“Oh, that was so not Eve, asshole.” The baby shower had been a revelation. So much fucking pink.
Alex gave him a shit-eating grin. “I laughed the whole time I was buying it. I tried to find a place that would bedazzle the fucker, but Eve wouldn’t let me.”
Ian stood. “You know what, I’m going to make that shit manly. You think I won’t wear a pink sling? I will rock that motherfucker.”
“If anyone can, it’s you,” Alex conceded. He grabbed his laptop. Alex would deal with setting up the project files and all the administrative stuff that came with a new case. He’d backed off of active duty since he and Eve had adopted a baby boy named Cooper.
Who would one day likely turn that innocent gaze of his on Ian’s daughters.
“You tell your boy to keep his hands to himself.”
“Oh god. I hadn’t even thought about that. You’re going to be that dad. You know the one who thinks his girls are perfect angels and all the boys around them are the devil? Can we wait until they’re born before you accuse Coop of trying something with them?”
Ian kind of thought Cooper eyed Charlie’s baby bump as though he knew something good was going to come out of there. “You’re wrong. I know my girls won’t be angels, and that’s why I intend to keep an eye on them at all times. And they’re going to look like Charlie so they’ll be gorgeous. No doubt about it. Those girls are going to be trouble.”
He followed Alex out into the hallway. It was so weird to walk this hallway now. At one point the floor had been damn near empty. They’d really only needed reception, the main conference room, and seven offices, though when they’d first begun, Ian had claimed they only really needed six because Adam was so far up Jake’s butt they should share one.
He still loved giving Adam shit. It was one of the constants in his life.
Back in the beginning they’d closed off half the floor and now he was thinking about buying the floor below him if he could convince those damn lawyers to move out. The back conference room had been turned into a daycare center. Charlie now occupied a corner office where she helped Alex with the administrative stuff and was the chief liaison with clients and the outside world. They’d lost Sean to the culinary arts and the world was a better place for it, but somewhere along the way they’d picked up Simon, Jesse, Phoebe, Erin, and now even damn Tennessee Smith had an office, though he’d put Ten in the back next to the babies so he didn’t think this was a forever thing.
He was a little scared he was going to end up with all of Ten’s former team on the payroll. Since Ten had been disavowed by the CIA for getting too close to a dirty politician, his old team was slowly working their way out and they all ended up at Ian’s office with their hands out. He would send the fuckers away but Charlie kept putting them on the payroll.
“Boss, you can’t be serious.” One of the newbies was marching down the hall, her red hair flying behind her and a look of righteous fury on her face. Yeah, Erin had obviously gotten her new assignment.
“I’m never serious,” he replied. God, he loved parts of his job, and fucking with his employees was one of them.
Especially when he fucked with them for their own damn good.
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god. I was hoping it was a joke.”
Alex never fucked with anyone. He was practically Captain America. “It’s not a joke, Erin. You can pick up your tickets with Grace. You and Theo are set to fly out early Thursday. You have a meeting with the security head of the hospital on Monday, so rest up. It’s a long flight and you’ve got a half a day’s layover in Frankfurt. Grace gave you a nice long layover so you don’t miss that flight to Monrovia. Also, since your cover is that you’re an ex-military, down-on-her-luck girl looking for work, we put you in coach. I’m really sorry.”
Ian snorted. Damn, maybe Alex did fuck with the employees. That flight to Liberia was a killer. “But we made sure Theo’s got the seat right beside you. After all, a Master always looks after his precious submissive.”
Erin’s face went a bright red that could have been anger, but unfortunately her T-shirt was thin and that showed the truth. Poor girl’s nipples had gone rock hard and it wasn’t cold in the building.
Really, he should get extra for playing cupid to the clueless.
“Send someone else with me,” she said, her shoulders straight and her feet planted like she was standing at attention. You could take the girl out of the Army, but Erin hadn’t yet figured out how to get the Army out of the girl. “Send me in with Chase or Hutch or Michael Malone. I understand that I’m the only female operative who can handle this mission. Hell, I believe in this mission. I want to take out Senator McDonald as much as anyone, but I don’t think Theo is ready.”