A fully stocked kitchen. Sweet. “Thanks.”
I gathered what I needed and headed back to the dining room. After lining my supplies on the table, I sat down, ejected the magazine, cleared the chamber,
and meticulously field stripped my gun. “They tell you what they found?”
“Nope, unsecured line.”
I removed the Sig’s slide, pulling it free of the frame before gently removing
the recoil spring guide, and then the barrel. Step by step, I reclaimed my gun as I
cleaned each part. By the time Kayden brought out a small plate of scrambled eggs and a yogurt, my coffee cup was almost empty. I pulled back the reattached
slide until the final click sounded. Satisfied everything was as back to normal as
possible, I reinserted the magazine, chambered a round, and de-cocked the gun
before setting it aside.
“Happy now?” Kayden pushed the bottle of cleaning solution away to make
room for his plate of eggs and took the seat next to me.
Mouth full, I nodded.
“Good.”
Neither of us said anything more as we enjoyed our breakfast. Instead of the
expected awkwardness of sharing this moment with a man who had seen me in
all my naked glory, a comforting sort of peace settled inside me, blunting the ragged edges of yesterday. For a brief, shiny moment, I could almost see what life might be like when this whole nightmare was finished. If I wasn’t doing twenty-five to life in a ten-by-two cell. “What happens after we stop Ellery?”
He finished his bite before looking at me. “What do you mean?”
“Once your team stops him and retrieves the information, what happens
next?” I started in on my yogurt, thinking I might be able to work my way up to
asking what I really wanted. “Do I need to get a lawyer, while you all blow out
of town?”
He sighed. “Delacourt’s not going to leave you hanging in the wind. Tito’s death isn’t on you, it’s on Iceman.”
“I know that, but getting the locals to see it that way…” I shrugged. “I think it’s going to require some smoke and mirrors.”
“This isn’t the first magic show my team’s handled, baby. Did you forget why we exist in the first place?”
No, but…I concentrated on scraping the last bit of yogurt from the cup.
Not fooled in the least, Kayden gave an exasperated huff and ran a hand through his hair. “I thought you were done with running.”
Startled, I looked up. “I’m not running anywhere. I’m right here.”
He studied me with an unsettling intensity. “Then ask me what you really want to ask, instead of pussyfooting around it.”
“Your ability is a massive pain in my ass.” My muttered comment got a slow
grin, but it didn’t soften the serious glint in his eyes. Realizing there was no way to avoid this without pissing him off, I got right to it. “Fine, I want to follow whatever this is between us, but if I join the team, is it going to cause problems?”
“Why would it?”
His nonchalant question raised my eyebrows. “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe
because I can’t see Delacourt all that keen on fraternization between team members?” The military certainly had some hard and fast rules for such
situations, and Delacourt wasn’t playing that far outside the Corps.
His grin turned positively wicked. “Are you saying a relationship with me will make you a less effective team member?”
I narrowed my eyes at his humor, and in an attempt to regain a bit of control
with him, I licked my spoon clean with provocative intent. His gaze darkened. I
smiled sweetly. “Nope, actually I think you having a relationship with me will make you a less effective team member.” Maybe it wasn’t nice to tease him, but he deserved it. “You tend to get a little overprotective, Shaw.”
“I’ll show you ineffective, Arden,” he growled.
