“I was not being mean,” Cooper contested.
“He’s not actually capable of being mean.” Kala strode forward and hugged her sister. “How was the flight?”
“Good, and even better since I smell pulled pork,” Tasha said, hugging her back. “Are we doing sandwiches or tacos?”
“Tacos and nachos,” Kenzie replied. She looked soft and sweet in her yoga pants and T-shirt that hid all the marks he’d put on her.
His girl liked when he went wild on her.
He’d never gone wild on anyone before. Only her. Only ever her.
“Oh, man, I know that look,” Dare said.
Dare. He could talk to Dare. He felt something weird. Something infinitely warm and satisfying.
He thought it might be joy.
He hugged Dare, who chuckled and did the whole manly hug thing.
“I’m glad you’re here.” The man had cut his honeymoon short, and Ben was pretty sure it was because Kenzie had asked them to. Because she’d known he needed support.
He stepped back, letting the wave of emotion ease his soul.
It was time to stop being suspicious. Time to accept that maybe he was in a good place.
“Come on in. These two know nothing about baseball,” he said with a grin.
Cooper straightened up and looked slightly offended. “Dude, I played all through high school.”
Dare put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “And this man was scouted by every team on the East Coast. Let a couple of Canucks teach you something about America’s game.”
Ben shut the door as TJ started talking shit and Kenzie was dancing around the kitchen with her unique energy and the game went on. Ben joined them and for the first time felt like maybe, just maybe, he belonged here.
Week Two
“Yes, that’s Claire.” Sosa stared down at the picture. “She is okay?”
“No one is ever okay,” Gabby replied, staying back.
Kenzie watched them. She was actually getting to the point where she could handle Sosa. Gabby was easier, but she was also far more distant. They were working with Ariel and Penny and Kenzie’s mom to get down as much about their organization as they could remember, which was a lot.
If they could trust them.
“She’s in police custody right now, but we’re working to get her out,” Kenzie explained, trying to handle the situation with delicacy.
“She’s a terrible assassin.” Kala didn’t understand the meaning of the word.
Kenz sent her twin a what-the-hell look since they’d already talked about how to handle this.
Kala shrugged. “They caught her at our house. She didn’t even know Dad wasn’t there, and if the dogs weren’t in Colorado, she probably would have killed them.”
Sosa’s eyes went wide. “No. No. Claire would never kill poor puppy. Only humans. We are not monsters.”
Gabby nodded. “Humans are terrible. Dogs are good. So are cats.”
“Claire is allergic to cats so she might…” Sosa allowed with a shrug. “I mean she is assassin. We’re not known for being kind.”
“She would not,” Gabby argued. “She would get some medications and keep cat. I already told her when we kill all the people who harm us, we’re getting cat and living in the forest.”
