Savage Love (Savage Trilogy #3) - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,19
also have donuts and coffee. I drag Candace to a seat next to the donuts, which places me across from Adam and Candace across from Smith. They have coffee. We’ll fight them for it if necessary. “Where the hell is that dipwad, Adrian?” I ask, opening the donut box.
Adam smirks. “He loves you, too, you know?”
“Of course, he does,” I say. “I’m just so damn lovable. A teddy bear with a gun. Everyone likes to play with a teddy bear with a gun.”
“And bad jokes,” Smith snipes.
I snort. “Says a guy who wouldn’t know a joke, if it came up, bent him over, and spanked his butt cheeks red.”
“He’s not a dipwad,” Candace says, claiming two coffee cups and setting one in front of me, while I claim an éclair and offer her one, which she happily accepts and sets on a plate. She loves the shit out of éclairs.
“Adrian or Smith?” I ask while she grabs my éclair that is now on the table and sets it on a plate.
“That’s wasted effort,” I say, picking up the éclair and taking a bite.
“Neither are dipwads,” she says. “What is your problem with Adrian, really?”
“Gut feeling,” I motion to my gut with my donut. “Just don’t like him.”
“The dipwad,” Asher says, from his spot at the end of the table, “is scouting Candace’s house. We heard the call between her and Gabriel.”
“I don’t like him sending her a doctor,” Smith adds, standing to reach directly across the table to hand me the thermal pot of coffee. I take it and fill both cups, before setting down the pot and handing Candace the creamer. “For all we know the doctor could—” he glances at Candace and then me. “I don’t like it.”
“Kill me?” Candace challenges. “I’m okay with you just saying what you have to say. So how do I get out of this?” She pours creamer into my cup, keep on keepin’ on, despite the new threat to her life.
“We make sure Gabriel’s ‘doctor’ never gets to you,” I say, taking another bite of my éclair.
“But how?” Candace asks. “He was adamant. I don’t even think it’s to catch me in a lie. He’s a germaphobe.”
“I could just kill him,” I say flippantly, between bites and with a scowl at her untouched éclair. “Eat, baby. You have to be starving.”
She picks up her éclair. “Perhaps just surgically remove his hand?”
“I do need to keep up my skills.” I grin.
She does, too, not the least bit rattled by this conversation. Fuck, I love her.
“I was tapped in for the call between Gabriel and the doctor,” Smith says, removing an earpiece. “That person, a Dr. Moore, is registered with the medical board and nearing retirement. He does house calls for five hundred dollars a visit.”
Adam eyes me and arches a brow. I eye Asher. “See if you can connect him to Pocher.” I glance at Candace. “I’ll be there in the closet, ready to operate, and not on you, baby, though we can play operation as soon as we get to New York.”
“You in the closet,” Smith jibes and then snorts.
“You being there would be good,” she agrees, ignoring him.
That easy confirmation proves one thing to me. She’s not showboating by going to that party. She really feels it’s necessary. Unfortunately, I don’t disagree. The only way to keep her away from Gabriel is to get rid of him. “Where are we on connecting Gabriel to my missions?” I ask.
“I called Blake,” Asher says. “I can’t get to anything that exposes him. We’re talking about hacking CIA-level data and Blake is our man.”
I wave my éclair in his direction. “I thought he was hunting a serial killer?”
“He’s making time for us anyway,” Asher confirms. “And in other developments, he was able to get a hold of Aaron. He’s meeting us in New York.”
At the mention of our new Walker recruit, I set down my donut. “Did you see me set my donut down?” I ask. “I don’t set my donut down, but I’m doing it now for a reason. I’ve lost my appetite. If Honest Gabe doesn’t justify my hate for the fucking CIA, I don’t know what does.”
“We’ve had this conversation,” Adam says. “He’s one of us now.”
“He is,” Smith agrees. “I hate that bastard, but that’s personal. I still let him watch my back.”
Adam shoots him a scathing look. “Smith got all bug-eyed over Aaron’s woman, but she was always Aaron’s.” He eyes Candace. “In case we haven’t shared this with