Page 89 of Sweet Little Spies

Tara went to answer the door.

Zach went into military mode, his shoulders flattening outand back ramrod straight. “Carys and Aidan, feel free to be the couple you are,but the rest of us are operatives working together on a team, and we’re givingthis guy nothing. Though whoever it is has almost certainly gotten a report onus. Ben Parker would make sure of it.”

He was talking about the one who Kenzie was mad at.

The Court.

What the hell was The Court?

Is this what you and Zach do at that place… What’s itcalled?

A cold wash of revelation swept through her. The Court. Itcould only be one thing.

A club. Tristan had been going to a club for the last twoyears?

She sat up and stiffly allowed Aidan to help her to herfeet. Everyone around her was standing and decoupling. Kala went to the doorseparating the great room from the kitchen. She knocked loudly. “Hey, perverts.We have incoming from Canada’s finest, and it’s probably that asshole.”

Tristan stood behind her. “Hey, are you okay?”

He’d played at a club. He’d topped subs.

Aunt Charlotte came out first, smoothing her hair back andgiving her daughter a smile. “CSIS is here? Sorry, we were working out dinnerplans.”

“Sure you were,” Tasha replied and gestured to the stairs.“You need to go make sure everything’s okay up there.”

Charlotte nodded and jogged up the stairs toward the atticwhere Kenzie was staying.

Uncle Ian came out, the French doors opening to accommodatehis big form. “And it can’t be him because I told CSIS I wouldn’t work withhim.”

“And they always do what Mr. Lemon tells them to, don’tthey?” Tara was followed by a tall man with movie-star good looks, who quicklyassessed the room. His gaze settled on Kala. “Maggie.”

“Fucking Ben Parker.” Kala’s eyes narrowed.

The team started to argue, but all Carys could think aboutwas the fact that he’d lied to her. Again.

A familiar numbness settled over her.

“Carys, I asked you a question,” Tristan said, though histone was gentle. “Are you all right?”

She forced her lips to curve up. She wouldn’t say anythinghere, so she had to convince him everything was fine. It was easy since she wasan excellent actress. “Great. I’ll go see if the conference room needsanything. I take it we’re starting the meeting over again?”

Tristan stared at her for a moment. Aidan did, too. “Yes. Weshould be able to go to the hotel in a couple of hours. We’ll talk there.”

“Of course.” She took a deep breath and walked away.

At least she had some time to figure out if she even wantedthis battle. Or if it was time to walk away.

ChapterThirteen

Tris watched as Carys left the room. She’d given him thesmile she gave people she hated but tolerated for the sake of keeping thepeace. He knew all her smiles, and the one on her face right now was theworst-case scenario when it came to him. Aidan moved in close, watching her,too. His voice went low.

“Dude, she is pissed. What is she pissed… Fuck.” Aidan’sface fell.

“Yeah, I hadn’t mentioned I was going to a club. I honestlydidn’t think about it because it wasn’t like I was having sex. You can’t tellher you knew I was going to The Court,” Tristan said under his breath.

“I told your boss I wanted to work with someone else,” Ianwas saying and he wasn’t keeping his voice down.

“My boss is more concerned with what’s best for ourcountry.” Ben Parker looked over the room with cold eyes. “You’re not in chargeof CSIS. If you don’t want our help, you should feel free to leave. I assureyou we can have a team in place quickly. Hey, Lou. How are you doing?”