in the grass. We were both belly-down, my stiletto heels in the air as Steele talked me through the intricacies of sniper rifles and ranged shots, and his passion for the topic carried through in his every word.
Kody snorted a laugh and placed his tray of takeaway coffees down on the grass before stretching out on my other side. "Tell me this sexy-secretary-with-a-sniper-rifle look was deliberately planned to piss Archer off, because it's freaking gold," he commented with a broad grin.
"It wasn't, but I'll take the win if it's working," I replied, letting Steele take the rifle back out of my hands. He hadn't let me shoot it, yet; I had just been learning how to use the scope.
Kody nodded. "Oh yeah, it's working. He's inside pretending not to watch from the window and generally being a sore loser. Did you seriously meet with Demi today, MK?"
Steele was packing up his guns, so I assumed we were done for the day and propped my head up on my hand to look at Kody.
"Yeah, of course. You guys know her?" Yeah, I was shifting the subject away from my possible divorce. Kody, Steele, and I... we were only just starting to rebuild the trust. I didn't need them giving me their opinions about this crap between Archer and I.
Kody nodded. "We know of her, mostly. Never had need of that type of legal counsel myself, but she does give a lot of advice to and do odd-jobs on the side for the Shadow Grove gangs."
"How come?" I asked, genuinely curious. She had struck me as a well-educated, successful lawyer. Why would she need to mess around with gangs and criminals?
"Demi Timber," Steele commented, locking up his long rifle case with a click, "is a Timberwolf."
My brows shot up and my mouth fell open. I scrambled up to sitting and stared hard at Steele to work out whether he was kidding.
"I thought they were extinct... so to speak." I searched my memory for what I knew of the Tri-State Timberwolf massacre, including what Kody had told me recently.
Kody shook his head. "Not exactly. That was what the media reported, but in reality they're just, I guess, under new management. Smarter management that understands being in the public eye only hinders their ability to get shit done."
That certainly gave some credibility to Demi's understanding of my unusual marriage circumstances and explained why she hadn't batted an eyelash at my rough-looking escort this morning.
"Here," Kody handed me a coffee in one of those fancy, stainless steel travel mugs. "I went all the way to Nadia's; that's what took me so long. You have no idea how bad the coffee has been in our house since you've been gone, babe."
I snickered, sipping my coffee. It was still warm, thanks to the insulated mug, and just as delicious as I remembered Nadia's coffee being. "I can imagine. How does he even drink that shit?"
My gaze wandered back to the main building, and a flicker of movement in the window confirmed what Kody had said about Archer watching us. Creep.
"Probably because it's as bitter and dark as his soul," Kody joked, and Steele snickered. I just rolled my eyes and took Steele's hand when he offered it to help me to my feet in my high-heeled shoes. I'd left them on because I loved the way he was looking at me today.
The three of us headed back inside, and Archer seemed totally uninterested as he slouched against the wall, texting someone on his phone.
"While I remember," I said to Kody and Steele, ignoring Archer right back, "I had an incident yesterday and had to get a new sim for my phone. So, I dunno. You guys might want to get yours checked too."
All three guys stared at me, and the tension in the room all but crackled.
"Well, that explains why you didn't reply to my messages this morning," Kody muttered, folding his arms over his chest.
I shrugged and gave him an abridged version of my stalker’s creepy calls from Bree's number.
"But she was there in the apartment with you?" Steele asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, she was fast asleep and her phone was literally in my hand, so I know it wasn't her." I was quick to make that clear because I was sick of them casting suspicion on literally everyone in my life.
None of the three of them spoke for a long moment, then Archer hurled his phone at the