Page 2 of Lust
Both Tony and Liza pointed at Wyatt. “Shaggy!”
Griffin frowned with his best death stare. “You shouldn’t draw so much attention. We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile.”
“The music is loud enough,” Tony said. “No one can hear us, anyway. And if they did, they’d just think we had excellent pop culture taste. Who doesn’t love Scooby-Doo? Besides, we’ve marked our escape routes. Relax, Velma.”
He tossed a soggy beer-coaster at Griffin.
Tony locked eyes with Liza and they burst out in hysterics. Velma. Perfect! She dashed tears of laughter away, realizing the sense of lust had dimmed enough that she felt more at ease.
“So, the others?” Liza asked.
“Evan’s closing up at Deadly Ink. Grace is in surgery. Parker is working. Max and Sloan are finishing their wedding preparations. They have a meeting with a priest,” Griffin replied.
Tony simpered. “I’m ready to party, but these turd-burgers won’t let me leave the booth.”
“The girls wanted a night out with Liza,” Griffin reminded them. “And since Wyatt doesn’t want Misha out without powered protection, we’re here keeping a respectful but close distance. That is all.”
Ouch. It was unlikely Liza would ever manifest her powers.
She let Griffin’s words simmer a little, but the more they stewed, the more bitter she became. Each of the Lazarus siblings was genetically modified to sense sin, but without a mate to balance them out, they were in danger of having too much, or too little, sin in their bodies. An imbalance caused blackouts and berserker sin-chasing rages. That’s why their special abilities didn’t manifest until they met a partner who embodied their sin’s opposing virtue. And that’s why Liza was royally screwed ten times until Sunday. She was yet to meet someone who embodied chastity at the same time as having a healthy sex life. It just wasn’t possible. Her balanced mate was probably a priest, or worse, someone who didn’t feel lust at all!
She’d given up on love a long time ago.
Still,powered protection? No need to rub it in. Liza was a detective and had seven years of training in the Art of War from masters around the world—including Akari, the deadliest female samurai alive.
Liza wasn’t the only strong woman at the table. Bailey worked at Nightingale Securities, the firm on retainer as bodyguards for the partners of the Lazarus brood. Not all three “powered protectors” needed to be there, but Liza did not understand what it felt like to be in love, let alone mated to someone who not only dimmed the sense of sin within but unleashed her full, dark, and dangerous potential. If she had a mate, she might be obsessively protective too, and after the Syndicate kept throwing things like plant monsters their way, who knew how she’d feel?
Thinking about the plant-monster brought Liza’s mind to her ex-partner, Joey Luciano. He’d been the lead FBI agent on the task force investigating the mutated monster’s aftermath. National law enforcement now knew that something wasn’t quite right in Cardinal City. Their leads had gone cold, but Liza knew Joey. He wasn’t one to give up so easily.
That’s why it cut deep when he’d left Cardinal City for no reason or explanation. Twice. The first time was years ago when they’d worked together as detectives. One minute, he’d worked alongside her at the CCPD. The next, he was recruited into the FBI and never looked back. But that was almost half a decade ago. He’d also left town suddenly two months ago after their investigation on the disturbance at the zoo closed. She pursed her lips. It was common for an FBI agent to shift around the country. She should stop stewing over it.
Wyatt said something.
“Sorry, what?” she asked, angling in to hear over another burst of laughter from revelers.
He jerked his head toward the girls. “I said, they just want you to get laid so they don’t feel so guilty. So—” He shooed her toward the girls’ booth. “If you could just hurry and pick up some poor fuck, then we can all go home.”
The air left Liza’s lungs, and a crushing weight replaced it. None of her family knew how pitiful her love life truly was. She kept plenty of things a secret from them. The truth was, that although her love life used to be the stuff of legend, the intensity of her sin-sensing had grown over the past few years. She used to ignore the sickness, but not anymore. Her skin crawled at the possibility of sex now. For the sake of her sanity, her dry spell had turned into the new normal.
But if they’d all been talking about her, they’d have gossiped about Parker too. No wonder he wasn’t there. As one of the only two unmated Lazarus siblings without powers, the prideful son-of-a-bitch would eat his own shit before admitting he was at a disadvantage.
That wasn’t what sent hot, prickly rage coursing through her veins.
They all pitied her.
She narrowed her eyes at Wyatt. She didn’t give a shit if her fist would break against his skin. “You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’, brother.”
Before he could engage, a feminine shout from across the room caught Liza’s attention. Misha’s blond ringlets bounced, and while the heavily pregnant woman couldn’t get out of her seat, she waved emphatically at Liza. Damn her and her perpetual Polish sunniness.
Liza shot her brothers a dirty look and ruffled Griffin’s perfectly styled hair before she swaggered to the girls’ booth.
Misha’s warm smile brought a blush to her freckled cheeks. Lilo sat next to her, and Bailey sat on the opposite bench alone. Eight shot glasses were lined up on the table. Only six looked like alcohol. The last two were probably Kool-Aid.
“What’s up, ladies?” Liza said casually, trying not to think about Wyatt’s comments, but she swore to God, if one of these women mentioned Liza’s recent love-life slump, she’d have to do something drastic to keep them off her case. The last thing she wanted was to be the sole focus of a pity parade.
“These all for me?” she joked, pointing at the drinks.
“Well, mostly,” Lilo laughed, then burped softly. “I’ve had a few already. And to be honest, I probably shouldn’t have any more.”
