“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. You’re safe here. It’s more secure than a prison, and someone is always watching. Also, I’ve been informed your girl doesn’t intend to let you die. Kai will be back tomorrow, too. I think he looks like a hippie surfer, but Ian swears he’s deadly.”
Jesse had kind of hoped he could avoid Kai altogether. Kai had been his therapist for months and he liked the man, but Kai was not going to take his decision to leave at the end of this well. Jesse could practically hear the lecture. “Let’s hope he doesn’t have anything to worry about. I doubt the sleeper is going to invade Sanctum the way Ten did. I’m probably stuck here for a while. At least Big Tag springs for cable.”
Li slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. Now the question is what do we do about your problem?”
“I thought we just talked about that.”
“I was referring to getting Phoebe to come out of her hidey-hole so you can play with her. Tell me you don’t want to play with the girl. Or have you been playing privately?”
Jesse snorted and thought about having another pi?a colada. Two was the set limit at Sanctum if a Dom or sub wanted to play, but Jesse rarely had more than one. Maybe he should just be honest with himself and acknowledge the fact that he didn’t want to play if he couldn’t play with her. “No. The only games we’ve played are board games, and I’m pretty sure she cheats. Can you cheat at Jenga?”
Li grinned, the smile making him look younger than normal. “I bet she could find a way. The Agency likes their operatives to be wily ones.” He sobered slightly. “So why isn’t she really down here? Are you not getting on now that she doesn’t cry at the drop of a hat?”
“She didn’t cry that much and we’re getting along all right.” When he really thought about it, the last several days had been peaceful. He’d enjoyed her company, and she’d actually talked to him. The night before they’d had something called osso buco, and she’d drank some of the wine Sean had brought and Jesse had enjoyed a beer. They’d sat in front of the fire in Kai’s living room and talked about where they grew up. Jesse had told her about Wyoming and she’d talked about horse country in Virginia. She’d even talked a bit about her husband and some of the trouble they’d gotten into as teens. “I like her.”
“I could tell. You know, I’m glad my wife understood why I did what I did. We wouldn’t be together if she’d taken a hard line against men who met her under false pretenses. Unlike Chelsea, who curses the poor woman’s very name, I understand the position Phoebe was in. Yes, she lied, but it was her job. All I’m saying is if you want the girl, get her. Don’t be afraid the rest of us are going to think poorly of you or that we won’t accept her. I guarantee this will be nothing but a tale to tell your kiddos one day. Go upstairs and coax her down. She’ll see it’s not so bad.”
He wanted her. His need to seduce and dump her had lasted an entire night. When he’d woken up next to her that first morning, she’d been curled up against him and all of his badassed revenge had gone up in smoke. That was who he was. He was surrounded by men who understood what vengeance meant, but he was a puppy begging for affection. He was exactly what the Caliph had called him. A dog. Dumb. Loyal when he shouldn’t be. He shook his head. “No, she’s fine where she is. She’s nervous about the BDSM stuff. We went over the contract and I explained how things work in the dungeon, but she decided it wasn’t for her. She’s going to read or something.”
“Little chicken,” Li said, taking another beer from the bartender. “If there was ever a woman who needed some dominance, it’s that one. Scared of her own shadow. She could use some discipline.”
“She was only pretending to be skittish, Li.”
“Perhaps, but I think it’s interesting that she chose that persona to hide behind. You know as well as I do that it’s best to stick close to your own self when going undercover. She decided to be the girl everyone worried about, the girl all the other women tried to protect. That says something about her.”
He hadn’t thought of it that way. “She was raised in foster care until she was a teen.”
“There you go. That makes sense then. She spent her whole life taking care of herself. She chose to be a person who needed to be protected. Do you understand?”
Jesse shook his head. “I don’t understand a damn thing about her.”
“Well, that’s because she’s a woman. I love my Avery, but I rarely understand why she does the things she does. I only know that I’ll do anything at all to make sure she keeps doing them. That woman’s a mystery to me and I won’t ever finish solving her.”
Phoebe was completely a mystery. So was his reaction to her. Not one single dream. He’d slept better than he ever had. He didn’t even wake up when she rolled out of bed. It was incomprehensible to him.
Li looked up, his eyes widening slightly. “Well, it looks like you were wrong about her.”