Page 48 of Deadly Avarice
Boone’s nose cutely wrinkled. “Drive-thru,” he answered. “I don’t want to have to sit in a restaurant. Honestly, I just want to get home.” With a heavy sigh, Boone shifted his head so he could look at me. “They’re keeping my car. Cardoza called it evidence.”
“Not surprising,” I answered while pulling out on the street, headed for the I-10 E exit.
“I have no idea when I’ll get it back or what condition it’s in.” Boone blew out an exasperated breath. “I need to call my insurance company.”
“You don’t sound too excited about that.”
“Is anyone ever excited? And if they are, then I think they’ve got more screws loose than me.”
I patted Boone’s leg. “Babe, your loose screws are damn attractive.”
Choking on a laugh, Boone’s eyes sparkled with happy tears when he looked at me. “Was that supposed to be romantic?”
“Eh…” I teetered my hand back and forth. “Not my finest moment, but in my defense, there wasn’t much to work with.”
Boone’s chuckles softened and he leaned his head back against his seat. “Man, today really turned into a clusterfuck.”
“Can’t disagree.”
“The only way it could have been worse was if Aurelia popped up.”
I could think of something a hell of a lot worse—Boone dying. That thought gutted me and nearly made me swerve. I didn’tknow what I’d do if I lost the man sitting beside me. Attempting to ignore the pain stabbing my heart, I said, “Do you think Aurelia doesn’t know when you’re in trouble? Or do you think she simply ignores it sometimes?”
Boone started to answer but closed his mouth, taking more time to consider his answer. “I think she doesn’t know. But not because she’s necessarily concerned. Aurelia’s bored. She would have considered this a break from the monotony. She’ll probably be sad she missed it, if only because it would have beeninteresting.”
I didn’t like how much I agreed with Boone. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think Aurelia feeling bored is a good omen.”
“Not gonna call you crazy for that. Maybe something else down the line, but not that,” Boone teased.
We discussed Aurelia for a little longer but quickly ran out of material. Honestly, neither one of us knew what to say when it came to the djinn and her latest pet.
Boone’s phone rang and I recognized Holland’s ringtone. “You better answer that,” I said. “I texted your father an update earlier, but he’ll want to hear from you directly.”
With a heavy sigh, Boone answered his phone. Attempting to give him some privacy, I tuned out their conversation and retreated to the heavy thoughts weighing down my brain. Who in the hell had attacked Boone? My soon-to-be fiancé was right. There were too many possible names on that list to find comfort.
Did it really have to do with the McMahon case? Or did it have something to do with Boone’s interest in finding his necromancer brethren? Given Huxley’s interest in Boone as acommodityand his concerns I wasn’t capable enough to protect him (a thought I was also currently wresting with), I found it difficult to believe Huxley was behind it. But what about the Warlock Council? They might have capitulated, but that didn’t mean they were happy about it.
I thought back to the nature of the attack. A vehicle and human-made gun were involved. On the surface, that wasn’t a warlock’s style. Then again, what better way to deviate attention elsewhere? It would be a clever move. No, the Warlock Council couldn’t be dismissed out of hand.
And then there were his other clients. Brendon Devonshire came to mind. He was just enough of a self-righteous prick to try something like this. I’d never had the displeasure of meeting the man, but Boone’s comments regarding him certainly hadn’t endeared his personality. Bringing back Devonshire’s stepbrother Cody Stevens hadn’t gone exactly as he’d planned. Brendon Devonshire had left Cody Stevens’s graveside penniless, humiliated, and chasing the girlfriend Stevens revealed he’d cheated on.
Humans had murdered for less.
And those were just the cases I knew of. Boone didn’t tell me the details of every one of them, and there were a litany of clients he’d done business with prior to our getting together. Fuck, the possibilities were endless.
“You look stressed,” Boone said, making me realize his conversation with Warlock Holland was finished.
I rubbed my hand over my face and eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” A couple of beers and claiming Boone’s welcoming ass would do wonders for my soul.
Boone’s hand landed on my thigh. It was his left one. Glancing down, seeing his naked ring finger, I made a mental priority to put a ring on that finger ASAP. I just had to find the right one. Tapping the steering wheel, my brain veered into potentially dangerous waters. Boone’s ring needed to be perfect, but perfect came in a lot of different iterations. Keeping Boone safe was top priority. It sounded silly, thinking a ring might be able to help with that, but that was if one didn’t consider who Boone’s father was.
Boone’s stomach grumbled and when I peeked his direction, his cheeks were tinged pink. “Sorry,” he foolishly apologized.
“I saw a sign for an exit with a lot of food choices. It should be coming up in less than a mile.”
“Sounds good. Gaia, I think at this point, I’d eat just about anything.”
That wasn’t true. While I wouldn’t call Boone picky, he didn’t have a stomach made of steel either. Maneuvering into the right-hand lane, I took the exit. Boone hummed as he stared at the signs, his face lighting up when he saw a Dairy Queen. “Ice cream,” Boone groaned. “Maybe we can eat in the car and then get some ice cream after.”
