Page 67 of Spy With Me
What the hell was going on? How had his carefully plannedevening turned into a pile of drama? He was supposed to take Devi back into thehouse and get her in the shower and start the whole process over again. Heshould be kissing her and washing her hair and fucking her again.
Instead, something was happening, and it wasn’t good.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing with my cousin,Lucifer?” Kala asked. “Did you think you could hide her from me?”
“I was doing nothing with your cousin, you complete psycho.I was trying to keep things together since your team couldn’t handle it.” Laceywas still. Like preternaturally still.
He was confused. Oh, not really. It was super clear to himnow that Lacey was Agency. A plant sent in to figure him out. The question waswho sent her. And why did she and Kala hate each other?
Lou and Cooper rushed in, filling the small space. He notedDevi had taken a place on the loveseat, and she was watching with wide eyes.Almost like she lived for this shit.
His stomach was in knots. Had he fucked up again? Had Laceybeen lying all this time about her contacts? He thought he was close to findinghis mom but only because Lacey was working in the background.
“Kala, you need to stay calm.” Cooper had his hands out likehe was dealing with velociraptors he thought he could train. “Lucy, we shouldsit down and debrief. You have to know we were not informed you were working anop that touched ours.”
“Of course you weren’t because she would have fucked it allup,” Lacey snarled.
Lacey. Lucy? God, he was a moron. What the hell had he done?He should use the chaos to leave. He could grab his go bag and be on his wayout of Wales before anyone realized he was gone. He would go to ground. Maybeback to the States. Find his aunt. Hunker down until he could figure somethingelse out. Yes, that was exactly the plan. The Agency was obviously using thisLucy person to keep tabs on him. She would be his arresting officer when shedecided she had everything she could get out of him. Hell, she might do ittonight since her cover was blown. So the smart play was to sneak out rightnow.
He didn’t want to leave Devi.
“I would fuck it up?” Kala asked, brows rising.
Devi looked across the room at him, a smile tugging her lipsup, and she held out a hand. An invitation. He could practically hear her.Joinme, Sir. Come and sit with me, Zach. We’ll survive the storm together.
He should leave.
“You fuck everything up. Did you think I would forget howyou assassinated that guy in Qatar before I could get the intel I needed out ofhim? Also, that bullet came close to hitting me,” Lacey/Lucy declared.
“Yeah, I missed,” Kala returned. “I did fuck that one up.”
He didn’t even pretend he was leaving. He walked across thespace and took Devi’s hand, gently pulling her up and moving so he was the onesitting on the couch. He then pulled her down, settling her on his lap.
Yeah. This was what he needed. The minute he was in contactwith her he could feel his panic fading. He wrapped an arm around her waist andsettled his hand on her thigh, holding her close. He leaned in. “I have no ideawhat’s happening. I think I fucked up again, and we might be in trouble. I meanImight be in trouble.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “You were rightthe first time. Okay, here’s what I’ve figured out. I think Lacey Rook isactually Lucy Brooke Flanders. I obviously don’t know her personally, but I’veheard the rumors. She’s from the same town where my cousins spent all theirsummers. She’s younger than Kala, but something happened when they were kidsand they despise each other. Like nuclear hate. Kala doesn’t like to hear thesound of her name.”
“How did she end up in the Agency?” Shouldn’t it be moreelite? Shouldn’t there be people he met who had regular jobs? Why couldn’t heever meet a mechanic? Or a librarian?
His favorite person in the world designedfetwear, and he wanted to see her in it again.
“Oh, I’m sorry you think I’m mishandling the Zach situation.I’m under a little pressure here since I had to work overtime when he broughthis girlfriend back to our damn secret base.” Lucy had begun moving, edgingaround the room.
Kala mirrored her. “Poor baby has stress? I eat stress forbreakfast.”
“Yeah, and it makes you gassy and unpleasant to be around.You should try some vegetables,” Lucy replied.
They really did hate each other. Maybe they were likemagnets. Put together the north end and south end of a magnet and theyattracted. Like Cooper and Kala. But try putting two north ends together andthey repelled.
“It was her dad who got her in, though I don’t think hewanted her at the Agency.” Lou joined them, though her eyes never left the twopredators circling each other. “Henry Flanders was Big Tag’s mentor when hestarted his career. He’s the only guy I know who Big Tagletsget away with pretty much everything. He’s probably somewhere nearby. He onlyworks with his daughter. They are a specialized team. The Agency gives him alot of leeway.”
Devi gasped. “He’s Arthur. I figured something spy-like out,Zach. I think I’m getting good at this. Arthur is Henry, and that’s why hedoesn’t look anything like the dude in the picture at the pub. What’s thechance I would run into the vet? Or you would? I wonder if they had toscramble.”
She seemed so pleased with herself. He couldn’t take thatfrom her by pointing out they’d both gotten tricked. “I met Arthur a few weeksafter I met Lacey, so they’ve had this cover in place for a while. I didn’tthink anything about the fact that Arthur didn’t have a bigger web presencethan his website. No pictures of anything but cuddly animals. The time I calledhe wasn’t in, but it seemed like a real vet’s office. When would I run into thereal Arthur? I’m kind of stuck out here.”
“Hey, babe, she was serious. There’s nothing but a bunch ofbeets and green stuff. I found a muffin though.” TJ joined them and thenfrowned when he saw his sister on Zach’s lap. “I can pull up another chair.”
The instinct to back off…wasn’t there. Normally he wouldfeel weird being this affectionate around her siblings. He would never havekissed Tash in front of any of her family, even if she’d initiated it. He wouldhave pulled away and respected her dad and sisters.
