Anything.
Plans coming together, he kissed her hard and fast. “That sounds like a date I can arrange.” His grin every bit as wicked as hers had been, he added, “But there’s a condition.”
“What’s the condition?”
“Well that depends, Ms. Grayson. How bad do you want to go to Mallorca?”
“It’s Emerson, dickhead.”
“Not for long, baby.”
Gray shookher head at the shenanigans happening across the boardroom table.
“Paper covers rock, motherfucker. That’s two out of three.” Zander Cavanaugh’s smile was a brilliant white on a gorgeous black canvas. A man of few words, motherfucker was one of his favorites.
“You have got to be shitting me.” Eyes traveling from Zander to Jamie Snow, Gray couldn’t believe Doc had played a game of rock paper scissors to decide which of them would go to Detroit. She’d made the mistake of agreeing to go up against Zander three nights in a row for dish duty and had lost every time. Now, she refused to do dishes period.
“I almost had him this time,” Doc said, hooking his long dirty-blond hair behind an ear with his thumb.
“You lost two in a row, docturd.” Cody Babbitt winked at her when she turned her grin in his direction. Chair pushed back from the table, he sat perched on one butt cheek, one massive leg crossed over the other. Still recovering from being shot in the ass during Johnson’s attempt to wipe out the JTT, Cody didn’t like to sit for too long.
“Are we good now?” Adam’s critical gaze swept over the men around the table and heads nodded. “Okay, that’s it, Chase, check the surveillance equipment. Zander, you’re on weapons. Davis…” Adam looked over one shoulder then the other. “Do me a favor; don’t stand in my blind spot.”
“Yes, sir,” Davis said, moving into Adam’s line of sight, eyes downcast.
“Davis…” Her brother waited until the kid lifted his head and looked at him. “Fire up the F-250 and pull it up to the front door.”
“Yes, sir!” Smiling like he’d just been given the keys to the kingdom, Davis took off before Adam dismissed him. Jeff’s nails scrabbled on the hardwood as he struggled to get his fat body off the floor. When he finally managed to get his paws under him, he followed with awoof.
“We leave at eighteen hundred,” Adam said, checking his watch as he stood. Dressed in dark gray slacks and a black shirt with the collar open and the sleeves rolled precisely twice, Gray’s brother looked like he was about to head out on a hot date. However, the guns holstered under his arms were a dead giveaway he had other plans for the evening. “You have thirty minutes to get this shit locked and loaded.”
Gray looked over her shoulder at the man standing behind her. Grant wasn’t JTT, and he’d refused to sit. Instead, he leaned against the wall, arms crossed over a threadbare Cocoa Puffs T-shirt, hat pulled low, goateed expression pissed. He was a hired gun who worked for her brother, and Adam hadn’t given him any orders.
It meant Chase had arranged for him to be on babysitting duty, and he wasn’t happy about it. He’d been the one who brought Gray to the warehouse in Savannah. The one who’d seen Tara’s battered face and crushed windpipe. The one who’d been there when Gray’s best friend took her last breath. And the one who’d helped her send Tara’s body home.
Grant wanted Hood dead as much as she did. And after everything he’d done for Gray, including jumping in front of the bullet meant for her, she should be insisting they take him.
But he wasn’t one hundred percent recovered, and the simple truth was, she didn’t want him to go. He dipped his chin, the slightest of movements, his way of saying,we’re good, and she turned back around, relieved he wasn’t angry. Well, not with her at any rate.
Briefing concluded, Gray had begun to wonder why nobody had budged, and then Adam pulled a crisp paper bag from under the table. Carrying it by the handles, he made his way to where she sat. He put the bag in her lap, kissed the top of her head, and left the boardroom without saying another word. Grant shoved off the wall and followed him out.
She pulled the bag closer and knew what it held by the size and shape of the box it contained. A quick peek and her suspicions were confirmed. Her brother had given her a new camera. The exact same model as the one she’d lost the day Johnson had embroiled her in his plot to secure the presidential election.
The day she’d met Chase, and her life changed forever.
She looked to her right, and his steadfast gaze met hers.
Persistent fucker.He’d made himself clear. He wanted to marry her. And he had a plan to make it happen. He always had a plan.
Take her to Mallorca. Jam a ring on her finger. Get Tak back. Live happily ever after.
If only life were that easy.
With five minutes to spare,Chase found Gray in the great room in time to steal a last kiss.
“Ready?” she asked as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
“Yep.”
