Kenney, Laina - Overexposed [DIG Security 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Online Free

beside a small window, and Locke exchanged cash for two big bags and a tray of drinks. Whatever it was in those bags smelled heavenly in the confines of the car, and her mouth began to water.
    Locke deposited it all on the passenger seat and drove down the road for a few blocks until he came to a small park bench in the shade of a towering oak.
    Sam helped Avelyn out of the car, and Locke carried the drinks and the bags. They sat on the bench with Avelyn in the middle, and Locke started handing out food.
    “Chips!” Avelyn exclaimed and started gobbling down the hot, salty deep-fried potatoes from the small red box.
    “That’s so British. Calling them chips, I mean,” Sam said, and his smile was indulgent. “We call them fries here.”
    “Mmm. Fries,” she said and stuffed more into her mouth. She knew the men were watching, she could feel their eyes on her, but for once she didn’t care. There was no time to worry about manners. She was starved!
    Locke passed her a tall drink, and she gulped some liquid through the big straw before returning her attention to the chips—no, fries. Locke handed her another box, and when she opened it, she found a double-decker hamburger with pickles, lettuce, and a creamy sauce. She devoured that as well then licked the salt and sauce off her fingers. She finished it off by draining the last gurgle of the soft drink and then stuffing the waste papers into the empty drink container.
    She finally looked up to see both men, their food still wrapped, watching her with two pairs of intense blue eyes.
    Oh.
    “Sorry,” she mumbled. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. “I’ve been traveling for a long time, you know.”
    Locke passed her his box of fries, and Sam handed over a small rectangular apple pie. She tried to protest, but the men pushed the extra food into her hands.
    “I wouldn’t feel like much of a man if I ate while you sat there hungry,” Locke said quietly. “You just keep eating until you feel satisfied, honey, and don’t worry about good manners. Sam and I grew up poor, and with five boys in the house, we were hungry as often as not. We both know what that feels like.”
    Sam nodded once but said nothing.
    Avelyn swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. They weren’t blaming her. Her anxiety faded even as her eyes prickled at their understanding. She ate everything they gave her until her stomach was pleasantly full.
    Sam produced a bottle and shook out two little pills.
    “Light painkillers,” he said. “You can get them over the counter. No prescription required.”
    “Thank you,” she said and swallowed them with the last of Locke’s drink. She had taken some aspirin provided by a flight attendant on the flight out of Dublin several hours ago but hadn’t taken anything since, and she was aching from head to toe.
    This time when they got into the sleek little car, Avelyn was the sole occupant of the back seat. The adrenaline that had kept her moving was evaporating, and true exhaustion was creeping in. She wrapped the old shawl around her shoulders in spite of the heat and let her eyelids fall. It was good to be warm and well fed.
    After a few minutes, the men started talking.
    “Is she asleep?” The slightly darker voice was Locke.
    “Yeah, or as good as. Did you see how she ate? She was running on empty. She must not have eaten at all today. She’s small already. She can’t afford to do that.”
    “When we get to San Antonio, we’ll get her checked out by a doctor.”
    “Do you think she should talk to a female doctor or maybe that medic at D.I.G.? What’s her name, the older lady? Maybe…” Sam’s voice trailed away.
    The response was a snarl like an angry dog. “I’d like to get my hands on the bastard who put marks on that milk-white skin. She’s such a little thing. When Conn sees those bruises on her face, he’s going to walk out and commit murder.”
    “I might help him.”
    Avelyn frowned and shifted in her seat,