“You order?”Alexei asked in a brusque manner, interrupting their conversation after Sean set the tablet down on the table.The food wouldn’t come until everyone had picked out their choices and sent the order along to the kitchen, and Alexei didn’t want to wait.He was hungry.
“Yes, we’re ordering,” Katie replied, ignoring the tone in his voice.
She chose something at random, and Alexei only knew it was at random because usually, Katie picked her way through a menu for the best dish like it was a battlefield.He hoped she liked what she decided on.If not, oh well.He wasn’t giving up his steak for anything.
Niko took a sip of his martini.“Our mutual friend was quite impressed with how you presented your company last night.We did some research and came to the conclusion you may be exactly what we’re looking for in terms of, oh,flexibility.”
“We’re Marines.We’re used to being flexible on the battlefield.The mindset transfers well to civilian life,” Katie replied.
Niko gave her an odd look.“I thought you were out of the military?”
“Once a Marine, always a Marine.”
He chuckled at that, as if he found it amusing, when no one else at the table did.Alexei had never quite understood the near fanaticism Marines had with their branch of the military until he’d joined a team full of them, but he understood it better now.
“We will need an understanding of your company’s capabilities.We have a client, shall we say, who needs a particular security setup created for his business.We suggested your company could perform the work,” Niko said.
“What are the parameters?”
“Oh, this and that.”Niko shrugged before pulling a small solid-state drive out of his suit jacket pocket and handing it over.“I don’t profess to know anything about computer systems.I much prefer people.They’re far more interesting.The instructions are on the drive.”
Katie tucked the solid-state drive into her purse.“I’ll be sure to review it thoroughly after lunch.When the assignment is complete, who do I deliver it to?”
“Me.”
Katie tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowing.“I know we work through you, not for you, Niko.We’ll need to know who our client is if we’re to continue doing business together.You can let Oksana know that’s part of our terms.”
“Oksana is not the one seeking your employment.”
“Then you can let whomever it is know we may not do things strictly by the book, but I do like a clear chain of command for productivity purposes.So does Jamie.”
“Ah, yes.Your investor.A shame he couldn’t join us today.”
“He’s busy,” Katie replied as a server arrived to deliver their drinks.
Niko’s gaze slid Alexei’s way.“I’m sure he is.Jamie’s partner was delectable-looking, even if the man himself is a bit possessive.Like you, Alexei, don’t you agree?”
Alexei didn’t have to think very hard about what Niko was implying, and it made him bristle.“Not your business,” he growled, reaching for his beer.
Alexei didn’t look at Sean, but he didn’t need to.Sean picked up the thread of conversation without missing a beat.
“We’ve all become close since I was hired to work for them,” Sean said, the flat evenness of his Pacific Northwest tone replaced by the Brooklyn accent his old cover had cultivated.“That won’t impede us from doing our jobs.”
“Tomas didn’t seem impressed with your position last night, Riley,” Niko said.
“I’m not impressed with Tomas’ capabilities.Fair warning, he’s liable to shoot you and not give a fuck about the problems it causes everyone else.He’s something of a hothead.”
Niko put on a mask of worry that would pass muster with everyone else except them.“I hope none of you were caught out in the shootout that happened last night.”
“We left for a different club and luckily missed getting caught in the terror attack,” Katie answered.“The news is saying it’s another Reborn IRA attack.Does London see them often?”
“I wouldn’t know.I travel so much the issue never comes up.You must have seen a lot of the world as Marines.What was it like for you?”
Katie let him steer the conversation away from talk of the Reborn IRA and gamely chatted about her postings through the years.Alexei kept half his attention on the conversation in case Niko tried to include him.The rest of his attention he reserved for the arrival of several new lunch groups while a couple of people at the bar paid their bill and left.
Their food soon arrived, and Alexei zeroed in on the steak with garlic mashed potatoes.The green beans he didn’t touch, since Kyle wasn’t here to tell him to eat them.Katie’s chicken tikka smelled amazing, and Sean had gone with classic fish and chips.Niko had some dish consisting of meat wrapped in baked pastry dough that took second place to Alexei’s steak.
Conversation was the same, with Niko steering it back to their time in the military over and over.Alexei doubted it was because he was actually interested in the aspects of military life.Katie easily rebuffed his efforts to find out their capabilities, letting Niko lead her, rather blatantly, to the real question.
