25. LYRA
LYRA
T he sun shines through the bedroom window, and I have to squint against the brightness as the mattress beneath me gently shakes.
“Mmmmm. What the fuck?” I murmur to myself, dragging my hand down my face.
When I sit up on my elbows, I find Smooch lying horizontally across Maddox’s pillow, staring directly into my soul.
His tongue lolls out, and as he breathes right in my face, I realize he’s the one gently shaking the bed with nothing more than the pure weight of his body as he sucks oxygen into his lungs.
“Good morning my little Smoochy-pie,” I say, adopting my best baby voice, but I quickly realize my mistake. Smooch gets so excited that he jumps to his feet and immediately crowds me, having absolutely no concept of personal space.
“Smoooooch!” I groan, trying to shove him away, but it’s no use.
I’ve woken up in this bed enough times to know there’s nothing I can do about it.
I have to let it run its course. Maddox usually rushes in to save me from the onslaught of his dog’s foul morning breath, but this morning, it appears I’m all alone.
When Smooch has finally decided that I’ve been thoroughly welcomed to a new day, I trudge out of bed and help myself to a warm shower and get ready for my day.
I’ve got a meeting with my old landlord and his lawyer this afternoon before I’m due to start my shift at Black Velvet, so something tells me today isn’t going to be my day.
I think it’s fair to say that after a proper investigation, my dark room has been discovered.
And while I know Maddox offered to cover all the expenses involved with this, I don’t think it’s fair to expect that of him.
I was the one who illegally created a space in my home I wasn’t entitled to, and I was the one who housed a shitload of flammable chemicals that generally shouldn’t mix.
An explosion was imminent. It was only a matter of time.
And unlucky for me, it only took one single overly-curious sex-beast to unravel it all.
Not gonna lie, I’ve been enjoying living here though.
It’s definitely an adjustment going from having nothing but peace and quiet, while surrounded by all my beautiful things with pretty bedsheets and quilts, to living with two moronic asshats, an oversized dog, and mismatched pillow cases, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Not to mention, the constant mind-blowing sex definitely has its bonuses.
After making myself a coffee, I go in search of the boys, starting with the home gym before checking out back, but I’m well and truly alone, and I pause, my brain frantically searching for any sign that they could be out on a job that I’ve missed, but I come up blank.
My heart races.
They can’t beat me to a hit, especially not after spending the night bragging about how much better I am.
They naturally didn’t believe me, but with egos that big, I didn’t expect them to.
Doesn’t make it any less true though. I am better.
Faster. Stealthier. Quicker on a trigger.
And that’s not my ego talking. I’m just that good.
But I won’t lie, Maddox and Hunter are incredible.
Seeing them in action at the DeLuca compound last week was an eye-opener . . . and a turn on.
Spinning on my heel, I stalk back to the bedroom, my pulse quickening with nerves. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I chant. How could I be so stupid? I let my guard down, they caught me in the act, and now they’re slipping out in the night to take a hit.
This is going to come back to bite me. I can only imagine the bragging that’s going to rain down over me.
Scooping up my phone, I open a new message and madly start typing before hitting send.
Lyra: Where are you idiots?
Maddox’s response comes through first.
Lemony Snicket: Well good morning my feisty little redhead. How’d you sleep?
Lyra: Don’t hit me with that shit. Where did you sneak out to?
Hunter’s message is next.
Hannah Montana: What’s the matter? Worried we’re out proving that we’re better than you? I’m concerned, my sweet little sociopath. If you were as good as you say you are, there’s no way we would have been able to slip past you so easily.
Lyra: The only thing that can slip past me first thing in the morning is an accidental fart. What’s the job?
Lemony Snicket: Relax, Savage. There is no job. We’re out for a run.
Lyra: I can smell the bullshit from a mile away!
A notification in the group chat flashes on the screen. Lemony Snicket changed Lyra’s nickname to Vanilla Ice.
Vanilla Ice: WTF! Vanilla Ice?
Lemony Snicket: Self-explanatory.
Vanilla Ice: No. Think of something different.
Lemony Snicket: Once the name is created, it sticks. Isn’t that your rule?
Hannah Montana: I like it. It’s a constant reminder that this little vanilla perfume wearing she-devil got caught in a trap, and what’s better than a constant reminder that Lyra Vale was fooled by the great Hunter Cole?
