Page 13 of Their Little Sugar Plum
He strides to the door and calls through, “Who is it?”
“My name’s Lyle. I work for Ironwood.”
The man’s voice is heavy, full of fatigue, but I can tell he means business.
Jonah glares at the door. “Sorry, not interested?—”
“No, wait.” Mason eases me off his lap and stands. “He said Ironwood—I work there.”
I frown as Mason goes to the door. If he wants to deal with them, that’s fine with me. But I’m confused—why would Ironwood employees be showing up at my apartment?
Mason steps outside to talk with them. I exchange a puzzled look with Jonah. He quickly removes my leash. If we’re going to interact with these guys, we don’t need to share our kink with them.
A minute later, Mason returns. He gestures for two guys to follow him inside. One has auburn hair, and the other’s hair is black. They wear black shirts and black pants. Neither are as tall as Mason, but they still fill the room, which feels tiny with all these men standing around.
They look exhausted, though. Their black clothes are rumpled, their eyes are tired. I can’t tell if the whiskers on their faces are the result of art or accident.
Mason clears his throat. “Jonah, Mikayla—this is Austin and Lyle.” He points to the black-haired man, then the auburn-haired one. “They’re in the Hunter division at Ironwood.”
This makes absolutely no sense to me. “But—why are you here? I don’t need bodyguards.”
“We’re bounty hunters,” the auburn-haired man, Lyle, says.
Jonah shakes his head and steps slightly in front of me, like he’s protecting me. “Again, this doesn’t make sense to us.”
The black-haired guy, Austin, directs his bright blue gaze to Jonah. Both of his hands are covered in tattoos. His jacket prevents me from seeing if the tattoos go all the way up his arms. “Are you Jonah Croft? We need to talk to you.”
“Uh, yeah.” Jonah’s voice is puzzled. “This is my girlfriend’s place, though—if you’re looking for me, why are you here?”
“We’re looking for your cousin, Ariel Capulet.” Austin gives us an apologetic smile. “We thought she might’ve come to you for help.”
Jonah stands taller. “If she did, I sure as fuck wouldn’t be handing her over to you.”
“You don’t get it.” Lyle shakes his head. The intensity in his golden-brown eyes finally convinces me that these guys are sincere. “We’re trying to help her, too. We’ve been trying to track her down. Finding you, Jonah, was our last lead.”
I speak up. “She isn’t here. I promise.”
They exchange a look with each other.
Austin mutters, “Fuck.”
Lyle nods. “I know. What now?”
They still look dead on their feet, like they can’t even think straight.
“It’s, um, it’s Christmas.” I wave toward the kitchen. “You look hungry. Do you guys want some dinner? We have leftovers.”
Lyle perks up.
Mason
Mikayla’s thoughtfulness is one of the things I love about her. I first noticed it in her friendship with Violet. Because of the way Violet views and interacts with the world, making friends was more challenging for her. But when I first met Mikayla last summer, I could see that she readily accepted Violet’s quirks.
She gets out leftovers for my very grateful coworkers. Austin and Lyle are good guys. I don’t interact with them often because they’re in the Hunter division of Ironwood, but I’ve seen them around. They’re always professional, respectful. They take their work seriously, which I appreciate.
They just as seriously attack the meals in front of them.
Mikayla watches them with a fascinated expression. “When’s the last time you guys ate something?”
