Sophie waved her hand. “It’s okay. Not in a horrible way or anything. He’s worried that Jerry or one of his brothers might come after me. He’s been very protective. A little standoffish, but I guess I can’t blame him for that.”
No, but it had to hurt when she had feeling for the big Dom.
“He assures me that everything is going to be okay, but . . .”
“It will be.” Ria squeezed her hand. “I promise.”
“Let’s get down to business,” Hunter spoke up. “Sticky, you want to give us a recap of everything.”
“Why do you call him Sticky?” she asked, unable to resist.
“Because he’s a stickler for the rules and he’s always telling me what to do.”
Connor sat next to her. “Nobody tells you what to do. Well, not that you’d listen anyway.” He turned to her and Sophie. “The only person he really listens to is his wife.”
“She must be one tough woman,” she replied.
Hunter grinned. “She sure is. Tough. Smart. Beautiful. Whole damn package.”
“And don’t forget filled with immeasurable patience,” Roarke added dryly as he sat down in the seat he’d been in before. Ajax stood behind Sophie while Hunter moved back to his place by the fireplace.
“Yep, she’s all that. Sticky here is real particular about everything being done according to the book. ‘Hunter, you can’t assassinate a man just because he cut you off in traffic. Hunter, you can’t sue someone just because he took your coffee order by accident.’ That was no accident, by the way. That bastard knew what he was doing when he took my order.”
Connor shook his head. “Nobody else in the world wants to drink a four-shot latte with five sugars and two shots of caramel syrup.”
“Cady won’t let me order that anymore. Says it’s bad for my heart or some such shit. Look at me, I’m a fine specimen of a man.” Hunter patted his chest.
Ria just stared up at him. It was hard to imagine anyone trying to tell this man what to do.
“Now someone else always gets his coffee and where possible, someone else also drives him everywhere. And gets his lunch for him. And deals with the accountant. Come to think of it, what do you do? Cause Gray is the one who deals with all the clients.”
“I didn’t get Gray,” Roarke said mournfully. He looked over at Ria and Sophie. “Gray is civilized. He wouldn’t call my dog a rat or make fun of her bow.”
Hunter snorted. “Gray is just a good liar. He would totally make fun of that rat-dog behind your back. And I work. I just can’t be bothered dealing with assholes all day. I’m not the fuckface whisperer, you know.”
Ria had just taken a sip of beer, then choked on it, her eyes watering. Connor patted her back while Sophie took the bottle from her hand.
“Um, sorry,” she gasped.
Hunter shrugged. “I get that reaction more often than you’d think.”
Yeah, she bet.
“Besides, you can’t complain,” Hunter said to Roarke. “You’re getting our services for free. I should probably be charging you to find this blackmailer. I repaid the favor I owed you when Connor found the thief.”
Sophie sucked in a sharp breath.
“Can we get on with business,” Ajax asked quietly. “I think Sophie has waited long enough to find out what’s going to happen next.”
Roarke turned towards Sophie, and Ria was surprised by the compassion in his face. She’d come here ready to defend her friend, but Roarke looked almost sorry for her.
“I’m sorry you had to wait and worry, Sophie. I wanted to be here in person and I had to tie up a few things at home before I could get here.”
“I hope you told someone to rescue Ava and Sam after a few hours. You shouldn’t leave them bound and alone. That’s BDSM 101,” Hunter said.
Roarke rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t my submissives I had to tie up, although I came close to doing just that in order to stop Ava from coming with me. Ava hasn’t been well lately and I don’t want her traveling yet. Sam was actually in agreement with me.”
“What a change,” Hunter said. “You know, if your daughter ends up with his personality, you’re going to be in trouble in a few years.”