Vanilla Ice: Literally everything.
Lemony Snicket: We’ll be home in ten.
Vanilla Ice: I’m testing you for gunshot residue when you get home.
I huff and puff as I storm through the house, stomping around like an idiot. There’s no question that I’m better than Hunter and Maddox, but it looks as though I severely underestimated just how sly they could be. I should have seen it coming.
When their ten minutes are up, I stand by the door with my hands braced on my hips, waiting for them to come in, already rehearsing the verbal smackdown they’re going to get.
I hear them coming down the path a moment later, chatting between themselves as they reach the porch. The door opens, and I inch forward, ready to explode, when the words get caught in my throat.
They’re both shirtless, a light sheen of sweat coating their strong bodies. Their cheeks are a little red, and goddamn, those loose basketball shorts that hang dangerously low on their hips are nothing short of a gift from the heavens above.
These assholes really were just out for a run.
They hover in the open door, both looking at me with matching smug grins, knowing exactly what was about to go down. Maddox steps past me, pausing to drop a kiss on my cheek. “Fuck, you’re sexy when you’re mad.”
I roll my eyes and glare at Hunter as he closes the door, not daring to take his eyes off me. “That was a good one. Took the bastard out with his own gun.”
He strides past me, not missing a beat, and I whip around as a gasp tears from the back of my throat.
“Wait. What?” Hunter just laughs as he keeps walking away, knowing he’s just sent my world into complete chaos, because now I don’t know if they’re hot and sweaty from actually being on a run, or if this was all part of their cover story.
Who knows, maybe they’ve been secretly hooking up and that’s what’s got their cheeks flushed.
The image lands in my brain, and my brow arches. Now that is an image that will be safely filed away for those times that call for desperate measures.
Twenty minutes later, I’m sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter, leaning back against my palms as Maddox lies sprawled on the couch, lost in thought.
Hunter sits on the armchair, his feet kicked up on the coffee table, half watching the game while keeping the other half of his attention locked on the blade in his hand.
He’s been sharpening the thing for the past ten minutes, and his technique is putting me on edge.
Even while sharpening, he handles it with the kind of skill that doesn’t come around often.
Hell, he might even be better than me. With the blade, that is.
Every other insane facet of this crazy career, I’ve got in the bag.
My gaze rests on Maddox, and as he senses my stare, he glances up, his chin lifting with a slight nod as he takes me in. “Good, Savage?”
“Whatcha thinking about?”
His brow arches, and when a smirk pulls at the corner of his lips, I immediately regret asking. “Honestly, I was just debating whether you could get off if your clit was out of action.”
Hunter laughs to himself as I stare down Maddox, concerned about why my clit would suddenly be out of action. “Are you planning on doing something to my clit that I should know about?”
Maddox laughs. “Nothing that you wouldn’t approve of,” he murmurs. “But consider my interest officially piqued. Say your clit just . . . fell off. Is that it for you?”
“Oh yeah,” I say with a scoff. “If my clit just magically fell off, my days of coming are long gone.”
Hunter looks up from the blade, his gaze narrowed on me. “Bullshit.”
“I don’t think you understand just how heavily I rely on it to come. It’s like a little magic button that just makes everything better. Bad day? No fear, my clit is here.”
Maddox sits up on the couch, watching me intently. “You ever put that theory to the test?”
My brows furrow, and I shake my head. “Ummm . . . no. I don’t need to. I just know.”
Suddenly Maddox is standing, inching toward me. “What I’m hearing is that this is uncharted waters. Or should I say, untapped treasure.”
I roll my eyes, watching him slowly get closer. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not going to work.”
He lights up as though that was all the approval he needs and suddenly he’s standing right in front of me, those big hands on my thighs as he stares so deeply into my eyes I can all but feel him in my soul. “What I’m thinking is that you just threw down one hell of a challenge.”
That gets Hunter’s attention, and within seconds, he’s on his feet, creeping toward me like a lion going in for the kill, jumping straight on board with Maddox’s one-track mind.
“I didn’t throw down a damn thing,” I tell them, trying to keep one eye on Maddox while still watching the wild predator striding toward me.
Hunter walks into the kitchen, moving around the back of the island counter, standing directly at my back. Maddox lifts his gaze from mine, meeting Hunter’s stare over my shoulder.