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“I’m sending an email rather than calling because this format lays everything out for him so he has time to think about it before he responds,” she said. “Otherwise, he’d immediately try to use his clout to get some bougie doctor he could buy off instead of someone who already knows our history. He’ll come around because it’s the right choice, but this saves us from discussing it to death.” She glanced at him. “I made it clear this was your idea, not Cali’s, so he can’t yell at her.”

Yeah, there had always been a pretty visceral push and pull between Dev and Cali, Benny remembered. The two of them had perpetually seemed on the verge of either fighting or fucking. He was pretty sure they’d never actually gotten together, but the chemistry had always been obvious, at least to him.

When Dev called ten minutes later, Jordan’s tactics proved to be on the nose. By using email she’d given Dev time to think the plan through instead of immediately trying to problem-solve in his own way. Benny understood the impulse. Dev was the kind of guy who needed to fix things. Hell, that was probably what had led him to the CIA in the first place instead of spending his life sitting around enjoying all that money.

“Good call on the email, Jordan,” Dev said by way of greeting. “I would’ve argued.”

Jordan snickered. “I know. Hence my use of appropriate communications.”

There was just enough glee and snark in her voice to make Benny smile.

“I’ve got nothing new from Davenport,” Dev continued. “As much as I wish he’d just stay gone, knowing whether anyone is actively looking for Benny would be nice.”

Yeah, it would.

But Benny was perfectly happy taking one thing at a time, and right now that one thing was talking to Kendra Hancock.

“Reaching out to Hancock is a solid tactic,” Dev said. “I ran her before I called you, and I’m convinced she was just as much a pawn in all of this as we were, just without the tiny little asshole robots. Do you want me or Cali there?”

“No,” Benny said quickly. “The two of us can handle it. Now that my brain is actually starting to work again, I agree that we need to maintain distance between us and you all, at least for the time being as this all shakes out. But thank you for the offer.”

“Let us know how it goes,” Dev said, and when Benny looked up at Jordan, he saw how much his words of faith had steadied her. Not that she’d been shaky before, but she just seemed… more, and he realized that by making them a team without even thinking about it, he’d added a stabilizing leg to the rickety chair they’d been standing on for the last few days as they tried to reach for something at the very back of the cabinet.

When Cali texted half an hour later, it was to tell them she’d set up a meeting with Hancock at a location Dev had arranged in old Vegas in two hours.

The meeting place had once been the private estate of a movie star and was now owned by a tech bro who owed Dev a big favor. He’d given them access to the pool house and promised the security cameras would be shut down before they drove through the gates. Which meant that of course Jordan would be taking along the jammer just in case.

Now that the meeting was set, Benny felt butterflies whirling through his stomach. When Jordan’s hand settled on his shoulder, it jolted him out of his thoughts. Her touch was warm and soothing and exactly what he needed right now.

“I hate this shit,” he admitted. “Doing this scares the hell out of me, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Why the hell would he lie to her? He was already in such a vulnerable position that pretending otherwise seemed pointless. And even though trusting someone this completely should have gone against every instinct he possessed, confiding in Jordan seemed instinctual, like muscle memory. His mind might not remember her, but some deeper part of him did. He covered her hand with his. “It seems impossible,” he said quietly.

“What does?”

“That we only had four months. The way I trust you. The way being around you feels.” He searched for the right words and couldn’t quite find them. “I don’t remember loving you. I don’t feel what I must’ve felt then.” He hated saying that, but she deserved the truth. “But this?” He tightened his hand over hers. “This doesn’t feel like something we built in four months.”

She squeezed back, but instead of addressing his statement or their past, moved on to their present. “Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”

She walked toward her room, leaving Benny alone with Spot.

Was it wrong that he watched her walk away with considerably more interest than he would have this morning?

Yeah, the burn of attraction was there for sure. The hum of friendship. The sense of comfort and familiarity that seemed to get stronger the longer he was around her. But no matter how hard he reached for more, the love she’d described just wasn’t there.

When Jordan emerged fifteen minutes later, he did a double take.

Gone was the no-nonsense cop who wore little makeup and almost no jewelry. In her place was a woman wearing similar clothes, but her hair had been styled into a sleek waterfall around her shoulders, and makeup had been artfully applied to make her eyes appear larger and her lips rosier. Simple diamond studs glittered at her ears, and an expensive watch circled her wrist.

Same woman, but with a completely different presentation.

She looked richer somehow. Sleeker. Like someone who belonged behind the gates of an old Vegas estate and wouldn’t get a second glance from anyone who saw her there.

“How’d you do that?” Benny asked.

Her lips curved into a smile. “Most women know how, Benny. You have a sister and must have seen it when she was getting ready for a date.”

“But you look...” He waved a hand at her. “I don’t know. Loaded.”