Of courseitdid.
Kyle rose up on the balls of his feet to gently brush his mouth overJamie’s. “But?”
Jamie sighed, tilting his head a little to give Kyle a brief, almost chaste kiss before saying, “We can work with Empyrean in exchange for agreeing to a Secret Service security detail for me. Apparently, it will look odd if the entire family has one and Idon’t.”
Kyle settled back down on his heels, but he didn’t move away. As much as he wanted to reflexively argue against that tradeoff, he knew it would be pointless. Jamie had already made up his mind, already agreed, and there was no turning back from that decision. That didn’t mean he liked knowing they’d have to watch their actions and words to accommodate eyes and ears that didn’t have the clearance to know about them. He wished Katie were here so they could speak freely through her telepathy for a deeper discussion, but they’d have to wait until tomorrow morning when they picked her up for the flight back to D.C. They couldn’t stay in this roomforever.
“The director isn’t going to like that,” Kyle saidquietly.
Jamie framed Kyle’s face with one hand, and he leaned into the touch. “I am aware of that, but considering what needs to happen, we don’t have any otherchoice.”
They either bowed to Jamie’s father’s demands or lost what little headway they’d managed to gain in Paris. Neither option wasappealing.
Kyle heaved out asigh. “Fuck.”
“My sentimentsexactly.”
Kyle searched Jamie’s face for a few seconds before pulling him back down for a kiss that started off easy but escalated into something scorching. Jamie held onto him tightly and Kyle didn’t protest, just let Jamie take what comfort he could from him. When they finally parted, Kyle found himself panting for breath, dress pants a littletight.
“Your sister doesn’t need the room just yet. I could get on my knees for you ifyouwant.”
Jamie touched his thumb to Kyle’s bottom lip, pulling it down. Kyle flicked his tongue out to lick at the whorls on the skin there. “Later.”
All Kyle could think about was the extra attention being turned their way, and how he hated sleeping alone in the apartment he technically shared with Alexei. “You sure there will be alater?”
“I’m not letting you go,” Jamie said, voice gone rough andresolute.
Kyle pressed a kiss to Jamie’s thumb. “Okay. Iloveyou.”
For a split second, Jamie’s expression softened, blue eyes brightening in his face. “I know. I loveyou,too.”
The words were as good as a promise, one Kyle knew neither of them would everbreak.
6
Sleeping WithGhosts
Alexei duckedaround an agent who refused to look up from her tablet. The Administration levels seemed busier than usual today. A few seconds later he palmed open the door to his favorite office on Monday morning, leaned inside, and winced. “Not lookhappy.”
Sean didn’t look up from the report he was reading, the grim expression on his face not clearing. “BecauseI’mnot.”
Alexei stepped inside and pulled out the guest chair so he could sit down. The holoscreens created a wall of brightness between them that Alexei reached out to move aside so he could betterseeSean.
“New mission?” Alexei asked, trying not to sound disappointed. Sean had just returned from a month away and Alexei was hoping for at least a few more weeks before either of them were deployed for a long period of timeagain.
“Not yet, but it probably willbecomeone.”
Sean grabbed a holoscreen and flung it at Alexei. It skimmed across the embedded computer screen and snapped to a halt in front of where Alexei sat. He leaned forward and read through the first few paragraphs of the report before his eyeswidened.
He made a startled noise in the back of his throat. “Thisnotgood.”
“That’s anunderstatement.
Alexei scooted his chair closer to the desk, reading rapidly. The more he read, the more a heavy knot settled inhisgut.
What the MDF analysts and profilers had dug up by following leads culled from Saunders & Associates, paired with the June raid and the new information from the latest mission in Mexico, revealed a dangerous partnership. Chatter had confirmed by the thinnest of ties that Declan and his mercenary group were working with Cillian on planning and executing large-scale Splice bombing attacks for the highest-bidding terrorist group. They were being vouched for by the Sons of Adam, which broadened their reachimmensely.
The investigation into Valerie Hayes and her biotech lab was steadily moving forward behind the scenes, even if Declan had moved on. Whether or not he mourned his dead wife, Alexei didn’t know. Either way, if the intel was solid, Declan’s path of revenge was deadly for everyone—but especially forJamie.
