Page 73 of Devil May Lie

“Who were you on the phone with just now?” Madden opened the cupboard next to the sink and took down a single navy bowl.

Since when had he memorized the layout of Berga’s kitchen?

“Flix.”

“He’s back?”

“Yes.”

Madden hummed and spooned out some of the porridge he’d been heating in a pot on the stove. “Is he all right?”

“He says he is.”

“You believe him?”

“Since when did you care so much about the Runner of the Brumal?”

“I don’t.” He set the bowl in front of Berga, popping open the top drawer attached to the counter the breakfast bar was connected to, and pulled out a spoon. “I’m merely gathering all of the details so I know if it’ll be necessary to tie you down.”

Berga frowned. “Excuse me?”

“You might feel okay, but you were sick for a while. You need to stay here and rest. Flix is a big boy. Whatever he’s gotten himself into, he can handle it without your help.”

“Oh? Like how you handled those guys the other night,” Berga drawled, though he took the offered spoon, “without my help?”

“Sarcasm is unexpected, yet always cute from you,” Madden smirked. “But I had it under control. You should have stayed upstairs.”

“Why did you leave Bay and Guest there?” Berga stirred the porridge a bit and then took a bite. The warmth and somewhat saltness on his tongue almost had him moaning. He hadn’t realized how weak he still felt. How cold internally. “You could have used Guest at the very least.”

His memories of that event were fuzzy, but Berga was fairly certain Madden had been outnumbered.

“You were unconscious,” Madden reminded. “I needed to make sure you were protected.”

“And you?”

“I told you. I had it—”

“Okay.” He wasn’t entirely sure how Madden had planned on taking care of things, but he wasn’t Kelevra’s righthand for nothing. There was a good chance he really would have come up with a solution all on his own. “This is good. Where did you order it from?”

“Concealed.”

“Pavel Hart’s restaurant?” Technically, it was a restaurant and a kink club. Berga had never been personally, but from what he understood of the place, they only offered high-end dishes. “This doesn’t seem like something they’d have on the menu.”

“They don’t,” Madden said. “I called in a favor. You may not know this, but I’m friends with the owner.”

“Funny.”

Pavel was another member of the Retinue, so of course the two of them were close.

How close?

“What did you tell him when you put in your odd request?” Berga asked, pretending to focus on eating.

Madden saw through him though. “Why? Worried what I could have done for him to have earned a favor?”

“No.” Maybe.

“I told him my boyfriend was ill and needed something healthy,” Madden stated. “He knows I’m a shit cook so—”