Page 92 of For Wrath and Redemption
“No. Sav can’t really go anywhere public, so Levi stayed with her. Callie and Tor are doing their own thing. And Rocky and Becket are...”
Mable trails off and looks to the guys with her. They exchange a quick glance, then one of them grins at me.
“They’re making music. Obviously.”
The other one tries to cover up a cough with a laugh, and I narrow my eyes.
“Obviously.” I flick my attention between the two of them. “I apologize. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Claire.”
The taller one smiles wider and sticks out his hand. I take it, and he shakes wildly.
“I’m Ezra. This is?—”
“I’m Crue.” He bats Ezra’s hand away and replaces it with his. “I’m English, if you can’t tell.”
I laugh. “The accent gave it away.”
A heavy, tattooed arm is thrown over my shoulder and instinctively, I sink into his familiar body.
“Back off, wanker. Not every chick wants to fuck you just because you have an accent.” Jonah glances at Brynn. “Sorry, Boss.”
“It’s fine.” She shrugs. “It’s true anyway.”
Crue sticks his tongue out at Brynn playfully, making her laugh, then looks back at Jonah.
“You Americans sound like arseholes when you try to use British slang.”
“You sound like an arsehole all the time.”
“Okay, this is boring,” Ezra cuts in, giving Crue’s shoulder a shove. He turns an impish smile on me. “My bad, Claire Bear. He’s still a pup. Hasn’t been properly socialized yet.”
Crue barks out a laugh and lets Ezra push him away. I arch a brow and look at Mabel.
“Are they always like that?”
Mabel laughs. “Yes.”
“No,” Brynn chimes in. “They’re usually worse.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s true. Wait until you see all four of them together. I don’t know how Callie does it. If I didn’t have Sav, I’d have put Jo and Torren down years ago.”
Jonah scoffs, but it’s playful. “We’re not dogs, Mabel.”
I can tell from Mabel’s face that she’s a little shocked. I’m certain she doesn’t get playful Jonah very often, if ever. She smiles, then looks at him with faux innocence.
“Aren’t you?”
Jonah laughs, a deep, genuine sound, and I feel his body quake with it. It excites me. It makes me downright giddy, and when I look at Mabel, I can tell it excites her, too. Then he turns his attention to Brynn.
“What are you doing here, Boss? Don’t you hate reading?”
“Yeah, fiction.” She puts a sassy hand on her hip. “I hate reading fiction, but there are a lot of books here that aren’t fiction.”
“That there are.” I feel rather than see him nod since he still hasn’t taken his arm off my shoulder. “How much money did you swindle from everyone?”
“I did not swindle,” she says with a gasp. Jonah must give her a look that says he thinks she’s full of shit, because she rolls her eyes. “Okay, fine. I got twenty from Dad, twenty from Sav, ten from Red, and Ezra gave me five.”
“Nothing from Crue?” Mabel asks, and Brynn shakes her head.
