Page 102 of Carnage
Carnage nods, gesturing at Phantom and Ghost, who recently joined us. By the time they return from the pantry with dishes, all the guys are here, drawn to the kitchen by the delicious smells. My chest swells with pride as they all compliment my efforts. I hope it all tastes as good as it looks.
“We need hot sauce,” Ghost says, digging in the fridge and producing a bottle of red liquid.
The guys carry the platters to the dining table and we all sit down to indulge. I watch nervously as they all take their first bites before I can manage my own, and the lustful look on Carnage’s face as he chews his bite lets me know I nailed it.
“Okay, Rue.” Bellamy waves his fork at me. “I’m gonna need this recipe. Maw Maw would be proud. You a southern belle in disguise?”
I laugh. “Thank you. No. I’m as northern as they come but I love cooking.”
“Did you go to culinary school?” Colson asks, scooping up a forkful of eggs.
I shake my head. “Thought about it, but no. Life stuff got in the way. I’m self-taught.”
“Damn,” he says. “You’re talented.”
“I’ll happily step down as house cook if you want to take over.” Ghost winks at me.
I feel my cheeks burn with heat. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”
“Forever,” Carnage grunts. “As long as I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
I glance at him, but I have to force my gaze away before I jump him in front of everyone. It’s a nice thought, living here in this big house, cooking fantastic meals, sleeping next to this incredible man. Has my luck finally taken a positive turn? Could he really want me to stay for good?
“It’s very good,” Shadow says. “Thank you for this.”
“Yeah, this is sweet,” Pax says, shoveling another bite in his mouth while Wraith looks at him like he hung the moon.
“My pleasure. Really. I love it.”
Carnage leans over and kisses my temple. “You’re so talented. I can’t wait to see what else you do now that you have the opportunity.” He squeezes my hand. “You can be anything you want.”
I nod, smiling and blinking to hold back the emotion building. It’s so nice to hope that this can work out, that I can really make a life here with this man. He seems sincere, and I want to believe him so badly.
Instead of focusing on my insecurities, I enjoy my breakfast and think about the fact that in two days’ time hopefully Leon will be nothing more than a bad memory for me, and I can start over.
With Carnage.
CHAPTER 23
Carnage
“We’ve gota possible location on CJ,” Boone tells me while I hover behind him, watching him click away at his keyboard. “Phantom was in the Redlight neighborhood last night and saw a guy who looked like the pics I found online. He watched and tagged his car.”
“Why is CJ important?” I ask. “I only care about Leon.”
Boone grins at me like he knows a secret I don’t. “Remains to be seen, but from everything I’ve dug up about CJ I think he might be supplying more than just drugs, and he seems to be in regular contact with Leon.”
That gets my attention. “How do you know that?”
“Whisper hacked his cell phone after Rue confirmed the connection. He dials a particular number all the time that’s only recently popped up. We asked the guys to keep an eye out last night—that’s how Phantom got involved—and while no one actually saw Leon, there were discussions about him between CJ and other people. They’re working on something.”
“Ah. So if something goes wrong tonight and Leon isn’t there, we can confirm where CJ is and we’ll likely find Leon.”
“That’s the idea. Whisper also made a good point: If Leon is getting involved with this shamrock gang, CJ might be the link, and it could lead us to more traffickers.” He leans back in his chair. “Whisper already cleared it with Shadow that we can do what we need to if we stumble on a ring.”
“Good.”
“Ghost, Phantom, and Whisper can come with you tonight for backup.”
