Page 17 of Retribution

Bobby looks bewildered, and he gives me a half smile. “You new?” he whispers.

“Ish.” I try to read his features. He’s either very skilled at keeping his emotions in check or he hasn’t done anything wrong. “I worked somewhere else first.”

“And you made it out.”

As the door pops open, I grab it. “Sometimes you get lucky.” And sometimes you get very unlucky. Bobby is the fall guy for the woman working beside him, but I’m not sure why. Danny isn’t clueless, and that woman is nervous, anxious even.

“Who was the woman you were working with?” We slip into the room behind Lorcan and Danny.

“Megan? Danny’s girlfriend.” Bobby shoves his hands in his pockets, his posture more curious than afraid. Oh, to be young and ignorant.

A smirk touches my lips. “Of course it is.”

“Do you think I’m getting promoted?” Bobby asks.

“Nope.” My voice is clipped. “I think you’re about to get screwed.”

The office is little more than a desk and a massive safe. A large spot on the floor is a rusty brown, darkening to black in some places. That doesn’t bode well for anyone dragged in here. Lorcan is perched on the edge of the desk, and Danny hovers by his shoulder. Bobby is frozen in the entryway.

Wandering to Lorcan’s side, I lean close enough to smell the mint and oak which mingles on his skin. “Can I have a bit of leeway here?”

Lorcan’s intense hazel eyes connect with mine, anger in their depths. “Don’t go soft on me.”

“You’ll thank me.” I give him a small smile.

One side of his lips quirks up, and he gestures for me to take the lead.

“Danny, can you get Megan in here?” My gaze bores into him, wondering if he’ll spill the truth.

Danny’s face loses color. “Megan?”

“Yeah, you know, your girlfriend.”

“She doesn’t have nothing to do with this.”

Cocking my head, I say, “I like to have another woman in the room. What can I say?”

Lorcan raises his eyebrows and gives me an annoyed look, but he doesn’t say a word.

Taking a deep breath, Danny shuffles to the door and opens it enough to stick his head out. “Meg, can you come here for a sec?”

When she appears, I realize my mistake. Behind the table counting money, it hadn’t been obvious, but now it is. She’s pregnant. Beside me, Lorcan recrosses his arms and settles more onto the corner of the desk.

I offer her a smile. “Congratulations on the baby.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, glancing at Danny, head down.

“When are you due?”

“Two months.”

“It must be hard to afford the things babies need—cribs, car seats, clothes, diapers.” I keep my tone gentle, understanding, as though what they’ve done is rational and not suicide.

Meg’s focus flies to me before shifting away again. “We’re getting by.”

“Not without help.”

Lorcan grunts beside me and runs a hand down his face. “Are you kidding me right now?”