“You’re being quiet. I don’t think that’s a good sign,” she quipped.
I sighed and crossed my arms as I leaned back against the counter.Here goes nothing.
“We need to talk about yesterday.” I hesitated but then decided to rip the bandaid off. “You’renotgoing back to the warehouse.”
Addy cocked her head to one side. “I’m not?”
“I’m not negotiating this, baby.”
She studied my face like I was an interesting weather pattern. “Wow. We skipped right past ‘how did you sleep’ and landed on dictatorship.”
“Addy.”
“No, no. Let’s explore it,” she said, carefully placing the spatula she’d been flipping the eggs with on the counterand pulling the pan off the burner. “Is this a general ban on community engagement, or just me specifically?”
“You.”
Her eyebrows lifted mockingly. “Oh. I’m honored.”
“You can’t walk into a secured location and start distracting my men with fucking muffins.”
“But they loved them.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s kind of the problem.”
“They were hungry. No one can concentrate when they’re hungry.”
“Trust me, they’ve endured worse.”
“Well, I’m not having it.” She crossed her arms and glared at me.Adorable. “You’ll just have to deal with it.”
I studied her, trying to figure out why this was the hill she had chosen to die on. She stared right back at me, her defiance evident in the stubborn tilt of her chin and the gleam in her dark eyes.
“Why is this so important to you?”
Addy averted her gaze, chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment and looked at me again.
“Because it’s not about simply feeding them. I don’t care whether you’re criminals,” she explained, her tone growing more serious. “This is about all of you being people, despite of what you do.”
“There it is,” I muttered.
She raised her eyebrows challengingly. “You say it like it’s a flaw.”
“It’s not.” I hesitated. “ … but itisa liability.”
Addy huffed. “Having empathy?”
“In this environment? Yes.”
“You’re unbelievable.” She laughed under her breath, and I found myself wanting to both strangle her and kiss her senseless.
“You walked into a warehouse full of armed men.” I tried to keep my voice level. “And within two minutes, you had them all chasing after you like toddlers after a treat.”
“They didn’t seem opposed.” Addy shrugged.
I scrubbed a hand down my face. “They are my underbosses. My enforcers.”
“They need to feel valued too, you know.”