Page 85 of Every Which Way

To the left, the high wall had a number of tapestries.

“Are we in Colorado, or did we flip back to Europe again?” Bruce muttered.

“It does look like the inside of that house we toured.”

“They wish. It’s not the same.”

She smiled. “You liked it there.”

“But the US is home. Or it was, now it’s the place I can’t leave.” Bruce patted her arm. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just a nostalgic old man having a moment.”

There was a lot she could say, but not much that would be helpful. He’d signed on to be a CIA officer knowing the risks. He’d been burned through no fault of his own, as far as she knew. Left in England with his government denying all knowledge of him. A burned spy could be killed by any foreign government, and the US wouldn’t bat an eye—or retaliate.

Now that he was back in the US, at least he could be home, but it probably did feel a lot like being trapped.

“You ever want a change in your job, you let me know.” She glanced at him. “And if you wanna go after that guy you saw. The one who got you burned? I’m all in.”

Bruce grinned. “You say the sweetest things.”

She smiled.

“You’re probably gonna have Stairns do it, but…”

“What?” She shook her head.

“If you needed someone to walk you down the aisle, I’d do it. I wanna do it.”

She didn’t know what to say.

“It’s fine, though.” He patted her arm. “You have other people in line in front of me.”

She squeezed his hand because he was right. “Thanks for offering.”

Bruce cleared his throat. “I’m gonna go do some work now. Maizie gave me some gadgets, and I wanna try them out.” He lifted his brows. “I’ll be back. Maybe.”

Kenna chuckled.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Knock ’em dead.”

“That is the plan.”

Bruce wandered off, and she heard him chuckling as he moved away from her through the crowd. Kenna turned toward one of the two bar stations and asked for a soda. She needed to find Jax’s mom and sister in this ocean of people. Or her mother. Maybe Zeyla or Roxanne or Mrs. Hadley. Maybe she had no idea what she was doing here. It was only a fishing expedition.

Better yet, she could trust Bruce to do his job and find Amara, and she could safeguard the people who would be her family when she said, “I do,” to Jax.

Kenna sipped the soda. The sleeves of her dress hooked over her thumbs, and the material bunched up at her elbow when she lifted her arm, but buying a dress with sleeves had been more of a reflex than anything else. No one needed to see her scars. In a room like this, full of power brokers, that sign of weakness would let them know she could be devoured like prey. She needed every way she could find to level the playing field.

Maizie had sent photos of the key players on the guest list—the ones most likely connected to the company they were fighting. She flipped through the images once more, then decided to do a circuit of the ballroom.

“If you want an introduction to the senator, I can make that happen.” His voice was like syrup that was a little too sweet.

She turned to him, standing far too close to her, and lifted her gaze. Maybe twenty-five at best, slicked back hair, and a tailored suit with a silk tie.

“Is that right?” She lifted one brow and tried to pretend Jax was being enticing about going out for Mexican food.

It worked if his smile was anything to go by. “I work for the senator. I have all year, since I graduated from Harvard.”

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

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