Page 47 of The Ties That Bind
When she failed to get a reaction from him, Lea followed it up by playing imaginary drums and saying, “Ba dum tss…” to emphasize it was a joke.
Sir raised an eyebrow and then glanced at Hope. “My daughter is not impressed. But, it was a valiant effort, Ms. Taylor.”
Lea turned to Brie, who was struggling hard not to laugh. The fact that Lea had the nerve to hit Sir up with such a bad joke was courageous—and extremely foolhardy.
“He’s going to be a tough nut to crack,” Lea confessed when they were out of his earshot.
Brie couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing, “I can’t believe you just did that, Lea.”
“I told you I would.”
“Well…I expected that you had a better joke for Sir.”
“The joke isn’t the problem, Stinky Cheese.” She put her arm around Brie’s shoulder. “I hate to tell you this, but Sir Davis has an underdeveloped sense of humor.”
Brie’s eyes widened. She was amused that Lea was placing the blame on Sir. “You really think he’s the problem?”
Lea hugged her compassionately. “Don’t feel bad. Your Master is exceptional in a lot of other areas.”
She couldn’t tell if Lea was pulling her leg or being serious.
“Oh!” Brie suddenly gasped, pressing her hand against her stomach.
Lea frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. The baby’s just being super active right now.”
Lea bit her lip for a moment before asking, “Mind if I feel it?”
Brie was surprised by the request. “You sure you want to? I remember how creeped out you were the last time.”
Lea shrugged before tentatively placing her hand on Brie’s belly.
Brie guided her hand to the area where the baby was moving. The moment Lea felt a kick, she immediately pulled her hand back. “Wow! That was a really strong kick. Does it hurt?”
“No. However, it does get uncomfortable at times.”
Lea placed her hand back on Brie’s stomach and stood there with a wistful look on her face while she felt the baby’s movements. When she caught Brie staring at her, she removed her hand and laughed self-consciously. “You’ve got a feisty little alien there.”
Brie only nodded.
She was certain Lea had been daydreaming about what a little version of Hunter might look like. She remembered when she used to do that with Sir back in her training days, and it made her smile.
The Red Box
The Reynolds insisted on taking Hope overnight. They wanted to give the two children quality “cousin time” together. Knowing how important it was, Brie eagerly agreed. Besides, it would give her an entire evening to delve into her work.
Lately, she had been trying to solve a mystery concerning Alonzo. She had come across a reference about a private concert for an important client in Mancini’s black book. But she hadn’t found any record of who it was for or where this private performance took place.
Brie felt certain if she had access to the letters, she would find the information she was looking for. As it was, she had to rely solely on her ability to google it, and she hadn’t been successful in finding anything yet.
Armed with a variety of new keywords, she settled in for a long session of sleuthing.
Sir called up from downstairs, “Durov is on the phone.”
Brie jumped up from her desk and hurried downstairs to join him, hoping Rytsar had some good news. It wasn’t until she made it to the bottom of the stairs that she noticed the mischievous glint in Sir’s eyes.
“We’ll be taking the call in the bedroom.”
