CHAPTER 20
Cecily didn’t buy Shane a plant. She bought him three. Two of them involved flowers.
Flowers and plants. In his room.
Shane obviously didn’t give a shit about interior design, but he liked the idea of Cecily leaving her mark on his living quarters.
So, yeah, she’d been busy since Friday night, and thanks to living in Manhattan, the deliveries were already arriving.
So far, the take included a new set of sheets and a new comforter and a slew of pillows, most of which had immediately ended up on the floor on Saturday night when Shane was done with his team planning session, and Cecily stopped by to set things up. And then, because he always made it a point to test new equipment in the field, he tried it all out—with Cecily on the bed, of course.
Girl done good. She’d designed a room for a man where a woman could be totally comfortable. She’d designed a room for the two of them.
The two of them.
Us.
A familiar rap on the door was followed by the immediate entrance of Missy, wheeling another cart full of boxes.
“Where’s Cecily?” Missy asked. “I’m guessing that a box from a place called Gracious Home is not something you ordered.”
“Hanging out with Dex.”
“How’s it going with him? You guys make up?”
Since he hadn’t talked to Dex recently and wasn’t planning to talk to him soon, he didn’t answer. Missy pulled a scissors from a holster hanging off the front of the cart and started opening boxes.
“You serious?” Shane asked.
“What, am I being inappropriate?” Missy asked, continuing to run the scissor blade down the tape seams and opening lids.
“Sometimes I worry about you.”
“I wouldn’t worry. I’ve got, like, a baker’s dozen of big, strong men who will take care of little ol’ me in a pinch.” She said this as she wielded the scissors in a final flourish, swung the handle loop around her finger like a gunslinger, and tossed them expertly back in the holster. And then: “Huh.”
“What?” Shane asked.
“It’s a blankie. Awww.”
Shane looked. “That’s not a blankie. It’s a blanket. It’s clearly a very nice, adult blanket.”
“You’re getting testy,” Missy noted, with a grin. “I like how you defend her. Is this the real deal?”
“Missy, don’t start. We’re not a thing,” he said. At least not a public thing. They were a private thing. And it made sense to keep it that way for now.
“I wouldn’t shout it out either, if I had Dex and Rothgar breathing down my neck, but you gotta admit to me, anyway, that you are finally having feelings for a sister instead of a sedan.”
Shane winced at that one. “Got nothing to say.” He pulled the entire blanket out of the box. It was a big two-person-friendly blanket in gunmetal gray, like his car. He tossed it on the bed. “Have no idea what she had in mind with this stuff.”
“Oh, I think we know what she had in mind, pal. It’s a blanket.”
Shane crossed his arms across his chest. “If you think you’re welcome to stay here and open any more boxes, you got it wrong.”
“I’m going, I’m going.”
Nick stuck his face through the crack in the door. “Everybody decent? Oh, it’s just you and Missy.”
Missy made a face on her way out.
Nick walked in.
“What is this, Grand Central?” Shane asked, stacking the rest of the boxes on the bed.
“Went to see if Romeo was up to getting back to work, but he’s busy puking, and these are new shoes.”
Shane laughed.
“So, you continue to be the primary in the field,” Nick said. “Chase is backup.”
“No problem,” Shane said. He took the documents and studied a graph with so many lines it looked like a mutant spider from hell. Closer inspection revealed it was actually a trail following bank accounts with lines labeled with circled letters that pointed from one page to another, around, and back again.
Nick pointed to one of the account numbers. “That’s the account Anya’s credit card tapped. It’s being fed both by James, who’s pulling dough from wire transfers out of Russia . . . and by Anya’s boyfriend, one Vlad Sokolov. For the record, I don’t know that Sokolov is a spy, but he’s definitely doing some shady business with the mother country.” He hesitated and then added, “I’ve worked with him.”
“Well, that’s some sweet intel,” Shane said.
“Not exactly,” Nick muttered.
Shane watched Nick carefully for a second and then decided not to get into his business. He trusted his brother to share whatever needed to be shared. He looked back down at the papers. “We adding Vlad to our watch list?”
“Rothgar’s on it.” Nick handed him a receipt. “And that’s your latest freelance. Money’s snug in bed.”
Shane glanced at it to make sure the right amount had gone to his Point A. As usual, it was correct. “You take a cut for yourself?”
Nick shrugged and took a seat in one of two new guest chairs that had shown up that morning.
“Jaysus, man. You’re doing me a service. Take your cut.” It wasn’t like Nick needed the cash; he had more money than anybody on the team, including Rothgar. But that wasn’t the point.
Nick reached over and grabbed one of Cecily’s new buys from a side table, a fancy candle done in gray with gold lines, and started tossing it in the air like a baseball. “I’ll donate it to the SPCA.”
