Page 52 of Alpha

“We can’t ever break up,” she panted with a chuckle, “but if we do, we need a sexual agreement because I’ve never almost blacked out during an orgasm before. I think I might’ve just met Jesus.” That made me laugh, and she rolled to look up at me. “I’ve also never let anyone tie me up before.”

“It was sexy.” I hugged her. “Thank you for trusting me.” She nodded, and we lay in silence listening to the music while we enjoyed the buzz of our sexual high. I thought she’d fallen asleep, but she stirred and started to draw circles on my chest.

“You should know that Dustin also told me Hill’s been back to Montana twice since you punched him.”

“Is that so?” I puffed out my cheeks and slowly let out a breath.

“Yes.” She turned to look at me. “You might want to find a way to talk to Dustin. He obviously isn’t totally on Hill’s side in all this.”

“Seems that way.”

“I wasn’t trying to ruin the mood here tonight. I just wanted to make sure you knew everything that was said tonight.”

“I appreciate that,” I rubbed her back, “and trust me, nothing could ruin this night.”

“Good,” she got up on her knees, “because now it’s my turn to play.”

Ivy

While Ty was busy filling in Frank on what we’d learned the day before, I set up shop in an empty office to prepare for my video conference with Mark. Cole had texted and asked me to check in on the team and see if anyone needed a session. To my surprise, both Mark and Keith asked to have a thirty-minute session with me.

Mark needed to talk; that was clear by the way he started the session off. He hardly took a breath until he finished what he had to say. He smiled once he got it all out, and I could see as he took a deep breath he already felt better. The gist of it all was his worry about how badly misinformed they were with the intel they’d been given by one of Frank’s informants. It apparently had led them directly into a potential ambush and almost got Ty killed.

That got my attention.

I knew the guys would have already talked this out with Cole in their debrief, and he’d probably be in touch with Frank himself, but I promised him that since I was here in Washington with Frank, I’d mention it. He hesitated but agreed he’d like me to.

I took some quick notes and filled out my usual patient spreadsheet like I did after every session while I waited for the alert that Keith had logged in. When it came, I immediately switched to the chat and took a deep breath to reset my head as the video call came up.

“Hi,” I waved and immediately noted the heavy dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, “I’d ask how you’re doing but I think your face says it all.” He nodded with a small smile and pinched the bridge of his nose as if to seek some relief.

“Headache?”

“Migraine.”

“You take your Maxalt?”

He shook his head. “Don’t like taking shit like that.”

“I get that, Keith, but what helps you get rid of all that sludgy crap inside when you’re hurting?”

“Training.”

“Can you train when your head is splitting in two?”

“No.” He seemed to hear me because he reached over and popped a Maxalt out of its tinfoil pouch and stuck it under his tongue to dissolve.

“Suffering in pain isn’t going to help you or anyone else right now.”

“I know.” His voice showed how weary he felt with it all.

“While that’s working its way into your system, why don’t you tell me about how you felt about the mission? Truth be told, I know a little from Mark.”

“I know. I was in the room with him when he had his session.” That was news to me. I knew the guys were close, but the fact they were that comfortable with one another was huge to hear. It meant they talked openly with each about their sessions, and that was extremely uncommon in men. Once again, I was in awe of the enigma that was Shadows. “You got the story from Mark and our frustration with the informants.”

“I got that, yes. Let me ask, though, do you trust Frank?”

“I trust Frank with my life.” He didn’t miss a beat. “It’s just that I’m not sure I trust the information he got. The location was clearly not where she was being held. I want to know why we were sent there. I want to know if it was a fluke we got ambushed by the Cartel. And why were the police standing around just a street over from where we were heading? Things aren’t adding up.” He paused like he needed a moment, so I gave him one. These guys dealt with life and death situations, and they needed to share their feelings about their missions with me, but I had to tread lightly. It was a gray area I had to move in between helping them emotionally while never giving them anything that might undermine their faith in their superiors.

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