by Tara Brown
He sighed, "So it is James' writing?"
I nodded blankly, desperate for answers. My body had a want for a bunch of bad things; Servario was still close to the top of the list, but at the very top was bitter hate and a need for revenge.
"For fuck's sake. How did he get Servario?"
He shook his head, "We got jumped in Venice. He has his hair long, a new plane, and no one knew we were there. I didn’t understand or see it coming, and I know he didn’t either. They tasered and beat the crap out of me, and tranqued him. He was gone when I woke up."
I looked around, "What if they followed you?"
He shook his head, "Impossible. I used the machine to check myself for bugs and trackers. Then I went to our secret house. No one can track you out of the place. It's an underground tunnel. Trust me, no one tracked me here. When I got back to the US, I hitchhiked, walked and rode a motorcycle in a circle for two weeks before I got here. I stayed for a week in the woods in a cabin I knew about."
It wasn’t enough. My heart was in my throat. I turned and sprinted from the alley to the school as the bell was ringing. Jules ran for me. She had a painting she wanted to show me. I ignored her, dragging her to the older side of the school. I couldn’t grip her small hand hard enough. Mitch rolled his eyes and walked by me. I followed him until we were where Luce, Jack and Coop were standing on the road, all breathing heavily and giving me a brutal look. Steve was next to Jack so I brought Jules to Luce and grabbed Mitch's arm. Jules instantly started showing Luce her painting.
I dragged Mitch to where Coop was standing and let it fall out of my mouth, "We are in trouble. Big trouble. I can’t lie anymore. Your dad cheated on me. He had affairs with everyone we knew. He never loved me and that isn’t your fault. He loved you, but he never loved me. He never was true to me." It felt low and seedy doing it, but I had to let him in on the whole story.
Mitch's face twisted, but I watched as a light came on. He remembered something. I could see it. Tears left his eyes, but instead of running away, he ran to me. I wrapped my arms around him, "We have another issue. He also cheated the American government. Our job lets us have access to highly-sensitive material. He sold information about something very big to some very bad people. I can't tell you anything else, but I have to tell you, we are in some danger. Montana is probably safe but I need your help. I need you to keep an eye on Jules and help Grandma. She knows about it all, she knows what to do. If she tells you to run, you do it, okay?" It was such a heavy burden to place on such small shoulders.
He nodded as he sobbed, "I hate him."
I nodded, "Me too, baby." I took the low road.
Mitch wiped his face and sniffled, "I hate him. I'm glad he's dead." He turned and stalked off, towards the house. I stood there hating myself. It was the easy way. Instead of being the better parent and earning their love, I besmirched their father's name and let them see behind the curtain. No matter how hard I believed I was protecting them, it didn’t feel like that. It looked petty and it felt worse.
Coop gave me a look, "Really?"
I shook my head, "I didn’t know what else to do. I need him to know how serious this all is."
He stalked away from me, after Mitch. I walked to Jules and Luce and headed home.
Mom gave me a look when we got there. I kissed Jules on the head, "Go wash up." She kissed my mom and bounced off.
"What?" Mom asked.
I swallowed, "Servario's man, Steve is here in town. He was tracking a pair of shoes I lent to Luce. He says no one followed him, but I can't be sure." I sighed and slumped onto the barstool. She slid a plate with a chocolate chip cookie on it at me.
"What is the thing you’re not telling me?"
I laughed, "James is alive. He took Servario captive and left a note for Steve to bring me in."
She leaned against the counter, "Time to stop fucking around, Evie and end him the right way. None of this looking away like you're a fragile little lamb. You hold the gun to his fucking head and splatter his face everywhere."
I choked on the cookie, but she was back to being Mary Poppins within seconds, "The cookies are good, aren't they?"
"They are." I nodded, "I know what I have to do, Mom. I have to keep them safe from him."
Her eyes sparkled, "I spoke to Mitch briefly, he seems awfully upset."
