Eureka

20

Victor digs into his meal, so I take the moment to glance over his shoulder at mister broody-but-handsome who is still sitting in the booth behind him. He makes eye contact with me briefly. Suddenly, he and the others begin to get up from their table.

Unease trickles down my spine. I'm hoping we blend in enough now that they'll just keep walking. I know Victor was always protective of me during training. He always looked after me like a big brother would. I think that's why he had guys watching me in Houston. I doubt Old Man Crawford or the other one care that much.

"I've got some appointments set up to look at apartments tomorrow afternoon. You should join me. We can go to my workplace afterwards for drinks and for you to get a better feel for me and the town. I am planning on staying here for a while, assuming there are no issues." I offer as I turn my eyes back to Victor's green ones. Switching to Russian as I continue  quickly but quietly, "You can let Crawford know that he should not worry about me. I will be getting back to the job in a more frequent capacity soon. I just need a home base and a car." I switch back to English as the group approached out table, "I just like having a familiar place to come home to."

He is about to respond when someone pulls out the chair next to me and plops down in it. I see Vic's muscles tense and flex slightly as he turns his icy glare to the intruder. I follow his gaze and see who it is and roll my eyes.

This guy.

"Hello, Noah," I say in a bored tone with a tight lip smile. He gives me a smirk in response before glancing over at Vic briefly as he moves his arm around the back of my chair. I hear his friends chuckling behind him, but I don't pay them any attention. I focus on Noah and watch Vic out of the corner of my eye.

I remember how much he hated bikers when we dealt with them in the past during training and on later assignments before he opted for the role of handler. They tend to push all of his buttons without even needing to try. Something to do with the whole "Alpha male" nonsense.

"Don't tell me you're already cheating on me, sweetheart," Noah says as he turns back to me feigning hurt and placing his hand over his heart. There's that pet name again. "I thought what we had was special. I'm crushed."

One of his buddies snorts in response as the others chuckle a little. I can tell he's trying to get a rise out of Victor. I should probably shut this down before he starts pissing on me to claim me. 

I reach over to pull on Noah's chin so he's looking at me and not antagonizing Victor. 

"Oh, Sugar-bear. I would never do that to you," My voice is sickly sweet. He goes to say something else, but I cut him off by pushing his face back away from me which has the added bonus of his arm falling off the back of my chair.

"But you picked the perfect time to meet the family. Shnookums, this is my brother, Victor," I say in my normal voice and turn to Vic with a bright smile. Victor nods slightly and I see a small pull at the corner of his lips.

"A pleasure, gentlemen," Vic says in a chilling tone, glaring at Noah and then looking at the other three men standing behind him.

"Hound," A gruff voice barks out. My eyes snap to the man who it originated from and see his icy blue gaze locked on me. 

Well hello again, broody-but-handsome. Your man-bun looks even better up close. 

His lips twitch up into a smirk ever so slightly, and he grips Noah's shoulder tight leaving no room for discussion. "Let's go," He grunts. 

"Hound? That's your little nickname? Oh, honey. That doesn't suit you at all! I think something more like Puppy would be better don't you?" I say in a baby voice as I grab Noah's face with my hand and squish his cheeks making his mouth pucker like a fish. I can't help but to coo at his expression, thoroughly enjoying his discomfort.

Noah's companions laugh at my actions. He pushes my hand away from his face with a scowl as I sit there grinning like the Cheshire Cat. He huffs and gets up straightening out his leather cut but not before leaning over to whisper in my ear, "You still owe me that drink."

"Anything for you, Puppy," I coo with a sweet smile before I blow him a kiss. I watch with glee as he grumbles and follows his friends out of the café.

I laugh and turn my eyes back to Vic who is playfully glaring at me now. I smile innocently at him. My attention is soon taken away when I hear a soft knock on the window next to me. I glance outside to see the good looking man-bun guy looks back at me with a smirk as he struts slowly away towards his bike giving me a great view of his butt in his dark jeans. That's a butt I'd like to slap.

Who am I, Tina Belcher?

He makes eye contact with me as he gets on his motorcycle. He sends another smirk my way as he puts his aviator shades on and starts up his bike. I can't help the grin that pulls at the corners of my mouth as I watch his every move. Victor clearing his throat brought me out of my staring contest with the handsome biker. I look at him expectantly.

"Brother? I would have preferred you to say I was your boyfriend or husband. Especially to those guys. They'd be more likely to leave you alone then."

His protective nature for me is cute, but more funny to me than anything. He pulls out his phone and begins typing away, no doubt making sure that my background he created some time ago still shows him as my brother. 

"Vic, you know that wouldn't have worked. I've already confessed my little sob story to a local girl," I roll my eyes and wipe off my hands with my napkin.

He grunts and responds, "Could be an old boyfriend that's come to comfort you." 

"In what world would anyone other than family fly all the way out here to help me find a place to live?" Vic grunts again and sullenly begins to eat his food. "I think you just want to be my boyfriend," I tease. He snorts looking slightly put off his meal. 

"You practically are my sister. I just figured you would want the drooling men off your back."

"Good point, but it's too late now." I shrug my shoulders and sit back in my seat sipping my water as Vic finishes his meal.