“That’s my cousin,” Malone interjected, following the men. “What are you making? Because I skipped lunch.”
“At least we don’t have to worry about you getting away now,” Charlotte said and then winced again as her husband took a hard uppercut. “Or maybe you should run. I might go with you.”
She followed Charlotte to the back room, her thoughts on how lost Jesse had looked. And on how he’d pulled away. No matter what, her time was almost up.
CHAPTER SIX
Jesse sat down at the conference table, a fresh shirt on his chest and all cleaned up. How many times was he going to have to clean up blood and pretend he hadn’t gone fuck all insane because someone put him on his back or said the wrong words?
“Hey, I think your boss killed my boss,” Michael Malone said as he sat down across from Jesse. He had a plate in one hand and settled a glass of punch on the table. “Are there any openings here? Because I had that bruschetta and it was amazing. No one cooks like that on our team. All we ever get are donuts and coffee.”
Apparently, the shower had gone on, just with a wider guest list. While Ten and Ian had continued to beat on one another, the rest of the group had settled their differences over cake and punch.
Where had Phoebe gone? She’d disappeared with Charlotte and he hadn’t seen her for thirty minutes. She swore she had no reason to run, but Jesse couldn’t trust her.
“What’s bruschetta?” A massive dude with a knot on his head the size of Cleveland walked in. Boomer. He was ex-Special Forces, now Ten’s man. He wasn’t the brightest bulb in the bunch, but Jesse sympathized. Apparently every team needed one.
“It’s like toast except they put lots of good tasting crap on it.” He hadn’t known what it was either before he’d spent time with Sean.
Boomer nodded. “The thing with the steak on it. Yeah, that was really great. Does anyone have some aspirin?”
The dude had taken a chair to his skull according to Jake.
“Hey, I think this one pooped.” Deke walked in carrying Tristan with the ease of a dude who didn’t mind a little poop. He was grinning as he strode through the door with the baby in his arms. Li and Avery walked in behind him with Aidan in Avery’s arms. “He smells like hell. This place is full of kids. I like it. Now I know why Ten invaded. The kids are so damn cute.”
Serena stepped in, holding her hands out for Tristan. “I’ll take him. Oh, gosh, baby boy. You do smell bad. I’m going to change him and then we’re going to head home with Grace and Sean. Sean’s got a bag of peas on his eye, so I’m going to drive his car while Grace takes Avery home. But I’m going to require an update ASAP. The last time I looked, Ian was dragging Ten back into his office. I want to make sure he doesn’t cook and eat the bastard.”
Jesse had caught a glimpse of that, too. Tag had dragged Ten back by his shirt, like a lion dragging a carcass back for a nice private meal, though this particular carcass had still been talking. He’d heard Ten talking about protecting the country and making sure valuable assets didn’t get tainted by suspicious persons.
He might be dumb but he wasn’t ignorant. Jesse could guess who was potentially tainting McKay-Taggart. Him.
For as long as he’d known about McKay-Taggart, Jesse had understood they worked with the government on some of the worst cases to threaten the homeland. They fought side by side with the Agency to put down double agents, arms dealers, and terrorists.
Had Big Tag given him a job so he could keep an eye on him? Had this all been about watching Jesse Murdoch to make sure he didn’t carry out some nefarious plan? Was that why he was constantly monitored?
Simon sighed a little as he sat down beside him. He adjusted his suit and let his head rest against the chair. “Where’s Tag? I got the message that we were having a briefing.”
Simon was his best friend. He was well aware they made an odd pair—an Oxford educated lawyer turned spy and an Army grunt. When he thought about it that way, it didn’t make a lick of sense. It made a lot more sense that Simon hung out with him to make sure he didn’t fuck up or suddenly turn terrorist.
That one moment. He still dreamed about it. When he closed his eyes he could feel the Humvee under him, moving across the desert. He could feel his comfort with the people around him, see their faces as they laughed and joked. He could see Alannah smile and give him a little wink as the Humvee bounced. She held her hands up like she was on a roller coaster. It was a private joke between them. In that moment, he’d been happy, content despite all the danger around him. He’d been safe.
And then he wasn’t.
God, he’d give just about anything to get back to that moment before the IED had blown. To that moment before his innocence had been forever lost.