He didn’t feel any of this was necessary. This whole fruitless little exercise only increased tension between the three of them. It proved Roxy could walk away but it didn’t prove anything about what might happen if all those babysitters weren’t there. She knew she couldn’t touch Andrew now. Andrew knew he couldn’t touch her. So really, if they got the chance to test how things would go without all that interference…
“You were collateral damage and I stand by that. Your sweet boyfriend here stood by it too, because as you can maybe pick up on, he’s got as much unresolved bullshit with Kip as you seem to with me. Now I’m not sure if that’s because of her penchant for trouble or because she opted to fuck the wrong wizard, but I’ve left that part alone. Kaylee was being hunted by something that wouldn’t have minded killing you or worse, so you’re goddamn lucky it was Aegis that got to you first, because I bet Gabriel wouldn’t have taken a break from torturing either of you to have this little talk-show special of a lunch date.” He really did cut the foreplay this time, the words kept at an appropriate volume but clipped and irritated—it was a voice Kaylee was pretty used to hearing by now. The next time he spoke, perhaps Roxy had left, perhaps not, but it was for Abel.
“Here’s a courtesy you don’t probably deserve then, Mr. Haskel. On our last visit, which was about as fun as this one, for the record, Kaylee mentioned missing your little kitten and that she’d have to try to get in touch with her. Now I know you’ve made your move and maybe she won’t find Roxy, but it is Kaylee, so I wouldn’t bet against it either. As it seems everyone would have preferred from the start, I’m done trying to keep Kaylee on a leash, so I suppose you’d better tighten the one you’ve got on Miss Hill.”
Everyone else had gotten to their feet, but he had remained seated so far, only slipping on those sunglasses.