Wild Tiger Chase | Book #2 (Complete)

44: in for a penny

— Léon —

Rob, Léon, and Rafa exchanged a glance. As the eldest among the three, Rafa took a step forward and said,

"You do know Phillip is in an ICU bed, yeah?" She crossed her arms, furrowed her eyebrows, and tipped her chin up in the same way Rob did when he wanted to look taller. "What sort of tasteless proposal would bring you from your posh office and into a public emergency unit when one of the people you want to talk to is unconscious?"

"Maybe we should just hear what she has to say." Rob squared his shoulders. "She brought Toni back, didn't she? Hearing her is the least we can do."

"It's about the timing, Roberto," Léon said. "Besides, this is an ICU room, we can't crowd it."

Jackal placed a hand on her breastbone. "I'm sorry if I seem insensitive. Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "Here, I brought flowers too."

She walked out the door, long strides coming from even longer legs. When Jackal came back, she carried at least three different bouquets of flowers so exquisite and big that even Léon was impressed. They seemed too rare and too expensive for Cidade Santa's only flower shop.

Rafa's eyes widened like a child receiving a birthday present. She reached for them, but stopped.

"This doesn't change anything," Léon said in a controlled tone. He didn't want to, but his eyes kept flicking back to Toni. Léon knew who he was and what kind of history Rob and him shared. "Flowers or not, you're intruding. You all are."

And he definitely didn't like to have him here, out of the blue and so close to his husband.

"I'm sorry for starting on the wrong foot"—Jackal placed the flowers in Rafa's hands—"but once you hear me out, I'm sure you'll understand my reasons."

"These are... oh, fuck." Rafa almost choked on her own spit. She coughed and cleared her throat. "This is a bouquet of Opalean thornbush!"

If Jackal's grin was any wider, the corners of her lips would've ripped her own cheeks. Something changed in her expression. She narrowed her eyes and winced, clasping a hand around her tattooed wrist. After a heartbeat, she took a deep breath and smiled as if nothing had ever happened.

"I can't believe you know them," she said.

"Of course I do! I love flowers, and this one is... a legend. I never dreamed I would see one in person," Rafa mumbled. She caressed the pearlescent thorn sticking out from the center of a green flower bud. "I thought they were extinct."

Jackal nodded. "They were." She chuckled and pointed at an empty chair. "May I?"

Uh. No.

Outside, a breeze shook the branches in front of Phillip's window. Shadows of little leaves danced on Jackal's face as she stared at Léon, making her eyes look even darker and harder than before. She hadn't done anything to hurt them. She had apologized for her bad timing, and she was decent enough to at least bring flowers... but something about her struck Léon as odd. No, more than that—as dangerous.

He didn't want her here. He didn't want any of them here! Léon glanced and Rob and Rafa; they didn't seem that keen either.

Jackal raised her eyebrows. She looked at the flowers and a soft crease formed between her eyebrows.

"As I said"—Léon hardened his voice—"the flowers don't change anything."

"The proposal I mentioned?" Jackal clenched her jaw as her gaze moved to Phillip. "It might save his life, Léon."