Page 106 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“Even you enjoy watching me land on my face?” Tavish asks.

“I mean… I want to say no, but you… stabbed at him. And it kind of looks like you deserved it…”

“Fair enough,” Tavish says.

“And it’s so impressive. Cassel… that’s like… wow.”

Cassel is so pleased. “Let me play it in slo-mo for you. Look at Tavish’s face as I fling him. Ha. I love it. I printed this picture off and hung it in my house so I can forever be pleased by Tavish’s look of horror. Gosh. So fun.”

“So fun,” Tavish grumbles sarcastically.

“You should have seen Leland try—” Henry starts as Leland lets out some kind of noise that quickly stops that conversation.

“Leland didnothing,” Leland hisses. “Now let’s go. We don’t want to leave Miller bored and waiting. You ready, Betty?”

“I just have to get my things.”

“I’d love to help you carry them,” Micah says with a wink.

She laughs. “I really don’t need help, but you’re such a sweetheart.”

“Are you sure?” he asks as he gives her a seductive look which leaves her laughing and smacking his arm. And then the two of them wander right off as I see Micah slip her phone out of her pocket and into his.

They’re all monsters.

Yet they’re the only hope I have left.

TWENTY-SIX

ELLIS

“How sweet of you guys to even drive me!” Betty says, like it’s not at all suspicious to get into the murder van. I think this woman believes she’s caught up in her own version ofMagic Mikeand not at all aware of the fact that literally every person in this vehicle is suspicious.

“Of course, of course!” Leland responds. “Jackson loves to drive.”

“These pictures of you guys hanging out with Miller are just the best. I really need to talk with him about refusing to show me pictures,” she says as she flips through Cassel’s photoshopped images. Half of them are pretty normal and casual, but there are a few in there—like Miller riding a mechanical bull and another of him smiling broadly while at Leland’s wedding—that make me wonder if this woman knows her sonat all.

We roll up to an actual restaurant, which confuses me until I realize that there’s no one inside.

“I’m rich, so I booked the entire restaurant. How fun, right?” Leland asks.

“So fun!” she says as she hurries over to a seat next to Micah, who has somehow caught her eye. He’s doing a phenomenaljob flirting with her, kind of making me feel bad for Eugene. I mean… the poor guy is off believing this is the woman of his dreams, and she’s already moved on to another man. Speaking of Eugene…

“Is Eugene alive?” I whisper to Tavish.

“Yeah, he’s fine… probably,” Tavish says, which really doesn’t reassure me at all.

We don’t even get seated before the door slams open and Miller steps in. He looks over at Micah flirting up a storm as his mother giggles and laughs and smacks Micah’s pecs—somehow his shirt has gotten more and more unbuttoned as the night has gone on.

Miller looks enraged, but the moment his mom looks over at him, he pops a smile on his face. “Mother!”

“Hey, my baby boy. Your friends are justdelightful. Why have you been hiding them from me?”

“Oh, because I noticed how close you got to the last one I let you meet,” he grumbles.

“Toe-suckingly close,” Tavish mutters under his breath.

“Miller, I wanted to show you something super awesome and secret in the back,” Leland says. “It’s so fun. And don’t worry, your mother won’t be bored or alone.”

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