“You’re serious?” he asked, almost warily. He was watching her face intently.
Was she?
She’d just been talking and it had come out all on its own. But now that she gave the idea more room…
It felt right.
She wanted a normal life—whatever that might consist of—and she wanted kids. A family. A real family that didn’t hide what was really going on. That didn’t have secrets they never spoke of.
All it would take was fading into the shadows, or clearing her name.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have a clue how to make either of those things happen.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Colton was blown away by Angel’s revelation. Finding out she’d killed her partner and survived a childhood with a demon psychopath hadn’t surprised him as much as this last admission.
Angel—tough as nails, take no prisoners—Larson wanted…a family?
Sure, she hadn’t come out and said that, exactly. But the soccer game comment hinted at such.
Could it be they were standing on opposite ends of the spectrum? She wanted what he had, a quiet life, and he wanted what she had, action and adventure?
Okay, maybe he didn’t want what she had right at the moment, but what she would have once she was cleared of murder and could go back to work as a deputy marshal.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, they wanted each other. Or at least he wanted her.
“You could have that, you know.” He brushed her hair back from her face so he could look at her more clearly. Her cheeks were pink. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was blushing.
Was the independent woman in his arms feeling embarrassed that she wanted something as mundane as a family life?
“I have to clear this up first,” she said, quickly brushing it off.
“I’m coming with you,” he reminded her.
“We’ll see.”
It wasn’t a straight out no. He was wearing her down. He knew she would try to shake him when the time came, but he was prepared. He would be there when she faced this asshole. Whether she wanted him there or not.
And then, when she was free…
He was surprised to realize that the mundane life didn’t seem so bad if she was in it with him.
Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t the danger and adrenaline he craved. There were different kinds of action and excitement. Like the kind he felt with her. She made him feel alive even doing the simplest, everyday things.
He cleared his throat, a little stunned by that revelation.
“Maybe we can work together to clear your name,” he suggested carefully, “then we could both work on that other thing together. The part with the groceries and the soccer games.”
Nothing.
“Or maybe you had someone else in mind for that job…?” he hinted.
Nothing.
“Angel?”
He noticed her head felt heavier on his chest and felt her steady breathing against his skin.
She was asleep.
Well, damn. She’d completely missed his proposal…of sorts.
He laughed at himself and turned off the light. “I think your purpose in life—why you survived everything—is to drive me fucking mad,” he whispered into her hair before he kissed her and followed her to sleep.
When he awoke, she was gone. And that familiar fear washed over him.
They’d talked about some pretty heavy issues in the middle of the night after her nightmare. What if she couldn’t handle it? Again.
What if she ran? Again.
Throwing off the covers, he rushed out into the living room. And found her sitting cross legged at the coffee table in front of her computer.
His dog’s head was resting on her knee. Everything was normal.
“You okay?” she asked, worry in her eyes as she reached for the gun sitting next to her laptop.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I just—” He shook his head. “Never mind. Is there coffee?”
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Angel knew Colton’s reaction wasn’t from an intense need for caffeine. He’d practically run out into the living room like there was a fire.
His quickness to cover it up meant it was her. He was still afraid she was going to run off in the middle of the night as she’d done before.
She wished she could convince him that wasn’t going to happen. The problem was, she wasn’t sure it wouldn’t happen. The truth was, she had thought of running this morning—as she had nearly every morning.
Especially after last night. When she’d told him she might want to settle down and have a family.
What had she been thinking?
Why would a man who was bored to tears in suburbia want to settle down and have a family with The Mantis—who didn’t know the first thing about being in a healthy family? He needed something more.
He needed action and excitement.
He needed a job. With Thorne.
Colton would be a perfect candidate for Task Force Phoenix. He had all the necessary skills, and he wanted to give back. He might have been recruited when he entered WITSEC if he hadn’t been in the ICU at the time.
That was something she might be able to arrange. He was going out of his way to help her. The least she could do was ask Thorne to give Colton a job when this was over.
She thought about how that might work. The two of them on the same team. She worked well with Dane, Justin, and Donovan. Even Garrett, on the off times when he’d needed a partner for a job. While she didn’t want them to get hurt, she wasn’t petrified with fear when they were in danger. They had her back and she had theirs. That was how it worked.
But if she was planning something even remotely dangerous with Colton, it would be different. She would want to keep him close.
Protected.
God, if he could hear what she was thinking. He’d throw her over his shoulder and carry her straight back to his bed.
Hmm. Not a bad idea…
Chapter Sixty
This is the life, Colton thought to himself as he sipped lemonade while sitting on his back porch. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and there was a breeze that kept it from being too hot.
Between sips he would toss a tennis ball to the end of his yard so Pudge could chase after it like it was the first time they were playing this game rather than the thousandth.
