“She’s trying her best.” Legend felt the need to take up for Karolena. He’d seen the flash of panic in her eyes when she’d done a temperature check on their reactions to her screw up. She was used to being punished for minor infractions. Harshly. Of that, he was sure.
Tavish spun to face him, a slow smirk curving his lips. “I knew you liked her too.”
What was not to appreciate? She reminded him of a princess or a prima ballerina in a maid’s uniform. There was something very Cinderella-esque about her that made him want to be Prince Charming. It was a complex a lot of the Shields had. They were born, or had been forged, into protectors. Men and women willing to do extreme things to defend the innocent.
He belonged here for a reason.
Maybe Karolena was it.
Tavish nodded, then squeezed his forearm. They were in trouble.
“Guys, I’m with Jordan on this.” Liam was extra cautious after having nearly lost Ace on a mission not so long ago and then suffered through Ruby getting kidnapped. Even Ruby, though she didn’t speak up, twiddled with the end of her braid. “We’ve got our families here.”
“I know it makes me biased, but with Wren expecting…” Jordan sighed. “I’m trying to be impartial, but a baby changes everything.”
“Especiallyyourbaby.” James patted Jordan’s hand. He was no stranger to loss either. That poor kid. In addition to a whole pack of overprotective aunts and uncles, who sometimes also happened to kill very bad people, Wren’s baby was going to have a badass father who was relentless in looking after them. Legend felt sorry way in advance for whoever would end up being their first date. Jordan knew more ways to unalive someone and make the body disappear than most government agencies.
“Okay, I see your point. Really.” James turned from Jordan to Legend and Tavish. “But now that you’ve spent some time with her, what’s your take? Is she spying on us for someone? Or is she in trouble?”
Legend glanced at Tavish, who deferred his judgment, waiting to see what Legend would say. That was odd. Of the two of them, Legend was usually the quiet one. He shrugged. “It’s only been a few hours, but I don’t get the sense that she’s a plant or anything like that. She’s completely unartful. Just like with that background check. If someone we needed to worry about was going to send an operative to infiltrate our headquarters, they’d do a way better job. Right?”
Tavish nodded vehemently. “She’s not an agent. She’s afraid, though.”
“Of what?”
“Dunno yet.” Tavish kicked back and folded his hands on his taut stomach. “But I’m happy to get closer to her and find out.”
“Theylikeher like her,” Ruby blurted. “She’s probably a good apple, right?”
“Let’s hope she doesn’t have any poisonous seeds or a rotten core.” Jordan sighed.
Legend put his elbow on the table and dropped his head into his hand. This could get messy quick.
“See, that’s my sense too.” James leaned forward, drumming his fingers on the table. “We said someone would have to be desperate to take this job. And she absolutely is. But why? A woman like her…I’d bet she hasn’t worked a day in her life. She was perfectly comfortable parrying with me in her interview. Sharp yet tactful. The kill-you-with-kindness sort. Her nails and hair weren’t flashy but…pedigreed. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, I could totally picture her as someone’s trophy wife.” Kennedy nodded. “I don’t mean that as a negative, just that she seemed really good at small talk and pleasantries when we went over her benefits. Her posture is a solid ten out of ten too. But she’s less comfortable with making decisions and showing vulnerability. She hesitated over picking a plan. And when I suggested some mental health services, her walls went up so fast I’d have thought the Powertools crew was building them.”
James chuckled at the mention of his best friends and lovers, who also happened to own Middletown’s booming construction business.
“Hiding out from someone, obviously,” Jordan mumbled, a crack in his resistance showing. None of them could refuse to assist when they spotted a damsel in distress. It was their kryptonite. Begrudgingly, he caved, “Let’s find out who. Quickly.”
“We all agree she’s not faking that accent, right?” Ruby asked, and the group nodded. That’s one thing that hadn’t wavered. “The bit I sampled off the security camera came back as Russian with a Baltic influence. Okay, let me start with reverse image searches narrowed to that region and I’ll let you know what I come up with.”
“Until we understand what’s going on here, you two aren’t to let her out of your sight.” Jordan pointed at Legend, then waggled his finger between him and Tavish.
Legend knew he should have been annoyed but instead, something inside him awoke and stretched. He wasn’t disappointed by the opportunity to spend more time getting to know Karolena. Ah, shit.
Tavish swiveled his chair so he faced Jordan point blank. “Hypothetically, would it be okay if we stayed so close to her that we slept with her?”
Legend slapped his forehead. “Tavish!”
“Don’t act like you don’t want to.” His partner huffed. “That wasn’t a tree-trunk in your shorts this morning.”
“Could have fooled me.” James peeked over the edge of the table in the directions of Legend’s bulge. “It’s gotta be a two by four at least.”
“Hey. What am I, a slab of meat?” Legend scowled, hoping they’d get the point. “I’m not and neither is she. If you weren’t so busy staring at her tits in her soapy top you would have noticed she’s nervous around us too.”
“Probably because she’s lying through her teeth about why she came here in the first place, not because she’s afraid of us in particular.” Tavish grinned. “Intimacy could be a shortcut to getting answers. What do you say, Jordan?”