Page 22 of Malice
The dinner bell rang outside, letting him know the guys would be here before too much longer.
“I’ve seen a little bit, but not much. Not yet.”
“I’ve been giving her some time to settle in. It’s been a lot recently and I didn’t want to overwhelm her,” Malice spoke up.
“Yet you brought her to dinner with the whole crowd. Brave of you,” Kerry put in.
“I don’t have any food at the cabin yet, I didn’t have much choice.” He shrugged.
“Plus, Lurch told him to bring me.” Her voice was small beside him. Malice wondered if she was already overwhelmed. He covered her hand with one of his, letting her know she wasn’t alone and reminding her that if it got to be too much, they could leave. Though he wasn’t sure what kind of excuse he would make when they hadn’t even started eating yet. But if she needed to go, he’d think of something.
“I just thought it would be the easiest way for you to meet everyone. It didn’t occur to me that we could be a little much en mass,” Lurch spoke up.
“I don’t really mind,” Bonnie said with a shrug. “I come from a big family, I’m kind of used to chaos at mealtimes, though it’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together.”
“Oh?” London came to the table and sat across from them. “How big?”
“I’m one of six. And there was almost never just the family around. Someone always had a friend, if not more. It wasn’t uncommon to have twelve or thirteen people at dinner most nights. Though who the extras were varied depending on what was going on, who had some project due and who they were working on it with.”
“Wow. Five siblings. I don’t envy your mother there. Though with this crowd I sometimes feel like I’ve got that many, at least,” Kerry said.
Tuck stepped into the room from somewhere deeper in the house. His gaze scanned the room, taking in who was there and who wasn’t yet. Then he pulled out the chair at the end of the table and sat.
“This is Tuck,” Malice said to Bonnie. “He owns the place and is married to London.” He nodded to the woman across the table.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Bonnie said.
“Nice to meet you too, but the name’s Tuck, not sir. I heard what’s going on. Are you okay?”
“I’m good, thank you. Corey has been great. I never expected a stranger to step in, but I can’t help but be glad he did.” She rubbed her thumb over his fingertips where his hand was still wrapped around hers. “I don’t want to go into all the details, this isn’t the time or place. But he’s done everything I think he can to make sure I’m safe and I know it.”
“That’s good.”
Malice felt the weight of everyone’s gaze on him. He was glad the whole crew wasn’t there yet. The last thing he wanted was all of them staring at him.
The back door opened, Jake, Watt, and the two new guys Talon and Steele came in. They were laughing and chatting amongst themselves as they made their way to the table and sat. Malice leaned close to Bonnie and gave her each of their names, pointing each out as he did.
“Talon? Is that a nick name like your Malice or what?”
“No, ma’am. Talon’s really my name,” the man in question answered.
Bonnie’s eyes went wide. “Sorry, I didn’t think I was being loud, and I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t been asked at least a hundred times before. I’m not sure what Ma was thinking, but I’m stuck with it, and I’m used to it by now.”
He gave her a crooked grin that made Malice want to knock a couple teeth in, but when Steele started talking to him, he turned and seemingly forgot the woman he’d been flirting with just moments before.
The newcomers joined them at the table. As the last one, Steele, was seating himself, the back door opened again, admitting one more man.
“Sorry I’m late. I was working on something and barely registered the dinner bell.” He bypassed the empty seat and came to stand behind Malice. Before Malice had a chance to twist around and see what he was up to, a phone appeared in front of Bonnie. “I think this is yours?”
“Yes, thank you. Were you the one making sure I can’t be tracked out here?” She took the device and slid it into her jeans pocket without turning it on or checking anything on it.
“I am. And you weren’t wrong to be suspicious. I found some tracking software, not just tracking your location but everything you did on your phone. Every call, text, photo, and website you visited was being reported to whoever was on the other end of it.” Jake made his way to the empty spot at the table and sat.
Malice looked at Bonnie and found she’d gone pale. Now wasn’t the time to question her about it, instead he did what he could to comfort her. He covered her hand again and squeezed, letting her know he was there for her. She gave him a wan smile, leaned forward so she could look at Jake.
“Thank you for looking at it for me. You did remove the programs, right?”