Colton smiled. The best part was the woman sitting next to him. He’d talked her into taking a break from the computer to relax. When he wasn’t throwing the ball for the dog, his hand rested happily in hers.
Ever since she’d mentioned how she might want a normal life, he’d been thinking about it. Imagining how it would be.
Wanting it.
Of course, in his fantasies they wouldn’t have two Glocks sitting on the small table between their chairs. For now, this was how it had to be. Always on alert and ready for anything.
But maybe one day, they would be watching Pudge play with a small child, and the only thing on the table would be the bouquet of flowers they’d picked together that morning.
He let out a breath at the thought just as Pudge started barking. His ball was stuck under the small shed at the end of the property.
Bark, bark meant come and free my best friend.
With a sigh of annoyance, Colton stood to make the voyage. He’d only taken a few steps off the porch when the gate at the side yard opened.
Before he could identify the visitor, Angel’s reflexes kicked in and her gun was up and cocked on the boy.
“Holy shit!” Kenny put both hands in the air as Colton took a step closer, holding his hands up in a stand-down motion.
“What’s going on?” Colton asked the neighbor kid, giving Angel an are-you-serious? look as she put the gun down and tried to act normal.
The kid glanced between them nervously. “I just wanted to ask you about shooting the gun. You said to give you a few weeks, but you never called.”
Colton’s shoulders notched
down. “Jeez, kid. Why don’t you ring the doorbell like a normal person?”
Kenny’s wide eyes were still glued to the gun by Angel’s side, even though it was no longer pointed at him. “I thought if I rang the doorbell you wouldn’t answer. I figured you’d pretend you weren’t home.”
That was exactly what he would have done. Damn it.
Kenny spared a glance for Colton, but then went right back to staring at Angel. Colton wasn’t sure if it was because the boy recognized her, or because she was wearing short shorts and a tank top and Kenny was seventeen.
Pudge came up to investigate, and Kenny petted the dog. “Thanks for not having him attack me this time.”
“He didn’t attack you last time. Trust me. He can do far worse than hold you down.” Just ask Dane about the four holes in his leg.
Angel still hadn’t moved or said anything. It looked as if she wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. He didn’t blame her. He wasn’t quite sure what to do, either.
“Look. Now’s not the best time. Give me a few more weeks,” Colton said.
Kenny shook his head and held out his cell phone. “Nuh-uh. I know how this works. My mom does it to me all the time. Later never comes.”
“I promise, I really will call your mother to set something up, but as you can see, I have a guest.”
“And your guest could probably show me how to shoot as well as you can.” He nodded toward the gun in Angel’s grip.
Despite it hanging by her side, she was still holding it as though that was a totally natural thing to do.
“I need to do this.” Kenny looked back at Colton, and for once he didn’t look like a goofy kid. He looked like a man. “I need to see if I’m any good at it before I fill out an application for the police academy. If this is just one more thing I can’t do right, then I need to know before I sign up.”
Colton brushed a hand over his hair. He really wanted to help his student, but—
“Either you call my mother to set it up, or I’ll call the police and tell them you’re shacked up with The Mantis.”
“Shit,” Colton whispered with a grimace. It seemed he’d drastically underestimated the kid. “I really wish you hadn’t called her that.”
Chapter Sixty-One
“Are you going to kill me now to keep me quiet?” Kenny asked with even wider eyes. “Braden knows I was coming over here today.” Kenny’s voice shook a little as the bravado dropped off.
Angel was still holding the gun, but taking out a seventeen-year-old seemed a little drastic to ensure her freedom. Plus, Colton probably wouldn’t appreciate her shooting one of his students.
“We’re not going to kill you,” Colton said, then looked at her as if to make sure.
“We can take him out shooting,” she offered, barely resisting rolling her eyes. “How bad could it be?”
Colton gave her a stricken look. “He broke a scrench.”
“That was Braden,” Kenny protested. “And I would’ve had that bookcase together right the first time if I hadn’t listened to him.”
Clearly, the kid had already mastered the art of hostage negotiation. He’d bested two trained federal agents to get his way. He couldn’t be that dim witted.
Colton pulled his phone from his pocket. “What’s your mother’s number? I’ll call and see if she gives you permission to shoot a gun. But if she doesn’t, that’s the end of it. And you can’t tell anyone about—” He pointed toward Angel.
“Your girlfriend the killer?” Kenny filled in the blank.
Great. A comedian, too.
“She didn’t kill anyone.” Colton said, his voice flat and serious.
“I figured as much. She’s too hot to be a murderer.”
Right, because attractive people never killed anyone. A memory of Lucas Stone flashed through her mind. White-blond hair and warm brown eyes. Handsome as a movie star.
Maybe police academy was a good idea for this kid. He’d get an enlightening there like nowhere else. But strangely, she actually thought he might end up making a damn fine cop.
