonding way, which I know you wouldn’t do because that would make you a major asshole.”

I had nothing to say, so I stared at her, letting her come to her own conclusions.

“God, Slider. Why the hell would you do this?” she asked, pacing away from me.

“That depends. Which one do you think I’m doing?”

She spun and nailed me with a death glare. “Are you making jokes?”

Yeah, that wasn’t helping me any. “No, of course not.”

“Because if you think for one second you can come into my house and use me to get to Izzy, you are sadly mistaken.”

“That’s not what’s happening here,” I argued.

“Really? Because it sure looks like what’s happening. Beer and pizza? Showing up out of the blue? That’s not what we do. So, you tell me what this is.”

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