dangerous sweetness.

Rabbit’s flying fingers stilled, and his eyes narrowed. Yep, there was no way

anyone could miss the dig in Jinx’s voice. “Sugar, I’d never mistake you for borin’.”

Okay, then. Trying to stay clear of the male-female tension singing between

the two as they indulged in a stare down, I kept my head down but caught Kayden’s wry gaze. He rolled his eyes and gave me a small grimace, cluing me

in that whatever was going on between the two must be par for the course. I shook my head and studied the maps on the screen.

“Here.” I pointed to Fashion Square, a large mall in Scottsdale. “Shoes,

jewelry, and a camera-free underground parking lot. Perfect spot for an

exchange.”

Wolf came over. “Best of both worlds, public and private. No one would

think twice about this stop. Any other spots?”

Our conversation broke through Jinx and Rabbit’s little whatever-it-was, and

the techie was back on his keyboard. “Restaurants, coffee shops, a couple of bars, but I’m tendin’ to agree, he’ll hit the mall. Arden’s right, one-stop shopping.”

Everyone’s heads came up at the sound of a car pulling in. Guns appeared like magic. The blinds were still drawn and even though the only expected company was friendly, none of us were willing to chance it. Jinx moved up to

the door, Wolf took the other side, both of them were armed. Rabbit sat like his namesake, his nose twitching, his hands below the table. I held my position behind Kayden, my Sig out but down. I caught the dull gleam of Kayden’s piece

in his lap.

Wolf peeked between the slats and his fine tension melted away. “It’s

Bishop.”

As fast as they appeared, the guns went back to their hidey-holes. Jinx

opened the door and let the larger man in.

“Someone better have some damn coffee somewhere,” Bishop grumbled in

lieu of a greeting.

The males all looked to Jinx and me. My hands went to my hips. “Really?

They always like this?” My last question was aimed at Jinx.

She rolled her eyes.

“You’re closer to the kitchen,” Wolf said.

“Technically, Rabbit’s closer,” I pointed out.

“Hell’s bells, just set it up in an IV drip,” Bishop cut in.

I took in the lines of exhaustion and his nearly feral edge, then heaved an elaborate sigh and headed to the kitchen. “Don’t get too used to it.”

By the time I returned with a cup in hand, Bishop was sprawled in one of the

chairs, his sunglasses on the table beside him. “We didn’t get a hit in any of the

databases stateside, so Delacourt pulled in a few favors and expanded the search.” He plugged away on his tablet.

I came up behind him and held the cup over his shoulder. He took it, but the

picture on his screen held me in place. Hot damn, he found Iceman. Without asking, I snatched his tablet out of his hands and read the profile. “Reiner Bosch?”

“German national and at one time one of MAD’s top agents.” Bishop sipped

his coffee. “He was reported lost on a mission six years ago.”

“What is one of Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service agents

doing chasing Ellery?” As I read through the details on Bosch, it hit me I was lucky all he did was screw with my head because according to his stats, he could’ve done much, much worse. I handed the tablet back to Bishop and took

the last chair between Jinx and Kayden. “No way is Germany involved with this.”

“I don’t think they are either,” Bishop answered. “But that doesn’t mean that

the information on that drive won’t create strange bedfellows.”

I shifted in my seat and tried to find a comfortable position. The aspirin from

this morning was wearing off. “Do we know who he’s working for?”

A strange little eye-dance occurred between Kayden, Bishop, and Wolf.

Rabbit kept his head down. Next to me, Jinx’s fingers picked up a rhythm against the tabletop.

I chose my target and narrowed my gaze on Kayden. “Spill it.”

“Shaw.” Wolf’s low warning didn’t take my attention from Kayden.

Kayden held my gaze as a strange tension spun between us. “We’re good,

Wolf, because Arden’s joining the team, aren’t you?”

It wasn’t hard to miss his underlying challenge, nor did I need our strange emotional connection to understand what was under it. After everything, a part