“It’s nice to meet you, Eden.”
Dan’s deep voice reached her ears. Eden blinked and dropped her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
A quick glance in Alex’s direction told her he knew she’d gotten a vision. Dan, however, seemed none the wiser.
“I don’t know about you two, but I’m starved.” Dan smiled back at them before returning to his seat.
Sliding onto the bench seat on the opposite side of the table, Eden scooted in next to the paneled wall to make room for Alex. After giving the waitress their orders, the two men took a few minutes to catch up.
“So, what brings you to Chicago?” Alex asked his friend.
“Work.” Dan shrugged. “Nothing too exciting.”
The other man gave Eden an almost indiscernible flicker of a glance, making her think he wasn’t being entirely honest with Alex. She brushed it off, though, telling herself it was simply her jaded past making her question Dan’s trustworthiness.
Obviously, Alex thought highly of the man. And she trusted Alex completely. If he was friends with this man, she had no reason to doubt Dan.
“You still with the agency?”
“Yep.” Dan tipped his chiseled chin.
Turning to her, Alex briefly explained. “Dan helped start a company called The Phoenix Agency. It’s based out of San Antonio.”
Eden nodded, but it wasn’t until Dan elaborated that she understood what that actually meant.
“Three other guys and I started it as a high-risk security agency after we finished our time with the military. Over the years, we’ve grown into one of the world’s most renowned and respected private black-ops contracting agencies.”
After taking a moment to process what he’d just said, Eden read the rest between the lines. “So, basically like what you guys did with the Marines, only now you can make your own rules?”
Dan’s brown eyes gleamed with admiration. To Alex, he tilted his head in her direction and grinned. “She’s smart.”
Alex snorted. “You have no idea.” He gave her a wink and smiled. “Don’t let Dan fool you, though. This guy’s as smart as they come.” He looked back over at his friend. “Helluva lot smarter than I am, anyway.”
Dan frowned. “How do you figure?”
With a shrug, Alex said, “I’m the dumbass who became a cop.”
All three laughed before Dan gave Alex a look. “My offer still stands.” He settled against the booth’s tall cushioned back. “The Agency’s grown quite a bit since you and I last saw each other. So has the demand. We’re always looking for good agents, and I happen to have a little influence with the other partners.”
One corner of Alex’s mouth curved into a half-smirk. “If I don’t catch the son of a bitch we’re after now, I may not have a choice but to take you up on that. Pretty sure my sergeant’s ready to kick my ass to the curb as it is.”
Dan’s brows turned inward. “I take it your team caught The Liberator case?”
Just then, the waitress returned to the table. Balancing the large, round tray with one hand, the young woman used the other to disperse the glasses one at a time to the appropriate person.
Alex took a sip of his iced tea and sat his glass on the table. Waiting until their server was out of earshot, he nodded. “Bastard’s been a step ahead of us from the get-go.”
“You’ll catch him.” Dan tipped his own glass to his lips and swallowed a gulp of soda. “You always do.”
Eden glanced around to make sure no one was listening to the conversation, only then realizing they weren’t near any other customers. She couldn’t help but wonder if Dan had intentionally requested the privacy.
“This one’s different. It’s—” Alex cut himself off when the metal band encircling Dan’s left ring finger caught his eye. Sitting up straighter, he blurted, “Is that what I think it is?”
Dan followed Alex’s line of sight. The smiling man fingered the ring. “Guess ithasbeen a while since I saw you last.”
“You think?” Alex looked at his friend incredulously. “When the fuck did you get married?”
Eden didn’t dare give away the fact that she already knew that particular bit of information.
