Allie laughed and shook her head. "I don't think so. But I'll set him straight if he gets the wrong idea. I don't think it hurts to be nice to him."
Knox noticed Jason's silence. "What's up? There was something you weren't saying earlier. The kid went to bed, so the grown-ups can talk freely now."
Allie rolled her eyes at that. Which is what he was going for.
He grinned at Allie, then refocused on Jason. "What's on your mind?"
Jason stacked his empty plate on top of Rowan's and stood. "While you two are getting the security camera footage, I'm going to check on Tayla." He pointed at their plates. "You guys done?"
"Yeah," Knox said. "But we'll clean up later. Is everything okay? Why do you look worried?"
Tayla, Jason's girlfriend, was working on a temporary assignment on Isadora Island for her bosses, Mr. and Mrs. Grayhouse.
Jason scratched the back of his head. "Her job for the next few days is to look for properties that might work for the Grayhouses' charity work. They want to build a new orphanage, a school, and a church. Tayla will be driving all over Isadora Island and Morghana Island looking at land."
Allie nodded. "And you're worried about her running into Byron?"
Jason sat back down. "Yeah." He shook his head. "I don't know why I pictured her working from her laptop in her hotel while she was here. I knew the Grayhouses wanted her to find locations for their charities." He ran a hand down his face. "I just worry. We"—he circled his finger in the air to indicate the three of them—"are trained to handle bad actors like Byron. Tayla isn't. She's not naïve by any means, but she doesn't havethe skills to deal with guys that shoot down drones or leave messages with blood."
Knox leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Okay. So, you could hire her some extra protection while she's here. Better yet, get the Grayhouses to pay for it."
"I thought about that. It's a possibility." He stood again and collected their empty plates. "What I keep having to remind myself is that her being here isn't a fluke."
Allie replaced the cap on her water bottle. "You mentioned something about that. You both were offered short-term assignments on the same island, at the same time? Yeah, that sounds like divine intervention."
Jason set the empty dishes in the hallway and walked back into the room. "There was a little more to it, but yes, I think it was a sign that I was supposed to accept this assignment." He picked up his phone and keycard. "I'll call her in a few minutes. And tomorrow I'll meet up with her and see what I can work out. You two keep your heads up tomorrow. After today, I have no idea what to expect from Byron."
Knox gave a mock salute. "Will do."
Jason tossed his empty water bottle into the trash. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Good night," Knox and Allie replied in unison.
Jason left, and Knox offered Allie the last cookie. "Want this?"
She smiled. "No, you take it. I ate half of one. They're delicious, but oh-so-rich."
"If you insist." He tossed it onto a napkin. "I'll take it to my room for a midnight snack."
"You should." She picked up her phone and slid it into her back pocket.
Her hair fell into her face, and he ached to brush the strands away, take her face in his hands, and . . . oh, not yet. He wasn't sure where he stood with her, but he knew certain privilegeshadn't been re-granted. He needed to say something, though. He wouldn't be able to sleep with how they left things hanging earlier.
"Hey." He cleared his throat.Good start, Coulter."I know it's late, but we were interrupted rather abruptly when Chovno tried to beat down my door."
Allie nodded and met his gaze. "I know. I'm glad we talked. I don't know what else to say, though."
He took a step closer to her. "The last thing you said to me in that conversation was that your parents' opinion of me doesn't affect you. Does that mean . . . " Oh man, he didn't know how to word this kind of thing. Every question in his head sounded corny.
He massaged his forehead—as if it would help elegant phrases pop out. "Look, I'm not good at this. I just want to know what you think of me right now, what you think of us right now. You know what I mean."
She fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve. "I still care about you, Knox." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I didn't realize you were still interested in us. I don't know why you are. I really messed up. I messed up your surveillance mission, I failed miserably at suspecting Leo or my parents, I got myself shot, I took a man's life, I—"
He gripped her hands. "Hey, stop. Don't. Don't do that." He sighed. "You had to shoot him. He would have killed you. That was self-defense."
"I know. But I triggered that train wreck when I barged in and blew your cover. He's dead because of what I did. I can't believe I was so stupid." She squeezed her eyes shut again. "I'm so sorry. I'm—"
He placed his hands on her upper arms and barely thwarted the temptation to shake some sense into her. "Allie, I keep tellingyou that you don't need to apologize. Why can't you accept that? Why do you think I can't care about you if you made a mistake?"
