“When we had lunch,” she began, leaning her cheek into my hand. “I told him I was seeing someone. I didn’t tell him who you were, but he knew. He came right out and said your name. He knew that I was working for you. When I confirmed it, he started asking me about you, the guys, what kind of stuff we did, if I’d seen some interesting things so far. I didn’t give him any information on any of you and what goes on here. I just told him that it was confidential. He then asked for an example. When he realized I wasn’t going to give into his cajoling, he asked me out on a real date. I said no. The less I gave him, the more agitated he seemed to get until he just stormed out of the deli, leaving me with the bill. I haven’t heard from him since, I swear.”
She wouldn’t. Not if I could help it.
I pressed my forehead to hers, my hand moving from cupping her face to wrapping around the back of her neck.
“Anything else?” I whispered against her lips, brushing my mouth lightly over hers. She shook her head. “Thank you.”
Her hands came up to my chest and pushed me back, her eyes narrowing on mine. “You’re welcome, but next time, how about you ditch the caveman attitude from last night, and just now, and ask me what you want to know. Nicely. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you’d catch more flies with honey instead of vinegar?”
I snorted, before grabbing Devolin’s arm and pulling her into my body hard enough to get an “oomph” from her. “I can be sweet,” I whispered against her ear, my hands rubbing her upper arms.
She tilted her head back to look up at me, brows arched. “Could have fooled me.”
Wrapping my arms around her torso, my hands came to a stop as they cupped her jean-clad ass. “Can I make it up to you when I get back?”
Humor lit her eyes as she shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe.”
“Maybe I can take you out on an official date?”
Her eyes warmed, her body melting into mine. “Maybe we can stay in and…” She let her words hang on her suggestive tone.
“Fuck me.” I groaned, then dropped my head to nuzzle her nose. “I think I like your idea better, baby.”
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” she whispered. “I’ll be watching.”
“I promise, I’ll do everything I can to get back to you,” I vowed.
“I promise to stay with Rex, ignore any communication that comes from Gordon, and do everything I can to make sure this op runs like a well-oiled machine,” she said.
Someone’s fist pounded on my door. “D, we need to head out.”
Tightening my grip on her, I said, “Kiss me, Devolin,” wishing we had more time so I could get a read on what was going through my woman’s head. Last night’s ‘heartbreaker’ comment coming to mind.
“I thought I told you to ask—”
Laughing, I crashed my lips to hers. Pulling her in tight, she held on with all she had. I swallowed her moan, took in the taste, the feel of her, her scent. I memorized her. Imprinted her into my brain as deep as she already was in my heart.
Breathless, and trying to regain our faculties, Devolin whispered, “You should go,” before sneaking in one last peck. “Be safe.”
“You too, sweetheart.” Kissing her forehead, I released her, then headed for the door before turning for one last look at her. “Bye,” I rasped.
“Later, Kip.” She winked.
Chapter 30
Devolin
I watched as Dalton and his crew walked out of NSI’s front entrance. Once that door latched shut behind them, I turned the deadbolt to the locked position like Theo had instructed me.
I found myself sitting at my desk, my brain running at a hundred miles an hour. Guilt filled me for lying by omission about how Dalton came across this latest case. Worry filled me about the possible dangers that the men’s latest jaunt would hold for them. What was worse was that the panic that had caused me to lose my shit earlier was threatening to take hold of me again.
“There was never a right time,” I whispered to the room, as if it was a proper justification for having remained mum about my family connections.
I knew that Dalton wouldn’t see it that way though. Hell, I didn’t see it that way. I knew that I’d been given the opportunity to come clean just before he left. I could have told him right after I finished pouring my guts out about Gordon. If it were the other way around, I knew that I’d be pissed at the man if he withheld important information from me.
With that final thought, I resolved that next time we spoke, which would be when he landed in Houston, before connecting with their chartered helicopter, that I’d come clean.
Until then, I ran a check of my monitoring systems to assure myself that I was ready for when the boys needed me. I estimated another five hours or so before the men would reach their destination. Between now and then, because my gut told me something big was on the horizon, I’d make damn sure that I hadn’t missed a single thing.
Rex was a bear of a man. A very scary one at that.
When the man came calling at NSI’s door, I asked him for his ID, feeling slightly embarrassed when he produced it without hesitation, a look of complete boredom strewn across his face. The approval in his eyes, however, was sign enough that I’d done well.
It turns out that Rex wasn’t much of a talker either.
I tried to engage him in conversation, but his answers were short, mostly provided with shoulder shrugs and grunts.
In truth, the last three hours in his company had been pure torture.
When my phone rang, I jumped at the chance to make contact with the outside world. A person that wouldn’t mimic a fucking robot.
“Hello?”
“Devolin?”
“Who’s this?” I asked the woman on the other line.
“It’s Morgan. Theo gave me your number earlier, when he called to let me know that they were on their way out,” she explained. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” I said, watching as Rex set his motorcycle magazine to the side and got up to do his rounds over the office floor again. That meant another hour had passed since his last check. Yes, I could tell what time it was simply by when the man would move. Clearing my throat, I added, “Much better.”
