Page 58 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“Did she ever sell anything?” Noah looked skeptical, and Annabelle didn’t blame him.

“Not much. She mainly ‘acquired’ things. Every now and then, when the shop got too crowded with junk, I’d come down and box up stuff for donation—or the trash. I don’t think she ever noticed.” Annabelle felt quite wicked confessing her sins to Noah and also a little smug that she’d pulled off the mini heists.

He laughed before turning serious. “How are you holding up? Really.”

The Gringotts vault buckled against the mass of stuff crammed inside. Its door groaned, and the dragon snarled, but the spell held.

“Are hugs still part of the service?” she asked hopefully.

A small, intimate smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “C’mere.”

Annabelle didn’t have to be told twice. As his arms enfolded her, a familiar bone-deep sense of security wrapped her up tight.Safe.She felt safe. He clasped the back of her head, pressing her cheek to his chest, and the strong, steady drumbeat of his heart chased away the chaotic thoughts bouncing around her mind. In that moment, there was only stillness and peace. She knew Noah would protect her and that she could enjoy a brief respite from being constantly on alert.

“Are we hugging now?” Violet’s disgusted and outraged tone shattered her peace. “If that’s part of the job, I’m resigning. Where’s the boss? I need to talk to the boss.”

She watched as Violet turned on her heel and stormed back out of the burned-out shop. As Noah chuckled, it occurred to Annabelle that Violet would have made an excellent guard goblin for her vault.

By the time lunch came around, the first-floor windows and shopfront had been boarded up, and the warehouse was secure again. Proximity sensors were suggested, but Noah ruled them out. The building sat flush with the sidewalk so any passersby could trip the alarm. He did, however, have the sprinkler system secured and more fire extinguishers placed throughout the building. Although he doubted that they’d need them again after the failed attempt to smoke out Annabelle. Noah figured the gang would take a different route to get to their prey next time—if Benson Security didn’t stop them first.

Lunch was another food-truck find by the triplets. As far as Noah could tell, all the brothers did during their downtime was scour Houston’s streets for new places to eat. Today, it was a selection of pulled-meat sandwiches that melted in the mouth.

As the team, plus Annabelle but excluding Rodrigo, who was on patrol, sat around the desks in the office eating the lunch the triplets had fetched for them, Rochelle raised her voice, “Assignment updates, everybody. Evan, you first.”

The brightly colored triplet wolfed down his sandwich before replying. “I’ve done some digging into the Demon Brothers’ finances and think I have a promising lead. It’s not on the Demons’ money. I’m still chasing that. It’s Eddie Hanson’s personal accounts.”

“I thought we were going after the gang money.” Noah helped himself to another party-size sandwich from the massive share box.

“We are,” Evan said. “For a while there, I assumed Eddie’s moneywasgang money, seeing as he controls the finances, but his personal stuff is a whole different account. I’m not even sure the gang knows what he’s squirreling away.”

“You got into his accounts?” Noah was impressed.

“Nearly.” Evan took two more sandwiches, put them on his plate, and then formed a barricade with his arms to stop hisbrothers from getting to them. He gave them the evil eye while still talking. “I managed to get into one before a fail-safe kicked me out. He had 1.8 million in it, and that’s only one of several offshore accounts I’ve stumbled across.” He growled low in his throat when Harris tried to pilfer one of his sandwiches.

“That’s a lot of money.” Noah marveled again at the unfairness of a world in which the bad guys grew richer while the good guys got deeper into debt. “Explains the fancy house and car.”

“It’s peanuts,” Abasi scoffed. “And the house and car might look impressive, but I’ll bet he’s living well below his means. Eddie isn’t about flashing the cash. He’s about power.”

Unlike the other members of the team, Abasi had brought his own lunch, and from the looks of it, he was eating some froufrou salad from a high-end restaurant. Just the sight of it made Noah shudder and reach for another sandwich.

“Peanuts?” Logan said, his eyes wide. “If that’s peanuts, then you must have made a ton with the James Family. How much are we talking?”

Evan choked on his food, and Harris thumped him on the back.

“Dude,” Harris said, “you don’t ask a mobster about his personal wealth.”

“Formermobster,” Abasi corrected. “And I’m not talking aboutmymoney. I’m talking about the money the head of the James Family amassed over the years. It makes 1.8 million seem like peanuts.”

Ignoring his brother’s warning, Logan leaned forward, eyes fixed on Abasi. “What happened to all that money when the James Gang went belly-up?”

Everyone watched Abasi, who casually shrugged. “I took it.”

There was a moment of stunned silence before Logan spoke again. “Gonna risk repeating myself here and ask, just how much money are we talking about?”

“All of it.”

“No, seriously,” Logan said. “Give me a figure.”

Abasi just stared at him.