Page 128 of Gates of Tartarus

Lachy’s brows raise, and he puts a hand on Walker’s back, who looks at him, teeth bared, like a bristling dog. “Alright, Walker,” Lachy says quietly. “Let’s find out what’s going on.”

Jonah stands shoulder to shoulder with the other two, glaring at Smith and Tanaka, who are looking back and forth between the guys, clearly surprised at the interplay in front of them.

“Ooookay,” Smith says slowly. “Can we head inside to talk?”

All three of the men inside shake their heads in unison, and Lachy points to the side of the house. “There’s a deck out back. We’ll meet you.” And he shuts the door firmly in their faces.

“Oooooo, Petty White!” I tease him gently, trying to take away the knife’s edge anger that is coating him. “You couldn’t let them walk through the house?”

“Petty White?” he grumbles, smiling. “Not someone cool? Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers?”

Pretending to be shocked, I press my hand to my chest. “Betty White’s cool as fuck, man!”

Lachy rolls his eyes but grins at me. “Petty as I wanna be, Suge. Not letting those two in our home.”

A little thrill of happiness runs through me at him referring to it as “our” home so casually, and the smile is still on my face when we walk out onto the back deck, Smith and Tanaka standing against the railing. Hideo is staring out at the water, but Smith is clearly waiting for us.

“Cole won’t meet with us,” he says bluntly, the moment we walk out of the doors. “Not until she’s able to check in with you.”

I shrug, somewhat surprised. “I mean – she can check in any time. She has my number…”

Nowallof the men exchange very suspicious looks, and I frown. “What?” I say tiredly. “What now?”

“Ah… we agreed to limit access to you until you were feeling better,” Jonah explains hesitantly. “We didn’t want a barrage of people calling you at all hours and disturbing your recovery.”

“I don’t evenknowa barrage of people,” I say, surprised.

Jonah holds up a hand and starts ticking his fingers as he speaks. “Cole, her assistant, Cruise from the station, your department secretary, Gomez, Tennireef… Your phone’s been ringing non-stop.”

“I haven’t heard it…” I say slowly, and he shrugs uncomfortably.

“You haven’t really been… you’ve been kind of out of it, Kai. We took it from you and left it in the kitchen on vibrate.”

Nodding slowly, I sigh. “Okay,” I say, and I can tell the guys are torn between surprise and worry that I’m not fighting back on this more, but honestly, I don’t have the energy to spare. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, we need to warn her, in person, that there may be a mole in Gaia, one who has more than a casual connection to the company. We can’t risk phone conversations. There’s also been murmurings from the British team of Kronos having Russian ties – they’re chasing down those leads at the moment. But Cole is flat out refusing to cooperate until she has seen you and knows you’re okay. She knows the general details – that you were injured on a raid, and that you’re recovering, but she’s worried we’re not telling her something since we haven’t let you check in. She doesn’t trust us. I didn’t really know you guys were that good of friends.” The last was said in a disgruntled tone.

I shrug. “It’s nice to have someone who listens to me. Who values my opinion. I’ve been by the company a few times on my off days to get the lay of the land. I don’t know that we’re friends exactly – she just does the hard sell to get me to move to Gaia. But we respect each other and our abilities.”

Smith frowns, focusing on the first part of my reply. “We listen to you and value your opinion, Reed.”

Leveling a flat, blank look at him, I tilt my head slightly. “The fuck you do,” I say simply, holding my hand up to my head. “Remember me telling you I wasn’t comfortable at the factory, and you had me drop my walls anyways? Remember me telling you that Iknewfor certain that there were women there somewhere, and you told me to pound sand? Remember you lying to myfucking face for months now?” My voice is climbing, higher and higher, louder and louder, as anger bubbles up inside me, acid corroding my stomach and pushing through my veins. “I am a tool to you to be wielded at your discretion. And I’m the fool who signed up for it. Now, I get that this is where I am, and where I have to be right now. But give me some basic fucking respect and at least be honest. With meandyourself.”

Huffing slightly, out of breath, I sway on my feet, and Walker silently pushes a chair up behind me, forcing me to sit.

“So you need me to go meet Elizabeth and deliver your message?” I ask, but Smith doesn’t answer.

“Yes,” replies Tanaka quietly, still staring out at the Sound, his voice uneven, and he clears his throat before continuing. “Just touch base – you can even have her meet you here if you’d like…”

I interrupt. “No. No one comes to my home. This isn’t… this isn’t part of all of that. This is my sanctuary. Well, it was, anyways.”

Lachy rubs my back soothingly. “It will be again, Suge,” he promises softly, and I turn my head into him for a moment, before sitting up straight.

“Alright,” I agree. “I’ll head over tomorrow.” Holding up a hand to stop their protests, I sigh. “Guys. It’s fine. Just a quick visit, and I’ll come straight back. Is there anything else?” I turn to Smith and ask bitterly. He just shakes his head. Looking at Jonah, Walker, and Lachy, I offer a small, tremulous smile. “Thanks for helping me move, guys,” I say quietly, giving each of them a quick hug. All three squeeze me back carefully. Lachy’s emotions are still the steady, warm coals banked in my stomach. Jonah is a more erratic happiness, mixing with anger briefly before cooling studiously to careful blankness, and I can tell he’s trying hard to shield me from his frustration with the others. Walker though, Walker’s emotions swirl around me, warm and vibrant – happiness mixed with a curious gratitude and a bright lust. I pull back and look at him with a wry look on my face, and he grins, green eyes dancing.

“What?” he whispers so only I can hear. “Your ass looks fucking hot in those leggings.”

I smile back helplessly at him, nose wrinkling into full Cheshire Cat as Lachy rolls his eyes.Okay, so maybe he didn’t say itthatquietly, I think, laughing a little. Pressing his luck, he kisses my cheek quickly, before dancing out of the way of Jonah’s joking punch on his bicep.

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