Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
She had to get her head in the game. She forced herself to walk out.
“Well, hello, Lou.” Oliver was sitting at her dining room table, a mug of something hot in front of him. Despite the early hour, he was in a button-down and slacks, his hair messy in that way that had probably taken him hours in front of a mirror. “You seemed to have fun last night.”
“Hey, I told you not to tease her.” Zach walked in wearing his normal jeans and black T-shirt. “Lou, you okay this morning? Last night was pretty intense.”
Lou felt her face heat. “You heard something? Who talked about us? I was under the impression everyone thought it was an undercover thing.”
For their first baby op at the club, it seemed to have gone well. Kenzie hadn’t disappeared with Ben, though the sexual innuendo had been heavy when she and TJ had joined them in the lounge. There had been a lot of longing looks between the two of them when Dare and Tasha had taken Ben to his hotel.
Zach winced and took the seat at the head of the table. “Uh, unlike the big guy, my eyes work even if you guys are doing sex stuff. TJ was pretty handsy in the bar, and apparently he threatened to murder Lucas, which I can understand. I’d like to murder him half the time and then he sticks a plate of something in front of me and I think he’s a national treasure. Anyway, I heard a lot of speculation that one of you is using this undercover thing to get what he’s always wanted.”
“Don’t you mean what she’s always wanted?” Lou asked, well aware she’d always been the one chasing.
“That’s not what I saw.” Sami had her curly blonde hair up in a ponytail and looked far more casual than her brother. “I saw a possessive Dom, and I don’t think that man is capable of that level of acting. I haven’t seen TJ in years, but it’s hard to believe he would have changed so much.”
“Yet you think he’s capable of working with an arms dealer.” It was time to get down to real business. Now that he wasn’t here, she realized how much they’d left out the night before to spare TJ’s feelings. “If you know him, you know he’s not capable of this.”
“I have been around long enough to know that most people are capable of anything given the right pressure,” Sami replied. “Like I said before, we’ve been betrayed, Ollie and I. I’m afraid the only people we truly trust are each other, our parents and brother, and the men and women who’ve worked with our parents for years.”
“Speak for yourself. I don’t trust Archie as far as I can throw him, and he’s getting a little tubby,” Oliver quipped.
Sami’s eyes rolled, and it was good to know family was family no matter where they came from.
“I don’t trust anyone.” Kala strode in, putting a big mug of coffee in front of Lou and giving her a wink because Kala actually trusted a lot of people. She didn’t like to admit it. Bud strolled alongside her, sitting when she did.
“I think we can trust Ben.” Kenzie still had a dreamy look on her face.
Everyone in the room groaned.
“Bloody hell, I do trust the bloke, and I’m sick of hearing about him.” Oliver gave her a shudder. “You need to start thinking with the head on your shoulders, cos.”
“That seems boring.” Kenzie pouted as she sank into her chair.
“It’s not boring. It’s sensible.” Cooper was the last to join them.
“Where’s Tash?” She was usually at every meeting.
“She and Dare are taking Parker out to breakfast,” Zach explained.
“So they’re distracting him,” Lou concluded. “And TJ is sleeping, so all the people we don’t trust are out of earshot.”
“Lou, you know we trust TJ,” Cooper argued, a donut in one hand. In the other he had a plate with two cinnamon twists on it. “Hey, I got you the last two.”
Cooper always made sure Kala got what she liked. Often Kala would try to make do with whatever was in front of her because she knew she had odd tastes and didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. But Cooper would swoop in and change things so she had the most atrocious pizza on earth. Even when they were in rural Europe he would find a way to feed her what she liked.
I want to know everything about the care and feeding of Louisa Ward.
Hadn’t TJ been doing that for her for a long time?
Kala took the plate with a subdued smile. “Thanks, and he’s right. We trust TJ, but we can’t make MI6 do the same. What we can do is prove them wrong. So what do you have?”