Page 12 of Nora
“I see,” Collin said, speculation heavy in his voice.
She shot Lucian a glare. She didnotneed the participants thinking she was anything other than a vet there to do her job.
“I don’t think you do, Collin,” Lucian replied. “Nora is my cousin’s closest friend. She’s been an honorary member of our family for more than twenty-five years.”
That was laying it on a little thick, but she appreciated Lucian cleaning up his inadvertent mistake.
“You two knew each other before today?” Collin asked, not bothering to hide his surprise.
Lucian nodded as he stepped back, inviting her to walk through the door. “We did. As I said, we’ve known each other for many years. Small world and all that.”
Nora entered the hallway, then turned to face Collin. “Has he ever sung for you?” she asked him, gesturing to Lucian with her head.
“Nora,” Lucian said in warning.
“No,” Collin replied.
“You should get him out on a karaoke night if there’s one around. He does a damn good Frank Sinatra.”
Collin’s lips twitched. “That right, Salvitto?”
Lucian’s jaw clenched. “I leave the late nights to you all. Nora, I’ll walk you to Jonah’s, then to the clinic. We can catch up on the way.”
“You should definitely work on him,” Nora said, flashing Collin a smile and a wink. Lucian grabbed her upper arm and all but dragged her away before she saw Collin’s response. Although she did hear him chuckling as he shut the door.
“Funny, Amiri,” he said, using her last name. Maybe trying to put some distance between them. Although with his hand wrapped around her arm holding her close,distancedidn’t seem to be what he was going for. She shrugged and moved away. His hand lingered, then dropped to his side.
“You didn’t need to step in, Lucian. And given how unhappy you are with me being here, I’m surprised you did.” He didn’t have a chance to respond, because they were already at Jonah’s door.
Jonah answered Nora’s knock and his gaze bounced between the two. She ignored the questions there and looked for Lena. The Malinois was sprawled on her handler’s bed. Her eyes were open, and her tail thumped against the mattress, but she didn’t rise.
“She shouldn’t be up there,” Lucian said. Nora didn’t agree. Some working dogs preferred kennels and crates, but others liked to cuddle. Finding what made their K9 tick and perform better was the job of every handler. If letting her sleep on the bed made her a better working dog, then so be it.
“She’s seven and hasn’t spent a night away from me since I got her at six months. She’s also done six tours. She gets to sleep wherever she wants,” Jonah replied, leading them into his room. He might be a playboy, but Nora liked how he stood up to Lucian and defended Lena. With six tours under her belt and having been selected for the program, her sleeping arrangements clearly didn’t interfere with her work ethic.
With Lucian present, she didn’t chat as much with Jonah about the program or other participants. In fact, she barely chatted at all. Jonah and Lucian did most of the talking. What little there was of it. A question here. A monosyllabic answer there. Or, if the question warranted, even a short sentence.
She sighed as she packed her bag. It was going to be a long night.
CHAPTERSIX
After she finished drawingLena’s blood, Nora headed upstairs. Lucian followed, trailing after her like a puppy. He wasn’t sure why he’d stepped into her conversation with Collin. He just hadn’t liked the idea of the Brit accompanying Nora out on a dark, late-night walk. He had no reason to suspect Collin would do anything, but if something did happen to her, Violetta would never forgive him.
“I thought you said you’re going to the lab,” he said, irritated at himself for insisting on accompanying her.
“I am. I have some work to do while the samples are running. I’m grabbing my computer,” she answered without bothering to turn around. He watched the sway of her hips as she walked up the stairs ahead of him. He wondered if Jurgen had hit on her yet. For certain Jonah would have had he not been there.
“You don’t need to go to the clinic with me, Lucian,” she said as they reached the third floor. “In fact, I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“Why?”
She paused at her door and looked at him. “Why what? Why don’t you need to go with me or why would I prefer you didn’t?”
He frowned. He didn’t remember Nora being this difficult. “It’s going to be a late night, you’re not familiar with the area, and you shouldn’t be alone.” It was a pretty simple concept. Not one she should read anything into. Not that she was reading anything into it, judging by the way one of her dark brows raised.
A small smile teased her lips. “You do remember where I went to school and what that means?”
Yes, he knew all about St. Josue. When his cousin had started, he’d been green with envy that there wasn’t something similar for boys. Not that he was even supposed to know about the true purpose of the school. But keeping secrets from kids wasn’t easy, and two weeks after Violetta had left, he’d overheard her parents discussing it. The thought of a spy school tucked into the Alps appealed to his young imagination.
