Page 84 of Renard's Deliverance

Was he pissed at her?

Of course he was. It was a Sunday morning and he’s been pulled out of his home and away from his family to deal with whatever shit the Grackle has unleashed.

“I’m sorry you’ve been dragged out here, Alec,” she told him. “Whatever this is, it’s gonna be utter bullshit. You really don’t have to stay.”

Alec raised his eyebrows as he removed his hat. “Maybe we could all go inside.”

Um. Sure.

They stepped inside after both Jake and Alec removed their boots.

Alec stared around at her living area that was still filled with bedroom furniture.

“Rearranging stuff?” he asked.

“I removed the carpet from the spare bedroom,” she said with a wince as she sat on the sofa. “You said I could do what I wanted, right?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. I said you could do what you liked, if you got help.”

Uh oh.

“It wasn’t too much work,” she told him. “And I usually do stuff at night when I can’t sleep.”

“You can’t sleep?” Alec asked, sounding concerned.

“It’s nothing,” she said, waving her hand. “Just, some, um, nightmares.”

Alec eyed her knowingly.

Renard was standing across the room from her, leaning against the wall, watching. “She got close to six hours last night before someone woke us.” He glared over at Jake who was standing by the door.

Jake sighed. “Look, the complainant wanted me to come out last night, but I wasn’t waking everyone up. This is the best I could do.”

“Who is the complainant?” Alec asked.

“Old shrew across the road,” Renard said.

Alec eyed Opal. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” she asked.

“You’ve been moving slowly, like you’re in pain.”

“I’m fine.”

Alec narrowed his gaze at her. “Wanna try again?”

Uh-oh. She’d forgotten that he seemed to have some sort of built-in lie detector.

“Hurt my back carrying the carpet. Tweaked it again last night at the club. Renard brought me home and helped me.”

“That’s better,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Tweaked it at the club?

“Yep.” Him being her guardian did not mean that she had to tell him everything.

Right?

Well, she wasn’t telling him what happened. Alec glanced from her to Renard.

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