“I’m so glad…” Her voice trailed off as if she meant to continue but didn’t.
“Is something the matter?” I asked.
“Uh, no. Not exactly,” she said. “I…uh…called because I wanted to know if you’d like to join me for dinner.”
“Uh—”
“It’s just that I know how it feels to have your man take off to parts unknown. Then again, they’re not unknown to you now, are they?” She giggled nervously. “I suppose it’s probably harder for you to know where they are, and what’s going on, and not being able to be there to help them.” She sighed. I didn’t voice how right the other woman was on that one. I figured I had enough to worry about. “What I’m saying is that, after all these years, I’ve forgotten how it felt when my brother was deployed. Theo taking off—”
I was nodding in agreement throughout Morgan’s rambling, then realized the woman wasn’t there to see me, so I said, “I get it. It’s only been a few hours and I’m sick with worry, even though I know they’re still up in the air.”
Sick with worry didn’t cover it. With everything lined up and ready to go, I was simply sitting there, watching my screens, then watching Rex watch me, and twiddling my thumbs. Hell, I’d even given up on playing Candy Crush on my phone. Every hour, when Rex went on his walks, I’d pick up the phone and have Dalton’s number half-dialed before I’d set the receiver back in its cradle. Maybe I could pick Morgan’s brain on how to come clean to Dalton?
Turning my attention back to the conversation, I said, “I’ll tell Rex. I’ll be over in half an hour, is that okay?”
“Your ass gets here when it gets here, lady,” she said, making me smile. “As for mine, it’ll be digging out weeds in the greenhouse until you get here.”
“You need me to bring anything?”
“Nah. We can order something when you get here, if you’re up for it,” she replied.
“Sounds good.”
“Now answer me this one thing before I let you go. Who’s Rex?”
“My new bodyguard,” I say dryly. Before Morgan could ask, I said, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it when I get there.”
“What do you do, Rex?” Morgan asked, trying to engage the man, who’d yet to utter a single word since our arrival. We’d been there for a couple of hours now and it was after dinner.
“He doesn’t talk,” I supplied, as I rinsed the dishes we’d used for the pizza.
Morgan’s eyes rounded, then looked at the behemoth of male muscle standing by the back door, surveying the gardens and the rest of the surroundings.
I swore I saw his lips quirking up at the sides. Good Lord, it was a miracle!
“I talk,” he rasped. He sounded like a smoker with a two-pack-a-day habit, but I suspected that the scar etched into his skin across his neck might have something to do with it. Rex’s mild-humored expression faded as soon as he noticed my eyeing said scar.
“Then what do you do?” Morgan asked him again, while at the same time, my cell started ringing.
Drying my hands on the dishrag and setting it down, I reached into my back jeans pocket and pulled the device out, noticing the scrambled number that told me Dalton was calling from the satellite phone he’d brought with him. My heart started to race.
“Stay inside,” Rex warned.
Nodding, I took a deep breath, slid my finger across the screen, and answered with a breathy, “Hey!”
“Sweetheart.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Everything okay?”
“I feel like I should be asking you that.”
“We’re good. In Houston. We’re just waiting to board the bird.”
“Bird?”
“Helicopter,” he explained.
Suddenly, Rex burst out laughing in the kitchen. Then Morgan’s giggle followed. How the fuck had she managed that? I’d tried everything to engage the man, but he’d remained steadfast and removed the entire time since his arrival.
“What the fuck?” Dalton snapped.
“I’m at Morgan and Theo’s,” I explained. “She invited me over, and since this might be the only break I have until this operation is over, I figured I’d take her up on her offer.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“I really like her, Kip,” I whispered, my emotions getting the better of me. “And Theo, too. You’ve got some really great friends, baby.”
“Everything okay?”
I nodded yes as I gave him the truth. “No.”
It was time.
There was no turning back now.
Chapter 31
Dalton
I wasn’t expecting her to tell me that things weren’t okay. Knowing that Rex was there, because he was in between jobs right now, soothed the panic that would have built had she been entirely on her own.
“Dev, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“I…I’ve got something I need to tell you,” she confessed. “I should have told you this long before now.”
“What is it?”
“You’re not going to like it. I don’t want secrets between us. Not like this,” she rambled on. “A gift or some other kind of surprise is one thing—”
“Devolin,” I snapped. “I need you to focus.” Some of the guys were heading toward the helicopter and Preacher was finishing up with fueling the LongRanger. Preacher, our pilot, and I went a long way. Back to Kandahar to be exact, when he did supply drops. He now ran a charter and tour business out of Houston.
“It’s about this mission, Dalton,” she said.
Somehow, I knew what she was about to tell me. Hell, I’d found out during our twenty-minute drive to Albert J. Ellis, where we caught our first flight. Therefore, I told her as much. “I know.”
“Huh?”
I sighed. “I know, babe.” Then I continued, “I called Wentworth to give him a SITREP; a situation report. He came right out and said that he knew his niece would come through for him.”
I heard her gasp. “He did?”
