Page 16 of Oath
They were the Amorettes of their time.
Most associates were expected to put in eighty hours a week, they had to also deliver on minimum billable hours and most of that was doing grunt work for the other senior attorneys in the firm. The pro bono was a carrot to keep them sweating up the hill and so the firm could bank their sweat equity in both directions.
But when it came time for promotion? They weren’t the ones invited to buy in and eventually, they figured it out. They were phased out or driven out so the next crop of idealists could be put through the grindstone.
A knock on the desk next to me jerked me out of my reverie where I was doom scrolling through the subreddit. My heart hammered against my ribs, the shock more than a little jarring. Bones stared down at me, his expression unreadable and his eyes almost glacial.
Nobody deserved to be that damn good looking. None of them. But Bones? He needed to get laid but since the only time he touched me was to get me off—and who thought I’deverthink that was a bad thing—but heneverlet me touch him. At this point, I’d stopped offering.
You could love someone and not like them. Most of the time, we got along. But lately? I swore, being around him was like wearing the itchiest, cheapest polyester. “Yes?”
“We’ve got a date. Let’s go.”
I blinked slowly and then leaned back in the chair. I scrolled through my mental calendar, it being so full and all that, but I didn’t recall even the suggestion of a date. After leaving BraxtonHarbor, we’d ended up at somenewsafe house, this one in New Mexico not far from the Colorado border. I almost asked them if there was a bingo card for their various domiciles. Almost.
Ultimately, I’d decided against it. They were all tired, bruised, and more than a little battered. They’d been running on vapors, and I wanted them toresteven more than I wanted back on my own search.
“I’m going to go with my first thought,” I said after a beat. “What date?”
Instead of answering, he nudged the rolling chair back and closed the laptop that Voodoo had sourced for me and AB set up.
“Let’s go, Dollface.”
“Go where?”
Rather than answering me, he just held out a hand. The silent demand oflet’s gojust rolled off of him.
Blowing out a breath, I clasped his hand and let him pull me out of the chair. I was in a pair of marble colored yoga capris and a black Y-back sports bra. “I’m not dressed to go anywhere.”
He swept a cool look over me. “What you’re wearing is fine.” A beat. “You need shoes though. Put them on.”
Just… shoes.
Helpful.
“Okay, gimme a minute.” I sent him a bright smile. It was one I’d worked on for the camera. The one that would light up my eyes whether I was feeling it or not. When his eyes narrowed in suspicion, a little burst of joy filled me but I made a beeline for the bedroom they’d given me in our new place.
The square—well rectangle really—sprawl of the adobe structure surrounded a center lap pool, that in itself, surrounded a meditation garden with a koi pond. It was kind of tranquil. The spill of the water into the lap pool circulated it and added a soothing rhythm. The koi were lovely and I could tan if I wantedto, but I made sure to use plenty of sunscreen the two times I’d been out there.
It was better at night. The house was far enough out that we had a decent night sky, but nothing like the view from “Base.” A wistful sigh escaped me as I found the shoes I wanted in the closet. I slid into the four-inch heels. We hadn’t actually made it back to their Montana after returning to the States.
More and more it looked like we wouldn’t and—I was in this odd place of wanting to both go there and find Amorette simultaneously. Shaking off those competing sensations, I headed back out to where Bones waited for me at the end of the hall.
He dragged his gaze over me as I sauntered toward him. Despite his earlier wariness, his expression barely shifted. Oh well, I still had fun wearing the shoes. “Ready to go.”
“Follow me.” He was already striding away. Though for a split second, I thought I caught a hint of his lips curving. Probably just the light. Instead of the front door or even the garage, he headed toward the opposite wing where another structure jutted off from the main house.
I hadn’t been out there, no reason to and as far as I knew, they weren’t using it. When he opened the door to a full-on gym right down the free weights, weight machines, and mats, I raised my brows.
Lips pursed, I shook my head. “Well played, Boney Boy. Well played.”
With a light snort, he curled his fingers in a beckoning gesture. “The heels are a good choice. You often wear them, so learning to do this while in heels will be effective.”
Caution flooded me and I slowed my pace. “Learning to do what?”
He was at the side of the room and he stripped off his shirt—which in and of itself seemed a party foul. The man wasexceptionally ripped and he had an inordinate number of scars. They all did, but I never got a chance to really map his. Even if he slept without a shirt on, healwayswoke up before I did.
“To fight,” he said over his shoulder.
