“Just work,” he said and took her hand. If he started asking questions, she would want to know why. “Joseph. I updated him on the assassin situation. He’s looking into a couple of groups she could belong to. He’ll send us what he finds in the morning, but for now, I’d love to dance with you.”
Her shoulders came down and a brilliant smile crossed her face. “I was hoping you would say that.”
He led her back into the ballroom, his mind working overtime.
* * * *
Kenzie brought out the shoes Tasha was changing into in anticipation of her leaving for Loa Mali. The small jet was ready to take her and her brand-new hubs to the island paradise for days of sex and beach walking and dinners for two.
She wouldn’t be surprised at all if Tasha had a baby in the next year or two.
“Are we not going to talk about it?” Kala stood at the doorway to the bridal suite, her arms crossed over her chest.
Devi moved in, taking a look at the hem of Tasha’s sleeves. The honeymoon dress was perfectly tailored and sweetly sexy. If Dare didn’t do her sister in the limo, she would be shocked. “Whichitare we talking about? The way Chloe Lodge stared at Seth like he was a piece of cake and she’d been on a no-sugar diet for years? Or the way Nate managed to save the punch bowl when Daisy nearly took a header into it?”
“I do believe she’s talking about Ben.” Lou sat on the sofa, a glass of wine in her hand. “She’s been worried about him all night.”
Well, of course her twin was worried. And she knew exactly what was going through Kala’s mind. “She thinks he’s here for revenge.”
The truth was Kenzie was a little worried about that, too.
“I don’t know if he’s here for revenge.” Kala paced. It was a thingshe’d done since childhood. When she was worried, her feet started to move.
And Kenzie tended to get still. “But you’re worried about his intentions.”
“I think we fucked him over. We didn’t mean to. Well, Kenzie didn’t mean to,” Kala admitted. “I only know that he didn’t call right after he found out the truth. He waited weeks. I know what I would have done with those weeks if I felt betrayed.”
Her twin would have used that time to plot an elaborate revenge, but then she sometimes did that for fun. Ben wasn’t Kala.
“He needed time to process.” It had been awful waiting around, watching her phone, hoping he would call. She’d spent days wondering if she’d made the wrong choice. She’d told Kala it was time to let Ben know. Her father and mother had given her the go. Even her Agency handlers had agreed it was time for Ben Parker to know he was dealing with twins. “I should have waited. I should have done it when we weren’t working.”
Kala’s brows rose. “I’m the one who went to get you. I could have sent Lou.”
Lou’s head shook. “I was busy trying to ensure there was no way Huisman got hold of that sex tape. Not that it wasn’t beautiful. And Kenz, your butt looked great. Seriously, nice glute work. But she really couldn’t have sent me and by that time Tim knew, so it would have been weird to be like ‘hey, Tim, your best friend in the world is dating a woman who happens to be a twin, and could you not mention that to him?’”
Put like that she was right. They’d been in a corner and there had only been one way out. Her twin was pragmatic, but Kenzie could own up to her mistakes. “I should have stayed and talked to him. I could have made my way back. He would have taken care of me.”
“We don’t know that,” Kala replied. “I saw him. He was pissed.”
What he’d been was emotional. They’d genuinely thought they were dying and then they weren’t and he was faced with the fact that the woman he’d clung to in what he believed were his last moments of life had been lying to him the whole time. Would she have forgiven him instantly? Probably, but she was pretty sure Ben hadn’t grown up on rom coms and epic romances that played out in front of him.
“He was rightfully upset.” Tasha allowed Devi to adjust the cuff ofher sleeve. Her eldest sister had handled the whole day with beauty and grace, but that was Tash. She would never be in this position. Well, not exactly this position. She’d lied to Dare but not for as long, and it wasn’t like she’d had a secret twin who pretended to be her some of the time.
“We’re spies,” Kala argued. “It wasn’t like he walked up and told us who he was.”
Lou sent her a look.
Kala sighed. “I get it, but I also don’t. Apparently that doesn’t mean anything and I am supposed to be supportive. But I can’t not point out the fact that Ben showed up without a call and suddenly everything is okay except he’s bad at hiding his true feelings because I watch him when he’s watching you.”
“He looks like he wants to eat her up,” Devi pointed out as she stepped back, obviously happy with her work.
“He also looks like a dude who’s trying something, if you know what I mean,” Kala said.
“No one knows what you mean, sweetie.” Her mom walked in, stopping to stare at Tash for a moment. She’d been crying off and on all day, but her mom cried pretty, offering her emotions to her family without reserve. “You look beautiful.”
“She does.” Aunt Chelsea was with her. “She’s so beautiful, and Dare looked amazing. I’m so happy for you, sweetie.” She moved in, hugging Tasha before she stepped back. “You’re going to have a fabulous time in Loa Mali.” She moved over to stand next to Kala. “You know this is what you could have had.”
Kala had gotten married in a small ceremony that had come together in three weeks, unlike the year it had taken to put together Tasha’s extravaganza. “I could have had weeks of sitting around picking flowers and having Devi poke me with needles only for it to all culminate in a bunch of people watching me? Pass.”
