I love her. Despite my common sense, I do. I never expected this to happen, but I guess that’s how most great love stories go. Or maybe “twisted” is a better way to describe it.
“Morning Dad,” Ella says, taking a seat beside me, Asha on her lap. “Monty.”
Lina shakes her head. “Lina.”
Ella stares. “What?”
“My name is Lina,” Monty says, cuddling Gray and placing her chin on his head. “Call me that. Or Mum, depending on what you fancy.”
Ella gags. “Oh God, so you’re really both doing this?” She waves her hand between us. “You’re a couple?”
“Yep.” Lina grins at me.
“God save us all,” Gable says as he brings in two plates of breakfast and puts one in front of Ella, and one down for Lina. “Need a big meal today, Chief? Lots of sex last night, I imagine.”
Ella tosses her napkin at him and he laughs, winking at her before he heads back to the kitchen.
When he returns with a plate for each of us, we’re about to dig in when Asha speaks.
“Sex.”
Ella glares at her husband. “You see what you’ve done?”
“Shit,” he mumbles.
“Shit,” Gray says.
“Oh, my good God!” Ella cries.
I dig into my breakfast. “Don’t worry, your first word was ‘kill’.” The table falls quiet and I chew slowly, looking between everyone as they gape at me. “What? I talked about work a lot; she picked it up.”
I inhale my breakfast—Gable may be an ass, but he’s a great cook—and once I’m done, I take Gray from Lina so she can eat hers. Soon, I have both twins on my lap.
Lina smiles at me from across the table, her green eyes clear and bright, no sign of the shadows from last night. Maybe she shared her darkness with me, and I hope it helps her. I know having a plan will, and I’ve already sent messages to a few people in the bureau for more information on the Sinclairs. There will be an ongoing investigation into them, I have no doubt about that, but I need to know how far along they are and if there’s any information Lina has that could help.
While Ella and Gable take the kids upstairs to get readyfor swimming, Lina and I clean the kitchen and put away the dishes.
“I was thinking,” Lina says. “Maybe you could come to New York. Meet my friends out there.”
I close the dishwasher and straighten up. “Sure, I’d love that.”
“Good.” She smiles. “But I should tell you they’re not … law-abiding citizens.”
She slinks over to me, and I arch a brow. “More contract killers?”
“Not quite. But the less you know the better, right? Plausible deniability.” She places her hands on my chest. “You’ll like Alistair, though. He looked after me when I needed it. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
I brush her hair back. “Then it sounds like we’ll get along.”
She kisses me. Slow, passionate, her body pressed to mine. “If he tries to bribe you, he’s kidding.”
I scowl. “Is he?”
“No, but let’s pretend he is.” She spanks me on the behind and saunters away. “Are we swimming, Chief?”
Now that I know about what happened with the Sinclairs, Lina doesn’t hide her bandage beneath a T-shirt, but part of me wishes she would because I can’t stop staring at her. In a tiny white bikini, her body shining with water, her hair soaked and down her back, she looks like a goddamn dream.
It’s also really fucking nice being able to touch her, hold her hand, kiss her and not worry. Ella covers her face every time and Gable cackles. It’s a great afternoon. And when night falls and the kids are in bed, we sit on the patio furniture with the fire lit, and Lina has her legs on mylap. With blankets over us, it’s a perfect setting, and one I never thought I’d experience.
