Hello again. I know it took longer this time, to post an update, but I hope you're still interested.

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Under cover(s) – 19

"Roxy, Tony…. How wonderful. Terry just told us you'd be joining us again today… and here you are." Andrew's gaze skimmed over Brennan's body, the way the midnight blue dress accentuated her female curves. Booth caught the interested gaze of the older man and fought down the urge to draw her nearer, to defend his territory. She'd object to both the sentiment and the phrasing, he was sure of it. She was not his territory and damn-well didn't need to get defended. But still… Andrew's lingering gaze on her body made him want to go into full alpha-male mode.

And that was exactly the kind of behaviour he couldn't display. He briefly closed his eyes and reminded himself that he was Tony and the woman beside him was Roxy. Same Roxy he'd been married to for years.

He just hoped he'd get through the evening without punching somebody. Somehow the earlier conversation and the contact with Bones had not soothed his mind at all… if anything it just made him feel more on alert, ready to show anybody that the woman was his, now that he could fully acknowledge his feelings towards her to himself.

Brennan smiled a Roxy-smile at Andrew. Flirtatious, promising and definitely encouraging and Booth had to bite his lower lip not to blurt out she shouldn't be encouraging the other man. Because he simply couldn't guarantee he wasn't going to slug him if he hit on her only a little more obviously.

"This," Gloria addressed them. "Are Sybil and Marc." She introduced them to the couple they hadn't met the evening before. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Roxy said smoothly and extended her hand towards the woman with the spiky red hair and various piercings. Her husband didn't look much different, except that his hair was black instead of red. And he had some intriguing tattoos all over his bare chest. His well-toned muscled chest. She had to admit, the man looked hot. His hand was warm and strong when he took hers in his and his interested gaze lingered on her. "Definitely my pleasure." He said in a warm and cultivated voice that didn't quite seem to go with his appearance. The contrast was even more intriguing.

Brennan nearly felt Booth vibrate with anger beside her. He was masking his – to her so obvious – displeasure about the two men so openly checking her out remarkably well, but she knew it was an effort for him. Unfortunately there was nothing she could do about it. She had to play her role and so had he. They had to be Sinners.

"Tony!" Their heads turned at the exclamation from the other side of the room and she was not surprised to see Vivian waving at them. "Hi Roxy." The older woman added as an afterthought. Vivian was draped in something in canary-yellow this evening and Brennan wondered if the other woman knew the color was probably hurting everybody's eyes. Maybe she was trying to get the men to undress her more quickly through that. Vivian hurried over to greet Tony, her impressive breasts bouncing up and down, her hips swaggering. "Tony…" She drawled his name out. "You just left yesterday." She pouted. "I would have loved to talk to you."

'Sure.' Brennan thought sarcastically. Vivian was all talk, of course. Talk being the synonym for wanting to get him naked in the whirlpool. Brennan suddenly felt an odd feeling rise in her and she had to fight down the urge to tell Vivian she should go to hell. A little shocked she had to admit to herself that she probably was feeling jealous. When had THAT happened?

But judging by Booth's – albeit smooth and polite – reaction, there was no need to worry anyway.

"Ah, yes. What a pity. I'm sorry we had to leave so early." He said, but she knew him well enough to know there was no heart in it.

They chattered amicably with the other Sinners for quite some time, sipping wine and waiting for Terry, who had "an errand" to run, or so Matilda had said. When he finally arrived half an hour later, he greeted them with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. "Roxy, you look stunning." He kissed her on the cheek, then extended his hand to Booth. "Tony."

"Since now everybody is here, we would really like to hear a little more about the two of you. It seems you liked it here yesterday, since you decided to come back so quickly." Matilda smiled at them. "Yes." Vivian added with an almost greedy look on her face. "We definitely need to get to know you better."

"Ah, well…." Tony said after a moment. "We enjoyed your company yesterday, of course. And we figured, since we had to leave earlier, we could come back today…. To get to know each other better."

