There was a beat of silence, and then Cahal glared at Antonio. “Did you know about this?” He waved a hand at us. “They’re skating a fine line between jail and insubordination.”
Antonio sighed, his shoulders lowering with the action, and dropped his hands from his temples onto the table, turning his own glare on Cahal. “No, I didn’t know they were going to do this.” Truth. “They’re also right, unless you can think of a Law I’ve somehow,” he threw his hands in the air and thumped back on the booth, further smashing me and knocking into Cahal at the same time, “forgotten.” He thrust a thumb in my direction. “She may be God-awful at history, but her memory of the Law is indisputable.”
Cahal stared at me, his dark eyes unreadable, for what seemed like forever, and then he muttered, “No, I can’t think of a damn thing we could do to them Lawfully.” He smiled, letting me know he wasn’t opposed to going outside the Law.
I managed to hold his gaze, gripping Ezra’s thigh tight when I felt him start to lean forward. “You’d have to catch us first.” My grin was just as sweet. “I can mask better than anyone you know, and I’m betting Ezra could do it if he tried hard enough.” I shrugged. “Add in everything Antonio’s taught me,” my grin grew, “and you wouldn’t have a chance.”
Antonio flicked my forehead. “I also taught you not to provoke those stronger than you.”
I rubbed my forehead, but didn’t look away from Cahal’s unwavering gaze.
Finally, his dark eyes lifted to where Ezra was still resting his chin on top of my head. “Is she as good as she thinks she is?”
Instant. “If she wanted to disappear, none of us would be able to find her.”
Dark eyes landed back on me, then he grunted. “Makes sense for who raised you.”
I couldn’t really argue that point since it was true.
“So,” Ezra’s arm lowered from the top of the booth and hooked over my shoulder to intertwine his fingers with mine, “we’re good?”
Neither answered, but instead picked up their menus and started perusing the choices, which was answer enough. They weren’t leaving, and they weren’t hauling us out of the place.
Tilting my head to the side, I grinned up at Ezra. “What took you so long?” They had left before us.
Ezra lifted his own menu, his lips twitching as a waitress arrived. “Just a sec.” The waitress, who also tried to flirt with Antonio, took our orders then sauntered away, her hips sashaying. Snickering quietly at the woman’s antics, I glanced back up at Ezra for his reason. He smirked, damn near pulling me onto his lap as he re-positioned himself. “Dad had issues with me borrowing,” his dad sniffed, “a car…then, after listening to him lecture, when I did finally find one to borrow, he had issues with the vehicle itself.”
His dad’s nose rose. “He picked a…,” he blinked, “what did you call that atrocity?”
“A POS.”
His dad nodded. “Well, he tried to get me to ride in a,” he said it like it was a type, “POS.”
Antonio snorted, coughing quickly.
Cahal’s eyebrows slammed together even as Ezra and I kept stoically blank expressions while he glared at Antonio. “What?”
Antonio drummed his fingers on the table, drawling, “Do you even know what a POS is?”
Cahal’s expression didn’t change, but it was like I could see the wheels turning rapidly in his intelligent mind. His gaze narrowed slightly. A few beats later, he stated, “A piece of shit.”
“Good guess,” Antonio muttered, and then took his drink, which the waitress held out. Only his drink, and no one else’s, just so she could sashay those hips again as she left. Casually, Antonio asked, “So…what did you end up with?”
Cahal sniffed. “A Jaguar.”
This time, I chuckled and couldn’t stop it. “You guys are riding with us.”
“Why?” Cahal asked. “You have a utility vehicle.” It wasn’t a compliment.
Ezra sighed. “Dad, there’s a reason why I dropped the car off blocks away and made us walk here.” His thumb lazily brushed back and forth over mine where we were holding hands. “New and expensive cars normally have GPS systems to track them if they’re stolen.”
Cahal stared. “How is it that you know which car is best to steal? Or even how to steal one in the first place?”
Ezra’s lips twitched. “I learned a few things when I left California.”
“When you went on your unscheduled tour of the world?” Cahal’s jaw was clenched.
“Yes,” Ezra cleared his throat, pointing vaguely, “You’d better contact Mom now.”
Cahal’s expression instantly changed to caution.
I blinked, understanding the genius of Ezra’s evasive tactic.
Antonio laughed outright. “You didn’t tell her?”
Cahal mumbled, “You haven’t got a damn clue,” he rubbed his forehead, “The woman has a pair of lungs on her I normally enjoy…unless she’s upset.” Then his eyes went distant, and I realized he and Vivian had telepathy as their mate gift. The rest of our drinks arrived while he was communicating with her, but the waitress didn’t seem to notice his pained expression, staring at Antonio as she was. A minute later, he blinked, then nodded to Ezra. “She’s going to be,” Ezra’s cell rang in his pocket, “calling you.”
Ezra sighed and had to stand to get his cell, we were so crammed. “Yes, Mom?” He sat back down. And I literally pulled my head away from him when I heard the screeching over the line made by one Vivian Zeller. Antonio even rubbed at his ear as Ezra murmured, “Mom…I’m fine…Mom…I…no, of course not…wait…uh…yes, I will…it’s not…that…,” he sighed heavily, “I will. I love you, too.”
My chin was trembling in an effort not to laugh at them. Both Ezra and Cahal had the same pained expressions on their faces now. It didn’t help when Antonio pointed his beer at Cahal, stating, “I almost feel sorry for you.” He chuckled, the sound evil. “Almost.”
Cahal rubbed at his temple. “Fuck off.”
Chapter Nineteen
An hour and fifteen minutes later, all our bellies were full on a meal, free courtesy of Ezra’s power, and we were back on the road. Clyde had been in Ezra’s duffle the whole time during the meal, so he was thrilled to be out of its confines, both he and Bonnie lying in the back on all of our duffles. Ezra had growled a little at Antonio and Cahal when they both wanted to ride shotgun, so he was sitting next to me while they sat on the back seat griping about our music choices.