Jared was ten years older than him. Twelve years older than Angie.
Not that that mattered.
North had lived a thousand lifetimes in his twenty-eight years. He no longer considered himself young.
“I think I’m good,” Jared said.
Jared had grown up with a violent, powerful narcissist for a father. He’d never wanted for anything material, like food or clothes or a place to sleep.
But he’d also never been safe.
North had to fight for everything he had. Sure, he’d been pulled out of an orphanage by The Collective and set up in a foster home where he’d been fed and clothed.
But nothing had been his unless he took it.
His life had never been normal or easy. But neither had Jared’s.
He wondered if that was why they were drawn to each other.
“Where is she?” Jared asked, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I don’t know. I guess she must have decided against coming. Probably smart. She could get hurt.”
“You wouldn’t let her get hurt.”
Hmm. Sometimes he wondered why Jared had so much confidence in him.
North twirled one of his knives. He didn’t usually play with them. But he had a surge of restless energy.
Strange.
It had to be all the issues he was facing right now.
Like how to keep Jared safe from The Collective. From the person who was paying to have him killed. The only way to figure that out was to talk to his handler. V.
V hadn’t replied to North’s message, but when he did North had to be prepared to do what needed to be done.
Even if it went against all his training.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and Angie rushed in. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a workout T-shirt.
Yes, he’d bought her all sorts of clothing.
Her face was red and she looked grouchy and cute.
No! Not cute.
Since when did he think someone was cute?
“You’re late,” he told her in a voice that said he could care less.
The truth was something else that he didn’t want to examine too closely.
“You guys are the ones that gave me bad directions,” she grumbled, walking over to grab a water from the small fridge.
North glanced at Jared. What was she talking about?
“We didn’t give you bad directions,” Jared told her.
