“I … well, I’m …” In the business of souls … namely your sister’s … I cast about for something I could say, glancing to Jemma for some form of help. She’d voluntarily continued this date-faking farce, she could at the very least give me a hint of something to say that made sense to humans.

She very pointedly looked at her free hand, where she was making a bizarre gesture low to the table, rubbing her thumb over the tips of her pointer and middle fingers.

I wrinkled my nose but looked to Joe and said, “I work in … fingering?”

Jemma made a choking noise as her brother’s mouth tugged downwards.

“He’s in finance … lending, to be precise,” Jemma interjected. “English is not his first language.” She threw me a pointed look that clearly screamed at me, ‘Get your shit together, you stupid, stupid devil!’

I dragged my mind forcefully away from the titillating idea of being in the business of fingering with her.

Lending was, in fact, quite apt. Except in my line of work, the repayments were impossible, and if everything went according to my plans, I would always end up owning the collateral.

No. Hell would own the collateral.

I chuckled to cover the sudden strange taste in the back of my mouth, letting my thumb caress a little higher on her thigh. A muffled squeak sounded in the back of her throat.

Joe’s eyebrows raised impressively close to his hairline. “Finance, you say? Well, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Jemma’s current financial state.”

My eyes flitted in her direction, noticing the way her shoulders deflated just slightly. The way the glint in her eyes dulled. The way the Soul Token warmed in my pocket.

My chest tightened.

“I do not believe it is my place to be commenting on the financial choices of a grown woman,” I replied bluntly. Jemma shifted, her shoulder brushing mine. Our joined hands skidded higher on her thigh.

This was getting dangerous. And not for her, the way interactions with me should be dangerous. No, it was, in fact, quite the opposite.

She was perilous to me. I needed to protect myself. I needed to remind myself, and her, what it was I was doing here.

Joe’s eyes darted between Jemma and me. “Well, I, uh … suppose that is something that you and she will discuss when this is less … new.”

I cocked a sardonic eyebrow at him. “When the time comes, we will have discussions appropriate to our situation.” There, that was vague enough. I wondered if Jemma understood my hidden meaning in there. That she should not forget her debt to me.