Page 49 of Penance

I feel tears prick my eyes.

“Hux wants you.”

Shrugging his hand off me, I turn away sharply, heading to the intercom. I press for Charlie, it beeps a few times without answer. Max wanders past me slowly. I can practically feel his eyes boring holes into the back of my head. I sigh heavily, pulling up my big girl pants and forcefully dissolve the emotion on my face. I’m not letting this deter me, we have plans tonight that we’re already running late for.

I hit the call button for the basement.

“Boss, Rubble’s filled me in on the situation. I’m just on my way up, I’ve contacted Eli and he-”

“Gremlin,” I say sternly, cutting him off. Every ounce of my being wanting to crawl into bed and hide beneath the silk sheets. “I still want to leave in five minutes.”

Silence greets me on the other end, and I crease my eyebrows as I wait.

“Yes, boss,” he finally replies but I’m not happy with his tone.

“Problem, Grem?”

“No, boss,” he immediately answers, only making me frown harder as I disconnect.

I wander back into the kitchen. Rubble, Huxley and Max all hunched over, examining my gift. Rubble’s so fucking close he’s practically got his face in it.

“No anthrax then?” I deadpan, the three of them snapping their gazes over to me.

Rubble shakes his head once before righting himself. I grab my jacket, tossing it back on. Threading my good arm into the sleeve, draping the other side over my shoulder.

“Are you ready?” I question, tapping my booted foot impatiently as Max blinks over at me.

“What?” he blanches.

“Christ, are you stupid? I said are you ready?To go?” I shake my head as he just stares at me, his mouth popped open. “Never mind, I’ll go on my own,” I tut, spinning on my heel.

“You seriously want to go now?” Max asks as though I’m mad for even thinking it.

“Err, yes, I want to go. I wanted to go half an hour ago too, why would I suddenly change my mind?” I query, shaking my head at him in irritation.

“Well,” his black eyebrows draw together, shadowing his turquoise eyes, his lips thinning as he clenches his jaw.

“Well, nothing, it’s a bird. There’s nothing I can do about it now, it’s already dead. What are you suggesting, Maddox? That I attempt to give it the kiss of life? If that’s the case, I think you should book onto a first aid course asap, your skills need a serious update if you think there’s any hope for a creature that’s been dead for what looks like days.”

Huxley looks between the two of us, moving in front of me, his heavenly dark eyes full of concern. He grips my hip, tugging me into him. I crane my neck back, looking up at him. His six-foot-four height feels like so much more when he surrounds me in every sense of the word.

“Do you think this is a good idea, to go now? We could call Kacey at the garage and tell him to come straight home instead of meeting us out. Shouldn’t we deal with this,” he circles his hand in the direction behind him. Gesturing to where Rubble is currently lifting the box from the counter, “first?”

A sensible suggestion.

“No, it’s Christmas Eve, I want us to go out,” I snap, instantly regretting using that tone with him.

His gaze softens, his grip tightening on my hip as he dips down, dropping a kiss to my lips.

“Let me grab my phone, then we’ll all go, okay?”

I nod, my lips pressing against his for a second greedy kiss. This one lasting longer but nothing more than our lips searing their imprint into one another. He taps my bum, taking off down the opposite hall.

Chapter11

Kyla-Rose

Isit behind Max in the rear passenger seat. Ending my call with Charlie, I tug my hair free from its restricting scrunchie. Resting my forehead against the cool glass of the window. Charlie says the bird’s a barn swallow. Barn swallows, although mate for life, the females can have multiple life partners. Polyamorous apparently. Charlie knows his stuff, so I didn’t question it. Although, he did voice his concern that this seems to be rather specific. More personal than business. Not that we thought any differently anyway, but this just helps confirm what we suspected.

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