Something we chose.
CHAPTER 29
TRENT
Tucker Quentin hadn’t sparedany expense on our new headquarters, even if the outside still looked like an abandoned shipping facility. Three days since we’d returned from Estonia, one week since the highway extraction in Finland, and we were finally starting to look like a real operation again.
If you ignored the fact that we were all technically fugitives in certain parts of the world.
I scanned the faces around the table, mentally noting the empty chairs. No Kate, who was across town at the medical facility we’d set up in one of Quentin’s properties. No Gage, whose condition had deteriorated rapidly since returning. Alistair wasn’t hopeful about his prognosis, and Kate refused to leave his side, monitoring his vitals herself, cross-referencing every medical journal and experimental treatment that might buy him more time.
I’d visited yesterday. Found Kate asleep, her head resting on Gage’s bed, her hand clutching his. His skin had taken on that gray cast of systemic organ failure, gold fractal patterns flaring beneath it with each labored breath. He’d opened his eyes whenI entered, that metallic sheen to his irises more pronounced than I’d ever seen it.
“Don’t let her waste her life trying to save mine,” he’d said, voice barely above a whisper. “When it’s time, get her out of here.”
I’d nodded, knowing he was right, knowing Kate wouldn’t listen to either of us.
“Yo, Bricks!” Flynn’s voice jolted me back to the present. “Earth to Bricks. You with us, man?”
I blinked, realizing everyone was looking at me. “Sorry. What?”
Flynn grinned, leaning back in his chair. “I was asking about the big day. Is this gonna be one of those courthouse specials, or are we actually invited to witness the miracle of you voluntarily putting on a suit?”
It took me a second to process what he was talking about.
Right.
The wedding.
My wedding.
To Evelyn.
In three days.
“It’s small,” I said, shuffling the papers in front of me. “Just a quick ceremony.”
Leo’s grin matched Flynn’s, both of them enjoying my discomfort far too much. “Three days, isn’t it? Getting nervous yet?”
“No.” The answer came too fast, too defensive. I wasn’t nervous about marrying Evelyn. I was nervous about everything else—keeping Sophia safe, building this new version of Edge Ops, the constant threat of Innovixus finding us. The wedding itself was the only thing that felt right in a world gone sideways.
“No bachelor party?” Nolan asked, dropping into the chair across from me. His boots hit the table edge as he leaned back.“Last chance for freedom, brother.” He waggled his brows. “If you know what I mean.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” I replied flatly, “and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”
“Come on, one night out with the boys,” Nolan pressed. “Before you officially hang up your player card?—“
“Can we focus on the briefing?” I cut him off, tapping my fingers against the stack of files. “We have actual work to do.”
Ethan entered from the side door with Jade Collins close behind him. She’d been our CIA liaison before. Now that we’d been burned, I wasn’t entirely sure what she was, but she’d been hanging around a lot since we got back to town.
“Focus up,” Ethan said. “You can plan Bricks’ social calendar after we finish discussing the operation that nearly got all of us killed or imprisoned in Finland.”
The humor drained from the room, everyone straightening slightly as Ethan took his place at the head of the table. He had that effect—the ability to shift the energy of a space with just his presence. Even with our new unofficial status, he carried himself with the same military bearing, the same quiet authority that had made him such an effective leader of Edge Ops.
“Sorry, boss,” Flynn said, though he didn’t look particularly apologetic. “Just trying to make sure our boy here doesn’t get cold feet. We’ve got a pool going on whether he actually shows up on time.”
I shot him a glare. “I’ve never been late to an objective.”
