Page 40 of Remade

“Luckily for you, old man, Leighton’s job here won’t be dangerous,” Ryan said. “He’s one hell of a logistics coordinator.He’s basically training to handle supply deliveries and coordinate travel.”

Um.

James’s eyes flashed with relief; it was brief but noticeable and genuine, so I didn’t say anything. Ryan would clue me in, right? Since he’d just lied. Like, a big fat whopper of a lie.

“Glad to hear it.” James gave my shoulder a squeeze before heading over to Mary and Willow.

Ryan instructed everyone to go through the library and then up the hallway with a bunch of doors, aka the operators’ units.

Darius knitted his brows. “I think I remember,” he replied slowly. “I spent fifteen years here.”

Ryan was quick with a retort. “Well, excuse me. I wasn’t sure if your memory was selective too, or if it’s just your brotherly support.”

“Just the latter.” With that, Darius walked off.

Okay, this family was wild.

Ryan put his arm around my shoulders again and kept his voice down. “Okay, so. Welcome to the family, Leighton. I hope you can lie well.”

I furrowed my brow.

“When Darius became an operator here, he was initially fairly honest about the nature of his work,” he revealed. “He figured it was no different from what I did in the Marines—and later what Jake did in the Army. And he was right, to a degree. But Ma was worried sick about us already, so of course she worried about Darius too.”

Made sense.

“He toned shit down over the years,” he continued, letting his arm fall to his side. “Nearing the end of his career, he was—according to our folks—just a security guard escorting officials in and out of the country. Absolutely no combat, zero danger.”

Oh. “But James just caught you in that lie.”

“It happens. Maybe you’ll be a good liar, like Willow. Our folks have no idea she’s a free agent with Hillcroft—and it’s going to stay that way.”

“Roger.” I nodded quickly, hearing him loud and clear. “It’s only to prevent Mary and James from worrying?”

He tipped his head, weighing his answer. “That, and to get them off our backs. If Ma finds out you’re training to become the same operator Darius once was, you’ll never hear the end of it. Pop’s easier.”

Okay, then. Logistics coordinator. Got it.

“Understood,” I said. “How bad of a liar are you?”

“Technically, I’m not a bad liar. I’m just lazy in my old age.”

I grinned to myself.

We caught up to the others by the time they were halfway through the hall of dorms, and I opened up the door to my room for Mary and Willow.

“Take your time, baby girl,” Ryan said.

I wasn’t sure Willow heard. She was practically shaking as Mary guided her into my room.

“Is she gonna be okay?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah. Eventually. We knew this was gonna be hard.” Ryan gestured for us to continue down the hall, and I made a mental note to find out how this could be avoided in the future. Or at least, minimized…? I didn’t want her to suffer because of me. “So, are you and Beckett official?”

I glanced over at him, surprised by his question, until he nodded up the hall.

I followed his gaze. Oh—thank fuck. Bo was here already. And the fucker wasn’t in his wheelchair. He stood in the operators’ rec room with a damn crutch, and he was shaking hands with Darius.

That wasn’t enough. Nurse Tina had said he’d need the chair for at least a few days, unless he was taking his super-short strolls, in which case, he’d use the crutch. What Doc really wanted was for Bo to be confined to the chair for longer and do his exercises on a treadmill with handlebars, but he’d muttered something about all operators being too fucking stubborn.

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