“You ever get a dog?”
Nick’s face went a little dark. “Not yet.”
Shane studied his face, second-guessing his decision not to pry. “How long have you been staying at the Armory?”
“Long enough to watch on videocam one of my fish jump the tank in an ill-fated quest for a life with a better pH balance.” Nick didn’t look over; kept his eye on the candle.
Nick was keeping up a good front, but Shane could tell he was in some kind of pain. “You need help with that problem of yours?” Shane asked.
Nick stopped tossing the candle. “I’m starting to think about asking Geo,” he said with a grin that didn’t quite hide his discomfort.
Shane raised both eyebrows. He knew that Rothgar had a few guys he considered members of the Hudson Kings who had never been to the Armory, never met the rest of the team, and were essentially placed undercover in locations throughout the world. Geo was a man on the borderline of that group. Geo was also a hit man. And that was as much as most of the men on the home squad knew about him.
Before Shane had a chance to ask anything else, a voice full of piss said, “I tried, man. I really did try.” This, from Dex, walking in. Shane sighed. Yeah, this was definitely Grand Central. Piss and all.
“Take a load off,” Nick said to Dex, gesturing to the other new guest chair still wearing its plastic protective cover.
Dex didn’t sit. “I tried to be a team player. Rothgar said put her in with you. I didn’t veto. Now she’s being asked not to cut ties with the guy. Leave the door open so we can keep James on a string. The fact is we’re basically using my sister as bait, and you’re not only okay with it, it’s like you’re fucking inspiring her to get involved even further in this shit.”
Shane forced himself to relax his body. Nick starting tossing the candle again, but he sat forward, his body alert, ready to play referee.
“I’m not making her do anything, but I’m sure as shit trying to support her choices,” Shane said. “Maybe you should try it.”
“Maybe you should leave her the fuck alone.” Dex looked pointedly over at the plant. He reached out and grabbed the candle from Nick in midair and held it up for Shane’s inspection. “I know my sister very well,” he said tightly. “I also know she’s rebounding from a really bad relationship. Don’t make her think there’s something where there’s nothing.”
There was a long silence. It’s not nothing. It wasn’t nothing from the moment I saw her. “You don’t seem to know just how smart she is, or how capable she is,” Shane said.
“Oh, I know. I just don’t think she needs to put her skills to use in a way that could get her killed.” Dex looked at Nick and added, “And I’m not sure how I feel about the rest of the guys being okay with it either. Would you have put her in the restaurant, Nick?”
Nick leaned forward in his chair. He looked at Dex. He looked at Shane. “That’s not my zone. I don’t even carry a gun,” he said. “I know how to cut off someone’s air supply, but I’ve never had to try. I can ruin your life from my seat at a desk in an air-conditioned skyscraper, without getting a scratch on either of us. I have the cleanest shirts you’ve ever seen, and there’s not one pair of boots in my closet. I do serious damage, but not like the bruisers on this team.”
Nick made a fist, squeezing hard and then releasing. “Well, that’s how it used to be. Suddenly, I find myself lying awake in an unfamiliar room in the Armory trying to figure out how to get back to normal. So, Dex, if you’re asking me, if I had normal back and I cared about a woman . . .” He paused, a muscle in his jaw throbbing, and then continued. “Would I let her go into that restaurant like your sister? Would I tell her to make James think there’s still an in if he asks? Nah. Not a chance.”
He looked at Shane. “Sorry, buddy, but that’s just my opinion. You know I always give Rothgar one hundred percent, but being loyal doesn’t mean you have to agree with every decision.”
Nick got up and squeezed Dex’s shoulder on his way out, but he looked back. “Didn’t get a chance to tell you that this shit you’re doing to your room looks good. Glad you decided to rejoin the human race.”
Dex stared at the floor. He looked up at Shane, and then he just followed Nick out.
In the quiet of the room, Shane ran a hand over the new blanket. What am I forgetting? What did I do to deserve her, and how long is it going to be before someone or something takes it away? Takes her away. His woman. A woman he was losing his heart to in a way he never knew was possible.
The last knock of the night sounded at the door, and the person behind it did not feel the need to barrel in. Cecily. Thank fuck. He slammed the door shut behind her.
“Sweetling,” he said hoarsely. He dipped his head at the same time he hooked her around the waist and pressed her hard against the door.
Cecily moaned into his mouth. Shane kissed her thoroughly, and when they came up for air, she asked, “The stuff for the room, you happy? Any thoughts?”
“Only dirty ones,” he answered, kicking hard with one boot to get the boxes off the bed, an inelegant solution Shane didn’t give one fuck about.