Page 20 of Softer Than Stone
Or as honest as any agent could be who worked with top secret cases for the bureau.
“I can wait.” A soft, tired smile appeared before he leaned against me, taking comfort. I swallowed hard, not used to being in this situation. Not used to offering even a semblance of softness. It was a feeling I could get addicted to. Or maybe it was Waru who’d be the object of my fixation.
Stalker my arse. The thought hit me, and I released a snort, earning me raised brows from Waru.
“Copy, Chris. You might want to peel yourself away from your chef. Callen’s in the lift.”
The lift dinged, and I glanced towards the door. Callen strode out first, exuding the confidence of a man who was in charge—technically. It still threw the team off sometimes, seeing him as the division leader. Not because he wasn’t incredible at the job,but because he took such obvious joy in breaking every rule and shredding red tape into confetti.
Behind him, Kent followed, her expression hovering between exasperation and amusement, her usual state when dealing with Callen.
“Fancy seeing you here, boss,” I said, unable to keep the wryness out of my tone. “Figured you’d still be arguing with Durrant about that whole ‘protocols are optional’ thing.”
Callen smirked, the picture of unbothered authority. “Turns out the director loves me. Probably because I save her ass on a regular basis.”
Kent snorted, dropping into her chair at her workstation. “Or because you’re too much trouble to fire. Like a feral cat that keeps showing up no matter how many times you lock the door.”
“Thanks for the support, Kent,” Callen deadpanned. “Remind me to dock your snacks budget later.”
“As if you could function without me.” She tapped a few keys when she reached the bank of monitors to the left of the room, pulling up the surveillance feeds with her usual efficiency. “Anyway, enough about your dubious leadership style. Chris, I’ve got the traffic cams. Caught the tail end of your liony joyride and tracked the car to the mechanics. You’re welcome.”
I rolled my eyes. “Appreciate it, Kent.”
She turned in her chair, raising an eyebrow. “That it? No grovelling? No declaration of my unmatched brilliance?”
“Appreciate it, Kent,” I repeated. “You’re terrifyingly competent and mildly scary, as always.”
She smirked, swivelling back towards the monitors. “Acceptable. I’ll let it slide this time.”
Callen leaned against the desk, arms crossed, his grin as wide as ever. “Still letting her bully you, huh? I thought you were supposed to be the one running this one.”
“As if Kent doesn’t pull every string in the ITU,” I shot back, gesturing to the screen. “Unlike you, she doesn’t need to play to the crowd to be useful.” My lips twisted into a smirk, so grateful I had a boss, or technically my boss’s boss, who played like one of the team.
Callen clutched his chest in mock outrage. “I provide morale, thank you very much. The glue that holds this whole circus together. And I’m absolutely telling Lucas you said Kent’s the not-so-secret boss around here.”
Kent raised an eyebrow, still tapping away at her keyboard. “You’re more like the glitter that gets everywhere and doesn’t wash out. Annoying, but we’ve learned to live with it.”
“Harsh but fair,” Callen conceded, turning to Waru. “And you must be the chef. Heard a lot about you. Mostly that you’ve managed to put up with Chris longer than most people can handle.”
Waru blinked, glancing between us. “Uh, yeah. Waru.”
“Welcome to the chaos.” Callen’s grin turned mischievous. “Don’t let Kent scare you. She only bites if you touch her snacks.”
“That’s not true,” Kent said without looking up. “I bite if you touch my snacks, my gear, or my chair.”
“Duly noted,” Waru said, his lips twitching like he was trying not to laugh.
Callen glanced at me, his expression briefly softening before he slipped back into leader mode. “What’s our next move?”
“Kent’s already on it,” I said, deferring to her expertise.
“Already on it, and I dug so deep that I hit secrets so buried, they probably had their own postcode. Workshop’s flagged as a Kole asset.” Her words were so nonchalant, I almost missed them.
“For real?”
She shot me a deadpan look, not even bothering to arch a brow at me.
“Fair,” I mumbled, shifting a little uncomfortably as Waru’s gaze ping-ponged between the three of us. In all honesty, I half expected Callen to ask Waru to leave, not that I was going to draw his attention to the fact I still sat here, clutching my panther’s hand.