I nodded, wishing the cookie had poison in it, "I told him James was having affairs and leaking the information to the bad guys. I can't risk him coming back for them and taking them. He'll use them as ransom. He doesn’t care about them."
She sighed like she was annoyed with that and grabbed me a cup of tea; the Brit in my mom was obvious all along, I just missed the signs. She passed me the tea, her eyes searching mine for more truths I might have missed letting her in on. I laughed, "Stop, I've told you everything."
She nodded skeptically, "Okay."
I rolled my eyes, "Whatever."
"You look like Mitch when you do that."
I laughed again, "Mom, if I go after this, can you keep them safe?"
Her eyes darkened in a way that scared the hell out of me, "I kept you safe, didn’t I?"
I grimace, not sure what that meant, not sure I wanted to know. The story Fitz told me about her still seemed awfully hard to believe.
Chapter Six
Easy Evie
I tapped my fingers against the chair of Fitz's jet. He gave me a desperate look from the seat across from me, "Evie, darling! Stop that."
I shook my head, "How did she even find you?" My mom and Fitz had apparently been in contact from the very beginning.
He chuckled over his glass of sangria, "She posted in the gay personal ads for South Beach." The way he said it reminded me of a shitty teenage girl, like I was ridiculously stupid for asking.
"So that's the secret? Post an ad in the South Beach personals and you will come running?"
He gave me a confused look, "I'm not a border collie!" He sipped his drink with his pinky out and rolled his neck for tension relief, "Firstly, it has to be in code. My code name is Scarlett and hers is Tara, and your father was always Rhett. The code is not easy to learn, but I suppose we have nothing better to do."
My neck was feeling tense too. I rubbed it as he did his, "You didn’t bring the magic bean bag with you?"
He sighed, "No. Forgot it. I need one for the jet. Now let's start this code training."
I shook my head, "First things first. Why did you fake your death?"
He drank the sangria slowly, thinking about his answer. I didn’t trust that, the pause was like plotting. Finally, he smacked his lips together, "I knew they would come for me. I've played double agent for a long time."
"Your name is on a list of not good names."
He winked at me, dazzling me with his smile, "I know. I worked hard to get it there. The CI thinks I am retired and incognito. The bad guys think I am with them. The Burrow thinks I am with them. It is a perfect set up."
I swallowed hard, "Perfect set up for what?"
He shook his head, "To know what everyone knows. Keep your enemies closer, my sweet. The man who knows everything, knows when he needs to run. I like being that man, as does your mother. Your father has always been blind to the fault of the Burrow. There is such a thing as believing too much and giving up too much, Evie."
My father had given up everything for the Burrow. I sighed, "Is he alive?"
I watched the change in Fitz's eyes as he shook his head, "That, I don’t know." He was telling the truth. To the rest of the things he had said, I could only assume he was being honest.
"Where did you get the jet?"
He laughed, "I made some money once upon a time."
I frowned, "HOW?"
He leaned in, "Sometimes we Burrow agents would come upon an invention that wasn’t dangerous to the world, but the scientist was being carted off and would never be allowed to sell it. Sometimes we sold those inventions for them."
I gasped, "Fitz?"
He pointed
at me, "Judge me when you're my age and you are still alive, Evie. I have done a lot of bad things to stay this way, but I regret none of them. Your friends would be dead if I hadn’t had the jet. Someone in your organization is putting hits on people who know about the Burrow."
I looked back at Coop. He was pretending to sleep but listening to everything we were saying. Luce was reading on a Kindle and Jack was playing a video game. I knew they were technically listening to it all. I climbed into the seat next to Fitz, "Alright, let me see this code."
When we landed in Rome, my stomach was in my throat. I felt sick and couldn’t shake it. Servario being hurt made me angry, but the fact that I would be seeing James made me feel homicidal things that weren’t healthy for anyone to feel.
Fitz waved as we left the plane, "I'll keep my eyes glued, in case you get into trouble. Remember, you are being double-crossed on this one by everyone. Trust no one."
I nodded, nervously.
Jack laughed, "He sounds like Mulder off X Files."
