Page 115 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“I’d have aimed slightly higher,” Katrina said evenly.

“In fact,” Rodrigo said, “I thought we made an excellent team.”

“We’re totally a team.” The two remaining triplets high-fived each other, grinning.

“I was team-like,” Violet declared, as though that were a thing.

“Hey”—Abasi held up his hands—”even I behaved.”

“Face it,” Noah said to Rochelle, “you have a fully formedteam,whether you like it or not.Seems to me that all we need right now is a boss. So, what do you say,Boss?Want to get the band back together?”

“Damn,” Rochelle said, sitting up straight. “If we do this, there’s gonna be a few rules.”

The team shared an anxious look.

“We can do rules,” Logan said, although a tad unconvincingly.

“One”—Rochelle counted them off on her fingers—“no keeping the boss in the dark about anything.”

“Seems reasonable,” Rodrigo said.

“Two.” Rochelle pointed to another finger. “Everybody undertakes firearms training, and you all volunteer for two hours a week each at a center for victims of violent crime.”

“Come on!” Harris complained. “That’s not fair; I’ve never shot anybody. Can’t Violet do my hours?”

“And mine,” Logan said.

“No.” Rochelle narrowed her eyes. “You’re all a little too gun-happy for my liking. You do the community time, or you aren’t on the team.”

There was much grumbling, but also agreement.

“Three,” she said. “No dishonest, lawbreaking behavior.”

“Abasi doesn’t know how to behave any other way,” Rodrigo said with a grin.

Abasi just grinned back.

“This is nonnegotiable. We obey the law.” Rochelle was adamant.

“Unless you give the okay to do otherwise,” Noah clarified. “Sometimes, laws just need to be bent—a little.”

“Fine. My permission for any questionable behavior is essential.”

There were mutters of reluctant agreement.

“And finally”—she looked at Noah—“no sleeping with the clients.”

“Deal’s off,” Noah said as his team whooped and laughed.

Annabelle came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “How about I sweeten the pot in this negotiation?” she said to Rochelle. “Noah can definitely keep sleeping with me, and Benson Security can lease the lower two floors of this building at a cut-price rate.”

“Sounds suspiciously like we’re pimping out Noah,” Abasi said, amused.

“Okay.” Annabelle was undeterred. “On top of that, you all have to do your volunteer time with my charity instead of finding another victim center.”

“You have a charity?” Noah twisted to look up at her.

“Yep. After my parents died and I inherited everything, I put it all into a charitable trust that works with victims of violence.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want it hanging over my head as a reason for people to kidnap me again, so I gave it away.”