Page 71 of Ruby Mercy

“What do you think, Avel?” I ask, glancing at Rayne. She stares through me like I’m a wall. “Is liking someone a good enough reason for me to ignore your last comment?”

“I didn’t mean it like—I just meant—” He huffs. “Yes. It’s a good enough reason.”

I suppose that’s a good enough answer.

After the way Rayne left yesterday without a word to Sonya or anyone else, I didn’t expect to see her this morning. I figured I’d have to track her down at her house or whatever new job she scraped together.

Then she walked through the door, her chin held high and her shoulders back.

There’s a reason this woman has occupied so much of my brain space since we met: she’s full of surprises.

“Thank you for lunch, Rayne,” I intone.

Her lips purse when she meets my eyes, stone-faced. Then she turns to German and Avel with a bright smile. “You’re welcome. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Coffee, please.”

Her jaw ticks at the sound of my voice. It’s clearly taking every bit of energy she has to stand in this room with me and be coolly civil.

“Do you both want coffee, as well?” she asks my men, refusing to turn in my direction.

German glances at me. The bastard is fighting back a gleeful smirk as he nods. “I’d love some.”

“Nothing for me, thanks,” Avel says. He knows he is still in hot water, so he doesn’t even look at Rayne.

When Rayne leaves the room, German shivers. “It’s downright frigid in here. What the hell happened between you two?”

“Nothing I can’t fix.”

“She won’t even look at you. Did you see the way she was death-gripping the water pitcher? I thought she would snap the handle right off.”

Truth be told, seeing her break something would have been a good sign. This restrained ambivalence is much more troubling.

He shakes his head and mumbles something about ourfucked-up dynamic, but I ignore him in favor of watching the door again. I wait for Rayne’s shadow to spill into the door frame before I start to speak.

“We should hire dancers for the party,” I say loudly.

Rayne falters slightly as she moves through the doorway. I know she heard me. I can tell because her face flushes pink.

Avel frowns. “Dancers? Wait… what party are you—”

“How will your woman feel about that?” German asks.

He’s my second-in-command for a reason. German knows when to play along.

“She has no say.”

Rayne sets Avel’s coffee mug in front of him with white knuckles. “Cream or sugar?”

Avel blinks at her and then at me. He’s utterly lost, but he shakes his head and takes a long slurp of his steaming cup.

German reaches for the other mug on Rayne’s tray, but continues talking to me. “Why aren’t you two talking?”

“Cream or sugar?” Rayne asks, her teeth clenched. The tendons in her neck are strained and protruding. The poor woman is going to have a heart attack.

German points to the cream dish on her serving tray without a word.

“Well, she’s pissed because she found out I had a meaningless fling,” I explain. “We didn’t even fuck, so it’s not like she has anything to be mad about. She’s just mad I didn’t tell her about the other woman.”

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