Stealing His Thunder (Masters of Adrenaline 1)

“Yeah, but Marcel is more of a thug than Brian was,” Atlas grumbled. “At least Brian had class.”

They all grunted in agreement. After Luke had accidentally scooped one of Brian’s jobs when they were young, the guy had talked to Scott rather than lose his shit and threaten them. Marcel would have inspired more respect if he’d negotiated rather than resorted to violence.

Atlas handed him plates as the steaks came off the grill, and soon they were all too busy eating to talk. When the feeding frenzy died down, Macy put her plate aside and grinned at Fox.

“So, Lukey tells me there’s a girl on your team now, Fox. Is that true?” Her mouth twisted and a brow raised in challenge. They’d been giving Macy the brush-off for years, hoping she’d pick a safer profession. Medicine was her new passion, but she had no qualms about regularly giving them shit for leaving her out. She had always believed it was because she was female, but it was more that she had been born years after Atlas. It was hard to think of her as anything more than a cute and pesky kid who needed supervision.

Well, it was that and it was weird thinking about bringing home women with her hanging around. So maybe it was a little because she was a girl.

“A girl? What girl?” Uncle Scott asked sharply. “What did I tell you boys?”

“Only trust family.” Atlas chuckled. “But honestly, that only works until you want to get laid.”

“Be careful what you say around her,” his father said, shaking his head like Fox wasn’t the shiniest penny in the bank. “There’s no reason to tell some whore your business.”

Fox could feel his hackles rising. Atlas and Luke were both in silent laughter mode. Why, oh why did Macy have to stir shit?

His uncle and father were both staring at him. Macy got to her feet and started clearing dishes, but not before Fox saw the amusement in her eyes. She was going to get a serious noogie later.

“She’s not some whore,” Fox snapped. His voice was loud above the quiet hum of the pool filter. “She’s my girlfriend.” Well maybe not exactly, but he wasn’t about to go into detail about their relationship.

“She stalked us and convinced us to take her on.” Atlas grinned. “She’s hilarious. You’ll love her.” He and Luke both liked Addison far too much, and every time he took his eyes off her for five minutes she was hanging out with them, shooting the shit. The woman needed to be tied to the foot of his bed when he was busy. At the same time, if he was ever going to get married, she would have to get along with his family.

Fuck. Why was he thinking about that now?

Luke nodded. “She’s a good kid.”

“Kid?” his father bellowed. “Crap on a cracker. Fox, don’t tell me you’re banging some high school girl.”

“What?” Fox frowned at him. “No! She’s in school for engineering. She’s very smart . . .” Funny, talented, sexy as hell . . .

“If she was smart she wouldn’t be dating you.” His father belched and rubbed his stomach.

“So you’re letting her do what?” Uncle Scott asked. “Answer the phone? Do your taxes?”

Sexist jackass.

Macy saved Fox the trouble and smacked her father, who only chuckled.

“She was already stealing cars when I met her.” Fox shrugged. “I’m just showing her a few more tricks.”

Uncle Scott began sputtering. “That’s just a bad fucking idea. You boys know better! What if she tips off the cops? What if she gets her ass thrown in jail and she rolls over on you? You can’t invite every hot set of tits you meet into your business.”

“That’s what I said.” Atlas smiled wryly. “Though it’s true. She does have great tits.”

Fox stabbed his brother repeatedly with his eyes. The bastard didn’t die.

“It would be a shame to leave her on her own or have her recruited by Marcel,” Luke pointed out. Fox could tell Addison was starting to win him over. They’d bonded.

Macy plonked a fresh bottle of beer down in front of Fox and mouthed “sorry”. She probably hadn’t thought it would turn into the Inquisition.

“Well, you boys have your own business now,” his uncle conceded. “I just wish you’d be more careful, like we taught you. Until the Marcel issue is settled, though, I think you should avoid taking her on runs. Getting her killed would be a shitty thing to do.”

An argument about how best to handle things ensued, but after about two minutes Fox realized the old men were going to shout it out between themselves, and they didn’t need anyone interrupting with pesky facts.

When Atlas went in to grab the playing cards, Fox relaxed.

“Hey.” Scott nudged Luke with his elbow. “If you fall in love with a woman, you just do what I said and keep her in the dark. Lots of healthy marriages are built on a solid foundation of keeping-the-missus-in-the-dark.”