"Yes." Roxy nodded. "I'm really curious on all of you, especially Sybil and Marc, since we didn't meet you yesterday. " She nodded towards the couple and got back a smile from the bare-chested man. Going with her role, she sent a dazzling smile back and felt Booth tense beside her a little. "Oh let me ensure you, we're curious too." Marc grinned suggestively.

Booth fought down the urge to growl. Somehow, he realised, it had been a bad idea to come here with his hormones still raging from the heated kiss between him and Bones. He forced a smile on his face, though he was not quite sure if it looked convincing.

"Roxy, would you come with me for a minute?" Matilda addressed her. "I need to talk to you about something…"

Her eyes widened in surprise, but Roxy Walker was of course going to go with Mrs. O'Reilly, wasn't she? She winked at her 'husband'. "I'll be right back." She said and Tony gave her an absent nod, as if he didn't really care. But under the façade she could see Booth's weariness… he was not entirely happy with her taking off where he could not keep an eye on her, even if it was with a woman and not a man.

She followed Matilda to the kitchen. As the door closed behind them, Matilda gave her a worried look. "I'm sorry to intrude…. But I'm a little concerned about Tony."

Roxy blinked in astonishment. "Oh! Why would you be concerned?" She asked surprised.

"Is he really here…. Because he wants to be here? I'm not sure the others noticed….but I'm usually good at observing things like that… I'm pretty sure he is very territorial about you. He's trying hard not to scowl at every man looking at you. And he…. Seems to be a little reserved towards the idea of having sex with other women. " The red-haired woman said thoughtfully.

Brennan felt nervousness flood her, but she knew it was imperative to keep a cool head now, so she tried to make light of it. "Ah, that's just because we had an argument earlier. Now he wants to prove his point by being the ultimate alpha male." She rolled her eyes. "And the other thing… I think sometimes his catholic upbringing shines through. He's really interested in new experiences….but you can't completely shake off how you were brought up. Especially not, since his mother called five minutes before we left and wanted to know where we'd be going tonight. He couldn't tell her, could he? She's really very religious and wouldn't understand. I guess the conversation is still having a little effect on him." She giggled and Matilda smiled knowingly.

"Ah, religious parents. I understand, I understand…. My parents are like that too. I never had the heart to tell them what kind of bar it is, we're running here. Fortunately, my mother hates to go on a plane, so they won't visit us here and… well… see what this place looks like." She sighed and there was a hint of sadness in her voice. "It's not easy for us to lie to them, but they would resent what we're doing here… and Leo and I would never want to upset our mother."

Brennan internally complimented herself on her convincing explanation on Tony's behaviour. Then she realised that she had no face to go with the name Matilda just had mentioned.

Roxy blinked at her, confusion shining in her eyes. "Leo?"

"My brother." She frowned. "Terry didn't introduce you? He's helping us running the bar here…. Usually he's welcoming our guests outside."

Now Brennan was definitely interested. "You're not saying the nice man that took my coat is your brother?"

She smiled. "Sure he is. My baby brother. He joined us only a year ago. He really is an angel, a big help. You couldn't imagine how much work it is to keep all this in order." She gestured around.

Roxy blinked in shock. "You're not saying you're cleaning all this by yourself!"

Now Matilda laughed. "No, no, of course not! There's a cleaning company coming every day. But still, there are so many things to think of. Leo is helping a lot."

"But he is not…. a member, is he?" Roxy asked interested.

"No, no." Matilda shook her head. "He'd need a wife or at least a girlfriend he's been involved with for longer."

"How come a good-looking man like him is not taken." Roxy shook her head in disapproval. "That's just not fair. He seems to be very nice."

"I don't know why he's still alone." Matilda shook her head, concern in her voice. "I just don't know." Suddenly she straightened and smiled at Roxy again. "Well, we don't want to spoil this evening right? Let's join the others again, will we?" She motioned for Roxy to follow her to the big hall again.

Temperance Brennan knew, she maybe wasn't the best judge of character, but she was pretty sure that Matilda O'Reilly's smile had been genuine. And that she maybe had no idea her baby brother was following new members to their home, staking their place out in the middle of the night.

Sooooo, what do you say, did you like this chapter? How do you like the fact that we introduce Brennan to the wonders of feeling jealous?