Kyle shrugged, turning his hand over to interlace their fingers together. “I don’t know. Forget I said anything.”
“Leah likes you,” Jamie pointed out.
“Well, yeah. Sisters are awesome.”
“If you’re worried about my father, don’t be.”
Kyle made a face, thinking about Richard’s latest speech they’d watched last night with Alexei and Sean. “Kind of hard not to.”
Richard was riding his son’s revelation as a metahuman higher and higher in the polls, something that surprised literally no one. The few statements he’d handed out—vetted by the MDF—had done wonders for his campaign’s resurgence. Alpha Team had a higher favorability rating than even Richard did at the moment, and his association to the team ensured some of that goodwill rubbed off on him.
Unfortunately, the declassification of their identities wasn’t enough to stop the investigations digging into their lives; it just altered the parameters. Both the Congressional and Special Counsel investigations were retooling their approach now that new evidence had come to light. All Kyle knew was that everyone on the team was going to have to testify, and soon.
People were understandably distressed about the attack on the nation’s capital. Congress and the constituents they served wanted answers and accountability. The MDF was scrambling, along with other agencies in the intelligence community, to declassify what they could. But something like that took time, and in an election year, time could ruin anyone.
Kyle wasn’t looking forward to the headache awaiting them on the investigations front.
“My father won’t start anything. He knows I’ll walk out if he does. Now, come on. Dinner starts at 1900 sharp and my mother hates it when I’m late,” Jamie said as he opened the car door.
Kyle sighed, knowing better than to keep a mother waiting. Getting out of the car, he cased the area, counting off the numerous Secret Service special agents on duty, along with the handful of MDF agents assigned to security as well.
Jamie came around the car, snagging Kyle’s hand in his. Being able to indulge in these small displays of affection out in the open had become more than a little addictive for Kyle. He didn’t regret hiding their relationship in the past the way they had, even if he did regret the fallout with the MDF, mostly for Jamie’s sake.
Regulations being what they were, both he and Jamie were given a letter of reprimand for their files, though Jamie’s was far harsher seeing as how he was Kyle’s commanding officer. The implicit power imbalance was frowned upon heavily by the MDF and the military. Neither of them honestly gave a fuck, though Kyle knew Jamie felt guilty about dragging the team into their personal mess. Everyone else had been given verbal warnings about their participation in hiding evidence of Jamie and Kyle’s relationship.
Katie had turned around and given Jamie a quiet talking-to the other day during team lunch at her apartment that Kyle hadn’t been privy to. He assumed it amounted to telling Jamie to stop feeling guilty. Whether or not Jamie listened was another matter entirely. Kyle had been telling him the same thing every night they’d lain in bed together, reassuring themselves the other was okay.
Jamie opened the door to his parents’ mansion and they walked inside. Richard had been ordered by Charlotte to conduct all campaign business somewhere else while Jamie had been grieving over the possibility of losing Kyle. That order still held, and the only people in the home tonight were the Callahans and several household workers who were adept at staying out of the way.
“Jamie!”
Kyle peered down the hallway as Leah came toward them, the light fabric of her designer dress from a spring collection swinging around her knees. She hugged Jamie first before hugging Kyle.
“It’s so good to see both of you,” Leah said, smiling.
“Where’s Mother?” Jamie asked.
“Talking with Father in the parlor. They’re watching the news.”
“I thought she instituted a ban on all news during family dinner?”
“Father stipulated the ban would go into effect once everyone arrived. Now that you’re here, we can turn the damn thing off.”
Like Jamie and the rest of them, Leah seemed tired of the twenty-four-hour news cycle, with its constant and varied opinions by talking heads that ran the gamut of political opinions. Kyle had made it a point to only deal with news updates through the intense MDF meetings they’d all been subjected to since being temporarily removed from active duty.
Kyle walked with Jamie down the hallway, still not letting go of his hand. The mansion always struck him as more of a museum than a home, a place for Jamie’s parents to conduct business as much as to live there. He knew Richard and Charlotte had offered up their mansion as a temporary home, but neither he nor Jamie were keen on staying here.
Kyle heard the chattering of talking heads before they even made it to the parlor. He tuned out their opinions as the three of them entered the room. Charlotte looked away from the television screen and smiled warmly at them.
“Welcome back,” she said. “Richard, it’s time for dinner.”
Kyle felt like the odd man out as Charlotte and Richard greeted their children before turning their attention to him. Charlotte was the one who stepped forward first, smile still firmly in place as she pulled Kyle into a hug, surprising him. He knew Jamie’s parents weren’t big on displays of affection, even in the privacy of their own home. So the hug was unexpected, but Kyle returned it, if a little awkwardly.
“Ma’am,” he said in greeting.
“Please, call me Charlotte,” she insisted.
Kyle nodded, her name sounding foreign on his tongue when he repeated it. “Charlotte.”
