I should be the one next to her right now. But I still don’t know if we can trust the guy Harris calls ‘Lieutenant Boy Scout’ behind his back. Or if I’ll be throwing him out of the house in the next five minutes.
Hardison’s dark eyes take in everything. The wall of people around Grace. Jasper’s hand on Emi’s shoulder. Parker’s clenched jaw. Connor blocking the door. And my unease with this whole fucking situation.
Slowly, he dips his hands into the pockets of his jacket, turns the lining inside out, and holds up his keys. “All I’ve got on me. My phone, star, and gun are at home. If ‘Lieutenant Loose Cannon’ is with you, Cap, so am I.”
I hold his gaze, daring him to look away. He doesn’t. Just shrugs out of his jacket and hangs it on the coat rack like he’s here for a goddamn party.
“If you stay, you’re gonna earn yourself a shiny new nickname too.” One corner of my mouth ticks up in a grim smile. “Say goodbye to ‘Lieutenant Boy Scout.’”
“I always hated that one anyway,” he says. “Do I get to pick the new one? ‘Lieutenant Troublemaker’? ‘Lieutenant Traitor’? How about ‘Lieutenant Supreme Disappointment’?”
“I think you’re more of a ‘Lieutenant Last Nerve’,” Parker mutters. “As in ‘getting on my…’”
“Works for me.” Hardison returns his thumbs to his belt loops, rocking back on his heels for a moment as he assesses the mood in the room. “So…who’s gonna tell me why I’m gonna get myself fired?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Grace
Gone. I’m supposed to be…gone.
If it weren’t for Parker and Belle, I’d be curled in a ball on the floor, sobbing.
For all my talk about wanting answers, the minute the front door opened, the courage I’d worked so hard to gather slipped away. I don’t know Hardison. And until I can remember who took me—and why—how can I trust anyone?
AJ moves through the living room like an unstoppable force. I can’t tear my gaze from the top of Belle’s head, but I sense him. And how everyone else—except Parker—gets out of his way.
She doesn’t leave my side until the last possible moment. Even then, she pauses to give my hand a squeeze, whispering, “You got this.”
If only I believed her.
“Grace? Look at me.” AJ’s voice is quiet. Not soft—there’s too much steel in it for that—but steady and unshakable.
The cushions next to me shift with his weight, and I force my head up to meet his gaze. The concern etched on his face is enough to free the stranglehold fear has on my throat. “I’m…okay.”
I’m not—and AJ knows it—but I can pretend for a short time.
“H-Hardison n-needs to know wh-what we know.” I risk a single glance at the man Parker called a boy scout. He hasn’t moved from next to the coat rack, but the way he’s watching me—or maybe he’s watching how AJ is with me—makes me think he’s trying to get all the puzzle pieces to fit.
He sniffs the air and beelines for the kitchen. “Is there pizza? I smell pizza.”
AJ watches him go, then turns to Parker. “Did he just…?”
“I’m not gonna lie to the chief’s face on an empty stomach,” he calls once he pulls the pizza boxes out of the oven. “And I missed dinner. From the looks of it, I’m not the only one.”
Everyone starts moving and talking like we’re in the world’s most bizarre sitcom. Jasper gets the plates, Parker passes out napkins, and Emi brings me a bottle of Shiner with a whispered, “You look like you could use a beer.”
AJ keeps his arm around me, and amid the bustling room, my mind conjures up the scent of pine. I blink, and there’s a ghost of a Christmas tree in the front window. A wispy shadow of Jasper throws a wad of wrapping paper at AJ. An older woman with AJ’s eyes in a truly ridiculous sweater tells the brothers to play nice.
“Grace?” AJ cups my cheek, urging me to look up at him. “Fuck. You’re crying, darlin’. What’s wrong?”
“We used to put the Christmas tree over there,” I say, pointing at the window, a shaky smile curving my lips. “Your mom has a reindeer sweater that lights up…”
A hush falls over the room. AJ frames my face with his hands, searching my gaze for the woman he fell in love with. God, I wish I could tell him I remember everything. But I can give him the same hope coursing through my veins.
“It was just…a moment. A flash. But it was real.”
He wraps his arms around me. “You bought that sweater for Mom. Of all the things to remember…” A hoarse chuckle rumbles through his chest. “I love you, Grace. So damn much.”
