Page 30 of Stealthy Seduction
As she worked, she demoted Sinner from pizza maker to assistant to the pizza maker. Soon, he was passing her bags of cheese and bowls of toppings.
Steele kicked back in his seat to admire her.
But seeing her talking to another man—even if that man was Sinner, who had about as much romantic inclination as a block of concrete—and Steele’s amusement curdled into something hot and uncomfortable in his chest.
“Are you hearing this?” Mason appeared at his elbow, nodding to the ongoing pizza debate between the pair.
“Yeah.” Steele didn’t take his eyes off Izzy.
“She’s got balls, I’ll give her that. Nobody questions Sinner’s pizza authority.”
Con materialized on Steele’s other side, his presence commanding even in the relaxed atmosphere of the patio. “I see why you wanted her to stay here.”
“So she’s protected,” Steele said automatically, though his attention remained fixed on Izzy as she gestured emphatically at whatever monstrosity Sinner had in the oven.
“Mm.” Con’s tone was neutral, but Steele caught the undercurrent and knew he was being assessed, analyzed and his motives appraised. “You’re too close to this.” Con’s voice was matter-of-fact but didn’t carry the bite of authority.
“I’m not too close,” Steele protested, even as part of him recognized the truth in Con’s words.
“Then go inside.”
The order was delivered casually, almost conversationally, but Steele felt the strength behind it.
He glanced back at Izzy, who was now apparently giving Sinner a lecture on proper sauce-to-cheese ratios…and hesitated.
Should he leave her out here with Sinner? The big man was harmless enough, but—
Con read his reluctance. “That’s an order.”
“What for?” Frustration bled into his voice.
Con’s lips twitched in what might have been amusement. “Someone has to stock the drinks if we’re having pizza.”
Steele stared at him. He recognized the manufactured excuse for what it was. Con was testing him, seeing whether he could follow orders when they involved walking away from Izzy.
Steele never bucked an order. He executed every single one he’d ever been given.
But if Con couldn’t trust Steele to maintain professional distance, he couldn’t trust him with anything related to her protection.
That didn’t make it any easier to swallow.
“What does Sinner even do?” Steele asked, grasping for reasons to delay his departure. “I mean, really do. On the team.”
Con followed his gaze to where Sinner was now allowing Izzy to rearrange toppings on his pizza, the big man’s expression suggesting he was either deeply offended or grudgingly impressed by her audacity.
“He makes the pizzas,” Con replied with perfect seriousness.
Steele gave him a flat look.
“And occasionally he kills people,” Con added as an afterthought. “But mostly, he makes the pizzas.”
With a reluctant grunt, Steele headed inside, the warm glow of the patio lights fading behind him. Even as he walked away, he could hear Izzy’s voice carried on the evening air, animated and alive in a way that made his chest tight with things he didn’t want to name.
He was definitely too close to this.
And he was beginning to think that might not be entirely a bad thing.
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