Page 24 of The Magic of Betrayal
Hitting call, Larson picked up after a couple of rings, his deep voice coming through the line.
“Sullivan. I trust things are going well? Has the girl woken up?”
“Yes, things are going well. She woke up late last night, there’s some bizarre shit going on in this town, Sir,” I replied, unsure really where to even begin and why I had this weird as fuck tight feeling in my chest thinking about spilling these details, the whole thing was starting to fuck with my head.
Larson hummed to himself, and I could just picture him sitting behind his huge ass mahogany desk, a glass tumbler clutched in his large hand, dark amber liquid swirling as he pondered what I had said.
“Tell me everything,” he finally responded and the tightening in my chest increased.
It took me several minutes to tell him all about the shit that had happened, and I left nothing out, well, except for Kai’s mate bond. That was a highly personal bit of information and not something I was willing to go behind his back on. He’d tell Larson when he was ready.
I’m an operative, one of the fucking best in the whole damn field, and it was time I remembered that. We’re going to find this woman, hand her over to Larson, get awarded with personal time off and have unlimited company resources at our disposal to get some gods damned answers for Cam.I could only hope that Red was innocent in all of this. My brothers would be crushed if she weren’t, especially Kai. He would be destroyed beyond belief if she wasn’t. Thank fuck he was the only one mated to her.
The other two were just obsessed. And I got the appeal, she was sexy as sin, but at the end of the day, this was an assignment. A job. How would Red feel when she realized the three men she was fucking had been lying to her from the start? Fuck, she might be the one kicking their asses to the curb. Either way, I didn’t see this ending well.
“Very bizarre indeed.”
What was maybe even stranger was that I could swear to the moon I could hear him smiling.
“Her mother will show up eventually, and we must be prepared to act when that time comes. With the girl being unwell, it wouldn’t surprise me if Laura showed up sooner rather than later. She might be a shit mother, but I think her curiosity might be stronger than her maternal instincts. I’m sending in reinforcements, can’t be too careful.”
Reinforcements? What the fuck? We didn’t need any fucking back up.
“Sir, all due respect, we have this situation well in hand. It will look suspicious if more guys show up in this little town, we caused quite a stir just by moving in.”
“Hmm, I see your point. Good call. I’ll just send one then, I’ll make sure he’s briefed on everything and ready to jump in as soon as he arrives.” He paused, “And Sullivan?”
“Yes, Sir?” I asked reluctantly.What are people going to think when they get wind of Larson sending in a fifth man? Is this person going to be expected to “get close to Saige” like we had? We don’t need anyone else seeing how deep we are into this mess.
“I don’t think I need to remind you of the importance of this mission?” he questioned, his voice hard.
“I’m a professional, Sir. You assigned us to this for a reason. We know what we’re doing and I’m the best you’ve got.”
Shit, was that too forward?
A laugh came through the line. “You’re ballsy, I’ll give you that. Keep up the good work. The new player will arrive tomorrow morning.”
The line went dead.
Well, fuck me.
Normal. That’s what my life had been up until very recently, and now, well… shit was anything but normal. I’d fallen into the pattern of daily life, basically on auto-pilot at all times, not even realizing that I’d been missing key parts of myself.
Kai had been sleeping over every night, and I’d never slept better than I did when he wrapped his strong arms around me and purred deeply against my neck. We’d whispered and laughed late into the nights between kisses and some of the hottest sex I’d ever had, I was one lucky witch. We’d talked about our favorite things, our dislikes, Kai had confided in me about his struggle with depression, and I told him about what it was like growing up with the type of mother I had. Kai was so attentive to me, his fingers always finding a point of contact on some area of my bare flesh and my desire for him never stopped. In fact, the more we had sex, the more I craved him.
The other guys had backed off a little, though Cam and Fischer had popped into the shop several times while I was working, often just sitting at the bar and keeping me company. But I was beginning to miss them. However, I knew this intimate one on one time was what Kai and I needed, and I’m sure Baggie was pleased with all of the attention. Last night, Kai allowed Baggie to take over for a while, letting him run through the forests and who knows what other kinds of shit that panthers liked to do. In the end, I wound up sleeping with a huge panther playing big spoon, Maven was the little spoon, and I was squeezed right between them. Bagheera was a gorgeous animal, his fur was sleek and shiny, faint spots barely showing on his coat. In certain lighting, his coloring glimmered like an oil slick, making him look like he belonged in another realm.
It had been a few days now since I’d woken up from my sleep coma…what the hell am I supposed to call it anyway?It was time to face reality. Today, the guys had some work to do, something about meeting up with another co-worker, and after I'd assured them five hundred times that I'd be fine, they relented and left me to my own devices for the day. Maven and I were headed to the park to meet up with Miranda for some girl talk and wine, she'd been texting me constantly asking me about the guys and I needed my friend so I could just get everything out there.
The sun was shining, the weather eagerly catching onto the fact that it was June now and summer was in full swing. The warmth on my skin reminded me of Sloane’s hands, and my thoughts turned to that sexy asshole... he'd been quiet lately. I'd thought we'd turned a corner, especially after what had happened between us in the garden, but I was getting all kinds of mixed signals from the guy, and I wasn't going to chase him. Either he was interested, or he wasn't, but I was starting to get the feeling that he might be feeling intimidated by my relationships with the others. He just seemed like someone who thrived on structure and routine, and here I was knocking it all to shit. I felt for him, really, but I wasn't vindictive or nasty. My feelings toward Cam, Kai, and Fish were legitimate, and I'd told Sloane where I stood regarding him. The ball was in his court.
Heading down to Peridot Park, Miranda and Annie were already waiting for us at the pavilion, and I smiled when I saw the chalk artwork that Annie had been busy creating. There were a ton of little Maven drawings, many of them depicting ice cream cones and a stick girl who obviously was Annie.
“I love these drawings, you’ll have to make me some new ones to hang at the shop,” I told Annie as her little pink faced cheeks lifted from the ground to take us in. Squealing, she tossed the chalk and gave me a fast hug before setting her sights on Mave.
"Hey girl, long time no see." Miranda smiled at me from the picnic table she was sitting at, her chocolate brown hair fell in thick waves and was so shiny, I wanted to touch it. But I wouldn't, because I did that to someone the last time I was in this pavilion and it was awkward as hell. Not that Miranda would bat an eye over it, she was used to my quirkiness... but I was trying this whole new thing called thinking before I act. So no, do not touch the shiny.
Sighing, I sat down across from her, dropping my backpack on the bench beside me. "No kidding. It's been kind of crazy lately."