“Imagine my surprise. The man refused to tell me who’d referred him,” I explained. “It’s not every day that a Canadian diplomat reaches out to some small American security firm, Devolin.”
“You’re not mad?” she squeaked.
Had I said no, I’d have been lying. At first, I’d been pissed off. Theo and Brycen both made me see reason pretty quickly though. Shane, too. Hell, everyone who’d had a hand in Morgan’s rescue jumped to defend my woman.
“I was.” I paused. “But I’m not now.”
I heard her relieved exhale over the line. “Please know that I never meant to hold out on you like that for this long,” she said. “I just—”
“I get it.”
“I asked him not to tell you,” she admitted. “I wanted to let you know on my own. Fuck…” I could hear what sounded like her hand smacking against her forehead. “I planned to tell you that day at Theo’s when I went to find you. Afterward, time got away from me. From us. We talked about so much. I got caught up in us. I should have… There’s no excuse, Kip. I’m sor—”
Her words warmed me, despite feeling her guilt radiating through the line.
“Sweetheart—”
“He’s not a good man, Dalton,” she whispered. “But he’s family, and Nadia’s a nice woman. Young. She’s a few years older than me, but she didn’t deserve what’s happened to her. I regretted sending him to you almost right away.”
I felt my brows knit together and curiosity got the better of me. “Then why’d you do it?”
“Because I knew you’d do everything you could to make sure she was safe.” Her voice cracked. “My skills with computers aren’t a secret in my family. When Uncle Max called to see if I could look into things, I knew I needed someone I could trust to help. I found out a lot of things, that both shocked me and didn’t, about both Max and Scott. That’s why I came to you. That’s why I said yes to working with you and the guys. I needed to make sure that I didn’t fuck up by sending him your way and that you’d be the one to pay for my stupidity.”
“You’re not stupid.” I was firm about it, too.
“I needed to keep you safe. Even if I couldn’t have you, I had to keep you safe.” Her voice shook, and I could tell that she was crying.
It killed me not to be there to console her. “Babe…” my voice trailed as I tried to find the right words.
“Now that I have you, I don’t want to lose you, Kip.” Her breath hitched. “I—”
That’s when I knew it was time to address my earlier concerns.
“Devolin, listen to me,” I said with determination. “You’re not going to lose me. I’m not losing anyone on this team, and that includes you. There’s a lot going on, and emotions are running high right now. Thank you for telling me. This is why you were acting weird after your panic attack earlier, isn’t it?”
“Uh…yeah.”
Brycen clapped me on the back as he passed me and got into the bird. I was the only one aside from Preacher, who was running through his pre-flight checklist, left to board.
“Right. Okay.” I sighed. “Sweetheart, I have to go.”
“It’s okay,” she sniffled.
“Will you be alright?” I needed to know that her head was in the game.
“I’m fine. Go, baby,” she said, the smile back in her voice. “I don’t want the guys waiting because of me.”
Smiling too, I said, “I’ll call again when we land next. Until then, promise me something.”
“Anything,” she breathed through the line.
“Get your head back in the game, baby,” I told her as the prop motor started up. “Because we’re going in hot, and I’m not planning on wasting time to get back to you.”
“O-okay, Kip.”
“Hey, D!” Theo yelled over the noise.
“Gotta go, babe,” I said. “Love you.” Then I hung up.
Chapter 32
Devolin
Love you.
He’d told me he loved me, then hung up. I hadn’t had the time to reciprocate. Hell, I didn’t even have the time to say goodbye.
He loves me.
Or maybe he didn’t. Maybe it was just the emotions running high. Maybe it was just habit.
I had no doubt that the man cared for me. But love? We’ve had a connection for well over a year.
You only just met. How’s it possible that he’d feel that way so soon?
I knew how.
As much as I’d fought the attraction, as much as I rebelled against the idea of finding my own happily ever after, I knew. He was mine, just as I was his.
What did that mean for me—for us—in the long run?
My legs gave way, my ass barely making contact with the edge of the couch cushion beneath me, as the truth stared me in the face.
Fish or cut bait.
Skylar’s words from a few weeks back.
It hadn’t just been about my job. It had been about Dalton, too.
Smiling, I made a monumental decision. There would be no more picking and choosing the parts I gave to Dalton. I was going all in. If the man truly loved me, he deserved all of me. Not a quarter. Not half or three-eighths. All. Of. Me. I wasn’t quite sure if I could say I was in love with the man as of yet, but I knew I was falling for him and hard.
“What’s that smile all about?”
“Morgan!” I shrieked, nearly falling off the couch. “You scared the fuck out of me.”
She gave me an apologetic look. “You left so fast, looking like you were heading to your funeral. When I couldn’t hear you talking anymore, and you didn’t come back, I decided to check on you. Was that Dalton?”
I nodded, unable to keep the smile from spreading on my face.
“What’d he say? Or can you talk about it?”
“They’re up over San Antonio most likely,” I said, then decided to let Morgan in a bit more. “I left that way because I had something to talk to him about. It wasn’t good, and he needed to know about it.”
Night Break Page 12
