Page 9 of Ignite: Tony's Story
“I don’t exactly know yet. There was some sort of accident, a woman was hurt, possibly running from some kind of abuse. She can’t remember anything, not even who she is. Bennet and these four other guys, all of whom he had me do background checks on, are trying to help her. He asked me if I knew anyone that could get him documents quickly just in case they needed them, said he has a bad feeling about it. They might not even use them, but keeping this girl safe is his top priority until they can figure things out.”
My gaze cuts to Quinn and I catch a little spark of admiration. This is right up his alley. “We’ll help you help Bennet,” I say, and Quinn nods.
Tony looks at both of us before clearing his throat. “Okay, yeah. I’m in.”
“Sweet!” Quinn jumps up. “I think this calls for a little celebration.”
He grabs a bottle off the top of the refrigerator, along with a few shot glasses. He sets the glasses on the table and fills them up, replacing the round cork top in the bottle.
Not noticing, or simply not caring, that neither Tony nor I have stepped up to accept a glass, he raises his shot in the air and looks at us expectantly. “Let’s loosen up. To trust?”
I see where he’s going with this, and drinking is certainly a good way to “loosen up” and get to know each other, but I’m not sure I trust myself around these two. Tony may or may not be interested in the slightest, but damn if I don’t want to make a Mara sandwich in this kitchen.
My skin flushes at the thought and I grab my shot just to cover it, as if anyone in the room could read my thoughts.
“To trust,” I repeat.
Tony lifts his shot as well. “To trust,” he murmurs.
Each of us throws back the shot. The burn runs down my throat and into my stomach, heating me from the inside out.
“Hey Mouse,” Quinn blurts with a challenging grin, filling my glass again. “Truth or dare?”
“Nope. No. Nuh-uh. Bad idea.”
“Oh, come on, what better way to get to know each other than a little team building game?”
Cutting my eyes to Tony, I raise an eyebrow, questioning whether he’s down for this. He seems pretty uptight, so I’m surprised when he shrugs and pulls out a chair. “Sure, why not? I’m off tomorrow.”
I’m not, but Mr. Adley isn’t likely to be back in the office. As long as I answer the phone when he calls and I have my laptop and schedule nearby, I don’t have to be in the office. If Mr. Uptight is in…
“Alright, fine. But we’re going to need snacks.”
Quinn pumps a fist and grabs some veggies, hummus, and pita crackers from the kitchen.
“There you go, Bunny,” he says as he pours our next shots.
“Really?” Tony deadpans, unamused as ever.
“Dude, you eat like a rabbit.”
I nearly choke on an olive. “Ohmygod. Bugs Bunny!”
Tony doesn’t look as amused, but Quinn and I are cracking up. I’m laughing so hard tears spring to my eyes.
With his eyes rolled to the ceiling, as if searching for divine help to put up with us, Tony digs into the snacks with the rest of us.
“So, which was it going to be?” he asks.
“Do what?”
“Quinn asked you truth or dare, so are you going to start us off on this little team-building party?”
“Alright. Dare,” I say, feigning nonchalance.
“Ooh, bold little Mouse chooses dare first.”
I probably come off braver than I actually am, but I figure dares are going to be tamer before everyone’s had a few drinks. Hopefully, because I don’t want to drink too much around these two. Even sober, it’s tempting to give in to my inhibitions. I’ve been sitting between these two very overwhelming presences all day, and the pull is something else.