I laughed and tried not to cry as we left him. We had fake ID's and all the right passports, but I still felt like we were making a mistake. Steve had given me the last place they had been in Venice, and the back of the note from James had a hotel stamp on it. A hotel in Rome.
Coop nudged me, "You ready?"
I shook my head, "I feel sick."
He laughed, "That’s ‘cause this is the big time."
Jack nodded, stretching and walking next to me, "That’s true. You and Servario dicking around on his plane probably felt dangerous, but it wasn’t. This is actually really dangerous."
Luce swatted him, "Dude, not helping."
I shook my head, "I need a bathroom."
Luce wrapped her arm around my shoulders, "You just need to get in good and deep. The strength, training, and abilities will come back. Nothing like fear to bring back all your old skills."
That was a huge gamble with my life.
I followed them to clear customs as Canadians and ignored the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.
We caught a cab outside of the airport and ended up in the hotel district of Rome. It was beautiful. The stonework and architecture were like nothing I had ever seen. It was hard to focus with James and Servario tugging at my ability to maintain my composure. I looked around the courtyard as we stopped at a massive stone hotel. It was breathtaking. Coop leaned in, "You ready, Mrs. Rinaldi?"
I gave him a frown, "Yes, Jon. Let's do this." His eyes couldn’t contain the enjoyment he was having. Jon and Kim Rinaldi. Who knew we would get married so quickly.
I whispered back, "You know I look like a pervert being married to you."
He kissed my cheek softly and whispered in my ear, "You are that hot cougar who was able to land a stud like me. Clearly you can suck a watermelon through a garden hose."
He pulled away and passed the driver cash as he jumped out before I could say anything. I sat there for a minute with a red face and a thousand comebacks floating through my brain. Damn him, none were good enough.
He opened my door. I stepped out, walking past him. Little shit.
When we got to the front door, the valet grabbed our bags, eyeing me up with a grin. As we got inside, Coop leaned in again, "See, he's thinking you are a machine in the sack. It's a known thing about the older ladies, sex-addicted maniacs.
I shook my head, "I'm telling everyone you're my son."
He nudged me as we got to the desk, "Check your passport age."
I pulled it from my beautiful purse that Fitz had given me when I was on board. I smiled when I saw the birthday, "Twenty-nine, really?"
He shrugged, "You can pull it off easy."
I tried to resist the charming smile and compliment. "This feels like a trap. How old are you?"
He ignored me and smiled at the front desk girl, "Hello there. How are you?" He was doing his over-the-top, friendly-Canadian thing. He even sounded like he was from Wisconsin and the girl ate it up. She didn’t even know I was in the room. I looked around at the stunning décor and wondered if I was there or if it was a dream, a terribly-amazing dream.
He got our keys and a box that had been waiting for him and walked to the elevators. "Luce and Jack should be in their hotel any minute. We should be able to see each other when we get to the room."
I nodded, not really paying much attention; I was very focused on exits and how strong my legs felt. In the elevator he leaned over, pressing his lips against my neck. He paused there, breathing his hot breath onto my nape, "Stop looking so scared, Evie." His words were such a whisper, I think I felt them more than heard them.
I swallowed hard, ignoring him. When the doors opened, he took my hand in his and pulled me down the hall. Our room was beautiful, not Servario beautiful but far more than I would have stayed in with James. Of course, I never would have come to Rome with James. He was hoarding all his fucking money….
Deep breaths.
I needed to not be that savage, angry bitch I secretly was, until it was perfect. I needed to keep that bottled up and only released at the exact right moment.
Coop went straight to the window when we were inside. He was back-to-business Coop. He loved toying with me. He was always leaning into my neck, kissing the side of it. Pretending it was because he wanted our cover intact. But I knew… I knew… He was using his little games and playing hot and cold to keep me at a distance. He was just as scared of falling for me as I was of him. But neither of us was ever going to admit it. Instead, his games were making me crazy.
I sighed, “Little bastard.”
