Page 115 of Bossy Hero

Lionheart points his chin down the hall toward the lair. “You need to punch something before we go in there?”

I chuckle morosely. “Nah. I’m fine.”

He knows I’m full of shit.

The brief nap I had this afternoon didn’t do much to stop the bleeding from Tomer’s knife in my back. There’s no time to deal with that either. I’ll need to shove it aside and trust him, as if there isn’t a chasm between us.

“Well, you give me the signal if that changes, Boss.”

With a rapidly arching brow, I crane my neck to peer up at him and halt our trek to the lair. “Are you attempting to manage me?”

“What was it you taught me?” He scratches his beard, pretending to be deep in thought. “The key to leading through crisis isn’t fixing everything at once. That’s how you fail. Instead, stop things from getting worse. You have to contain the bullshit before you can clean it up, right?”

“That’s not what I meant by?—”

“The way I see it, you and Tomer are in the middle of a big fucking crisis. It’s my job to stop it from spiraling into a catastrophe. I’ll contain the bullshit so it doesn’t spread. We can clean it up later. If that means I need to remove you from the room, I’ll do it. Or at least make an excuse so you can save face. But we need Tomer if we’re gonna take down Lenkov. Therefore, Irefuseto let you get into it with him. That won’t end well. Either he’ll quit, or you’ll fire him. Both of those outcomes are unacceptable. So you give me the signal, and I’ll get you some air. Got it?”

I chew on the inside of my lip, processing his words. “I may have taught you a little too well.”

He dusts off imaginary lint from his shoulder, not bothering to hide his cocky grin.

Rolling my eyes, I grumble, “Let’s fucking get this over with.”

We enter the lair, and my gaze finds Mia first. The one who led the charge to banish me earlier, taking her life in her hands. “Okay, my mandatory rest period is over. What do you have for me?”

Klein pushes away from his desk. “Hey, Boss. Jumping right in, I see.” He bustles toward the whiteboard covering the big wall.

“Well, I didn’t come here for tea and scones,” I toss flippantly.

Tomer approaches me cautiously, slinking between me and the others. Leo clears his throat in a wordless reminder to be on my best behavior.

“How’s Madeline?” Tomer asks, his tentative gaze pinging from me to the big guy behind me.

“She’s in my office,” I answer curtly, attempting to brush past him toward the board where Klein’s waiting to read me in on whatever they’ve laid out thus far.

Far kinder than me, Leo adds, “Mom’s doing okay for now, Tomer. Thanks for asking. How’s Lettie?”

Fuck. I should have asked that.

My feet stutter to a stop, and I wipe the hostility off my face as I look to him for a response.

Tomer steps to the side, blocking me in place and letting Leo advance toward the others. “Actually, I need to talk to you about her, Boss. Can I have a quick word?”

Again, Leo clears his throat pointedly. This time, I glare at him, refusing to blink until he subtly raises his hands in surrender.

“We need a minute, team,” I announce, turning on my heel.

Once we’re in the hall, Tomer quickly gets to it, saving us from dealing with each other any longer than necessary. “Lettie’s moving in with me. Permanently.”

Damn. She sure as fuck forgave him faster than I will.

My reply has zero enthusiasm. Only sarcasm. “Congratulations. Where are you registered? Crate & Barrel? Williams Sonoma?”

Confused, he licks his lips nervously and stammers, “Well-I-sh-we-she.” He shakes his head and restarts his verbal engine. “By moving out of the women’s shelter, she won’t have their around-the-clock security. Considering the Lenkov threat and how she’s uncomfortable being alone, I planned to bring her here when I’m working. She won’t be a distraction from my duties. I just can’t leave her alone. I won’t.”

Ah. Now I see why this is relevant to me.

“That’s fine. I’d much prefer she stays here than at your place when you’re not there anyhow. One less post we need to man. I told Peggy to convert some of the empty offices downstairs into temporary bunk rooms. So we’ll have room here at HQ.”

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