“I’m going to take a bath and get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” I bit my lower lip, praying internally that he wouldn’t protest.
“Okay.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead while cupping my cheeks. “Goodnight princess, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Romano.”
As Kade walked down the hall I realized I had not said anything about the promotion.
“Kade?”
He turned. “Mhm?”
“Thank you for the opportunity with Ricci Enterprises. I would be honored.”
He smiled. “You earned it, princess. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I watched him until he got onto the elevator and the doors closed.
When I walked into my apartment, I was met by two guilty faces.
I tilted my head. “Um, why do you two look like you were caught taking cookies out of the cookie jar?”
Aaron gave me a sheepish grin and I noticed the TV was on, the show paused.
My eyes widened. “You were watching New Girl without me?”
Alfredo jumped off Aaron’s lap as if to say,you’re on your own dude.
Aaron immediately turned off the TV , jumping off the couch and walking over to me, his arms stretched out as if he were trying to cage a wild animal. “It’s not what it seems like!”
I pretended to be angry and pouted. “We are fighting, sir!”
I squealed when Aaron picked me up and swung me over his shoulder like a caveman and slapped my ass.
“If we are fighting then I need to make it up to you.”
I laughed at his reasoning. “Put me down, you brute! I almost died from a piece of chicken! I need rest!” I swatted on his back.
Aaron stilled and quickly set me on my feet to inspect me for injuries. “What do you mean?”
“I choked at dinner. I am fine, I was even checked out by paramedics. All I want is a shower and some sleep.”
Aaron nodded but continued to inspect me some more. “I’ll start a bath for you. Get undressed.”
I didn’t have the energy to argue, nor did I have the energy to think about how bitchy I felt having two men in my life. Maybe I could try again tomorrow. For now, a bath sounded wonderful.
TWENTY-NINE
EVELYN
The next week flew by in a blur. While Buddha and Badger tailed Ricci and Kade, I stayed “normal” with my undercover mission. I told the team that I didn’t want to know all of the logistics of what the other team members were doing to take down Ricci in case I were ever caught. A must-needed safeguard.
Since our dinner, Kade seemed distant and distracted. I tried not to read into it, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly panicked and hurt at his distance. He never flat-out ignored me; however, his texts were simple, and his schedule was abnormally busy, which made seeing each other nearly impossible. Could he know what the team and I were up to?
Chief had Arrow helping Zombie sift through paperwork and old case files, making it easier to not feel conflicted between the two men. The fewer lies I needed to tell, the better.
As I was cutting up some watermelon for a late evening snack, my phone began to ring. Not glancing at the caller ID, I swiped the screen to answer. “Hello?” My voice sounded garbled from the watermelon in my mouth.
I was met with heavy breathing on the other end. Getting annoyed, I put the call on speaker. “Helloooo?”