Although, having seen him in very tight jeans, I had to agree with him, there was really nothing little about the boy.
I mentally slapped my whorish self back into submission. She had already gotten us both into enough trouble.
The past months had been all her doing… Well, if I were being honest, the last decade had been all her fault.
Slut…
"They're in place." He held the binoculars out for me. I walked to him, taking them from him. He stayed close to me and pointed. I shivered from the warmth of him as I glanced through the binoculars, seeing Jack and Luce looking around their room, which was much nicer than ours. Jack looked at Luce for a moment, saying something, but I couldn’t read his lips from that distance. He crossed the room in several large steps, took her face in his hands and said something. She blushed and he bent his face down on hers. My jaw dropped as an awwww left my lips. Coop tried to take the binoculars from me, but I shoved him back, "No. That was the sweetest kiss I have ever seen."
"I knew it!" he sounded less than impressed. In fact, he sounded downright angry.
I gave him a rotten smile, "Jealous?"
He scoffed and gave me a cruel look, "Hardly. I always worry when one member of the team falls for the other. It never ends well. They should be able to joke around, like me and you. We can be around each and not fall in love."
I flinched as Servario's words of how I should never love him or make him love me drifted through my mind. Neither man wanted to love me, they both just wanted to screw around. I hated that I had never been able to be that girl who was able to just have sex and move on with it. Oh well, at least Luce was lucky in love.
I cleared my throat and placed the binoculars on the table, "Let's give them a few moments."
He gave me an indifferent look. I almost was able to hate him again. He was a master of switching his moods and feelings and closing things off. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t pretend that I wasn’t falling for him, and the only thing saving me was that he was in his twenties and acting like an asshole. I shook my head, "What is so wrong about falling in love?"
His eyes hardened, "Gets you killed, Evie. If I loved you, I would always save you. I would die saving you. I would do anything possible to keep you alive. See the theme? You. Not me. This job is about keeping me alive, not you."
I felt sick, instantly. I wrinkled my noise at him, "I would rather be like Jack and
Luce a thousand times, than be like you for a second. I could never live with the fact I let someone die. I also couldn’t live without love."
He scoffed, "Clearly. Look at your track record. Fall for guys at basic. Fall for guys on mission. Fall for guys who say hello to you too nicely. You would let me have you in a heartbeat, if we were in different circumstances than this. You fall for guys too easily and it's a weakness. You need to learn to detach your libido from your heart." His words were cutting and venomous.
I shook my head, "Fuck you, Coop."
He nodded his head, "That’s all it would ever be for me, Evie. That’s as far as I would let things go. That’s why I'm actually good at this, as you so eloquently pointed out once." He walked past me to the bedroom. I stood in the sitting room, hating him and wishing I had been paired with Jack. Seeing the urgency of his kiss made me jealous. I couldn’t think of a single man that had ever needed to kiss me that way. He was desperate to hold her face, I had seen it in his trembling hands. They had maintained their act of indifference for hours, and only when they were alone, would they be true to themselves. Coop was the opposite. He was sweet, funny, and sexy in front of other people, but the moment we were really alone and in a situation where no one would ever know, he was a fucker.
I sighed and told myself it was for the best. He was jailbait.
He came out of the bedroom with the box, "Put this on. I had it all shipped here yesterday."
He left it on the couch and walked back into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. I opened the lid to the box, stunned to find a sexy black dress and a pair of killer shoes. Underneath that there was a water bra. I sneered at it.
I started undressing, not even caring if he walked into the living room. Not caring about anything, really.
I turned and looked at myself, I looked tired and chesty. My breasts with the water bra were ridiculous. The push-up of it made it look like I had far too much for my bra… Yeah, that was the problem.
He came out of the room in a tux. He looked gorgeous. Gorgeous in the Dior commercial sort of way. He was breathtakingly beautiful. Wide shoulders, thick arms, a solid chest and a trim body was one thing, but the stunning face, kissable lips, and amazing eyes were the killer part. He was handsome in a tux, the way all men should be.