“Come on,” she said with a wink toward Kenny. “Let’s go shoot something.”
This would be fun.
Chapter Sixty-Two
After Colton carefully spelled out all the dangers of target shooting, Kenny’s mother still gave her permission to take him to the range. Now they were all loaded up in Colton’s truck. His student was in the back seat with Pudge, while Angel sat in the passenger seat…wearing a disguise.
Or what she called a disguise. Colton called it a hat and a pair of sunglasses.
She’d simply pursed her lips when he’d pointed out the obvious.
Kenny was no help. He’d told her no one would know it was her because they only showed her face on television, and in real life guys would be looking at her— He’d gestured toward his chest, and Colton had knocked the boy in the back of the head while Angel just laughed.
The kid did have a point. Seeing her curves and other features was distracting.
No one else was at the outdoor range at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday morning, so they got out of the truck and set up their stuff.
Colton walked out to set up the targets with Pudge, while Angel went over all the parts of the gun in detail with the kid. They took it apart a few times, until Kenny could identify all the pieces and put it together himself.
They went over gun safety, and explained that a gun was never a solution to a problem.
When it was time to shoot, Colton instructed Kenny on the proper way to hold the pistol, and how to squeeze the trigger rather than jerk it back.
Only three shots later, he had one on the paper. Six more shots got it in the center.
“You’re a natural,” Angel told him, earning a big smile from Kenny.
“I am? Really? I’m not normally good at anything.”
Kenny was a mediocre student, but he could have been better if he’d actually tried.
Still, Colton could see how important this moment was for the kid. And he was playing a pivotal role in how Kenny’s life might turn out. Sure, it would be up to the boy to make it happen, but Colton had set things in motion. He hoped the kid would do well for himself.
“Kenny, I think you’d make a good cop. Though, you know, being a cop isn’t just about shooting a target.”
“Because I might be forced to shoot a real person.”
“You might. But they would train you so you know when you shoot to stop versus shoot to kill.”
“Have you ever had to shoot to kill?” Kenny asked, his gaze bouncing between both of them intently.
Colton and Angel both nodded slowly. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Have you ever been shot?”
Colton briefly considered evading the question, but decided Kenny deserved the truth. So he gave the same reluctant reply.
Kenny’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not really a teacher, are you?”
For all his trouble with the bookcase, Kenny was proving to be a pretty sharp detective.
But before Colton could open his mouth to answer, Angel took over. “He is a teacher. He’s a very good teacher. That’s just not all he is. Do you understand?”
Kenny nodded, and his mouth pulled up in a smirk. “I knew I was right.” He pointed a finger at Colton and nodded again in satisfaction at his rightness. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone anything about either of you.”
“Thanks. We’re both trusting you with a pretty big secret,” she said calmly.
Colton was impressed she wasn’t upset at being identified. She probably knew he was prepared to discredit the boy if he went to the police. Kenny wasn’t a huge threat when his teacher could bring up the egg incident and convince the police he was just causing trouble in retaliation for his punishment.
“It’s okay. I won’t let you down,” Kenny assured them, looking ready for the next challenge.
Colton nodded and handed over another clip of ammunition. And realized his life still had a purpose and
meaning, even if he wasn’t a DEA agent any longer.
Chapter Sixty-Three
A week later, they were still waiting impatiently for Jim to respond to Noah’s requests. Angel monitored Noah’s emails daily, but so far it was only condolences for the death of his brother, with hints of offence that Noah would even assume the sender was involved.
Noah was probably a mess, thinking everyone suspected him. She had hidden her sent messages in a different place than his email files so he wouldn’t know why everyone was emailing him out of the blue. The little weasel deserved a little panic.
Surely by now, this Jim person was feeling the squeeze. One by one, every viable software company had been shut out from his possible offer of the stolen technology. He was only left with one possibility now—Noah. Jim should be getting desperate enough to make a move on Noah, one way or the other.
She’d also sent taunting emails to Redgamer3, but had gotten no reply. And she still hadn’t been able to find him.
On the Viktor Kulakov front, the good news was that Colton’s cover came up solid. He was safe from the ruthless drug lord and his goons.
For now.
There was nothing for them to do but wait. And not very patiently.
She was going stir crazy. Last week’s trip to the shooting range had been her only venture outside the house and yard in ages.
Thankfully, the nights were anything but boring. They were almost through the box of condoms, and she had no intention of leaving any time soon. Time for a new box.
“Oh, hell,” Colton said while sitting at the kitchen table with a pile of mail.
She glanced up from her laptop. “What is it?”
“I forgot I’m going to a wedding this Saturday. One of the teachers I work with is getting married. I already RSVP’d I would go.”
“Then you should go, so it doesn’t seem suspicious. Maybe you could sneak out a piece of cake for me.”
“I could make you cake if you want.” He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her down onto his lap.
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