I swallowed rapidly. “I’m not scared for me.” I was terrified for him.
“Don’t worry about me. We take all precautions and I have great backup. The team is good—probably the best.” He leaned me back to meet my gaze. “Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.” Then I took a deep breath and looked around. “Show me your office.”
“Sure.” He grinned. “I already have Oreos stashed in my desk.”
Yeah, he was the perfect guy. “Prove it.”
I was just settlinginto place back on Aiden’s motorcycle with my belly happy with a few Oreos in it when his phone dinged. He held it to his ear. “Devlin.” Then he waited. “You think so? Okay. It’s probably not a bad idea. Anna and I are at the office and will be there in about twenty. Thanks, Saber.” He clicked off.
“What’s going on?” I paused in setting the helmet over my head.
“Saber called a meeting of the Lordes and thinks I should drop by to make a couple of statements. Having you there will ensure nobody comes after you again.” He turned to look over his shoulder at me. “I’d say we should keep you out of it, but every Lordes member already knows you and knows we were dating. So I’m taking you there to get the rest of your stuff from my room, and then Saber is taking you home.”
I bit my lip. “Why is Saber taking me home?”
“Because you’re no longer my old lady. We’re breaking up very publicly in front of the Lordes, and I’m making it clear that you’re out of my life and that you’re also not to be bothered by anybody. Having Saber take you off property makes that very clear. This is the best way to protect you and the first step in keeping you safe, Angel.”
Wait a minute. Heat rose from my chest to my face. “You already had this planned. When you asked me for a ride today, you knew this was going to happen.”
“Not really. Saber and I discussed how best to keep you safe, but I didn’t know he’d be able to gather everyone today.” Aiden turned back around. “Put on your helmet.”
I remained still, my mind spinning. “I don’t like being left out of the loop.” Irritation crawled through me.
“You weren’t kept out. We’ve been moving fast and working hard, and this is one more prong of the plan. Keeping you safe and publicly distancing you from me. I didn’t mean to leave you out.” He started the motorcycle, effectively drowning out any more conversation.
I slammed the helmet on my head. Oh, if he wanted to show up to the Lordes apartment complex in Idaho with a pissed off woman, he’d succeeded. It was probably part of his plan, darn it.
We drove away from the intriguing super-spy office and toward Idaho. While the Lordes garage was in Washington, their apartment complex was located on the border between the two states on the Idaho side. I’d hoped never to have to see that place again, but soon we were driving right into the parking area between the two complexes. All Lordes territory.
Today picnic tables had been set up in the middle of the lot, with bikes parked on the far side. About twenty members milled around with probably twice as many women, all dressed for the hot weather. A couple of the women even wore bikinis with high heels. I’d never understood that look.
Aiden parked over by the other bikes, and pretty much all eyes turned to us. I conducted a quick scan and didn’t see either of the women who’d thrown pastries at me. He got off first and held out a hand for my helmet.
I handed it to him and then swung my leg off.
He secured the helmet. “Look angry and follow me to my room.”
“I am angry,” I snapped, heading up the outside stairs without waiting for him to lead. I could feel all eyes on us, even though the music from several speakers boomed a hard rock cadence. A couple of grills were hard at work on burgers and dogs, and the smell wafted through the air.
I reached Aiden’s door and opened it, stepping inside.
He followed and slammed the door. “I’m sorry about this.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.” Then I looked at the cheap furniture and scrunchy puke green shag carpet. “I don’t have any belongings here.”
“I know.” He proceeded past me to the bedroom and drew out an old canvas bag, into which he tossed a couple of his T-shirts. “They won’t know it’s my stuff.”
Yeah, I’d sleep in those. I was a total dork. “Okay. What happens now?”
He leaned against the wall, those blue eyes appraising. “We walk out, I motion to Saber, and he takes you home. Then I go down to the barbecue, grab a beer, and make it very clear that nobody is to bother you. It’s over, which means you’re out of their minds. Period.”
I didn’t mind being out of the Lordes member’s minds. At all. “How many agents do you have here?”
“Ten now,” he confirmed. “Ten Lordes members, so we’re at twenty total. I just have to keep it together until we get with Barensky.” He straightened, and for the first time, a flash of uncertainty glimmered in his eyes. “You’re also going to start dating somebody right away.”
I drew back. “Excuse me?”
