"Leave them Claire, I will have them cleaned for you and re calibrated. They will be ready when you two are about to head out." He pointed to the other side of the range. "The elevator will take you up to the private locker room, you both can shower and change there."
Claire smiled, whispering a thank you as she set her gun next to the black case as she left the range quietly. Leaving Davey and alone as I fidgeted with pulling apart the gun in my hands. She surprised me again by proving me wrong again.
He turned to me as the elevator doors whispered closed, and grinned, "Second place for the first time in your life, how does it feel?"
I rubbed at my forehead, "Why didn't you tell me that she actually knew how to use the gun?"
He laughed, "That would be cheating and to be honest, you've been lippy since you got here. I wanted to knock you down a peg."
I sighed and tossed the pieces of the gun into the case, "I wasn't lippy."
"Bullshit." Davey sat on the edge of the table, "Claire tells me that you have done an amazing job. Learning and staying sober. That's what she wanted to talk to me about privately."
I leaned both of my hands on the table, closing my eyes, "Is that all she told you?"
"Yea, well she did inquire about Montreal."
I turned quickly to stare at him, he waved me off, "Not what you think. She told me that she was worried about you and asked for my advice on how to help you. Claire isn't digging." Davey paused, "Can I be frank with you Kit? Friend to friend?"
I nodded, standing up from the edge of the table, "Of course, you are my closest and only other friend aside from Tito."
Davey smiled, "Good old Tito. You need to buy him a new car or at least take him to dinner for the other day." Davey turned to look at me, his copper eyes locking onto mine, "Claire and I have been friends forever. Long before we both realized the world is a fucked up place and how we were both going to eventually try to fix it. She is the sister I never had and wished I could trade my two brothers in for her."
I smiled, "You have brothers?"
He shrugged, "I do, both are lazy assholes still working at the Avondale estate as landscapers." he took a deep breath, "Anyways, I know Claire through and through. She is my family just as much as my real family." He paused, "There's something going on between the two of you that I can tell goes well beyond just a pissy reformed drunk and a classy Senator. She cares about you, I can tell in the way her eyes light up when she talks about you, the way she cares about you."
He slid off the table, straightening the knot on his grey satin tie, "I knew about her and Rebecca." Davey stepped closer to me, "Claire looks at you the way Rebecca looked at her." He took a slow intake of air, "And I see how you look at her."
I swallowed hard, there was no way I could hide anything from one of the best agents I had ever worked with. Davey was the only other one who knew Callum and I were together. He confronted me at the bar one night after work, telling me what he saw in the little looks and movements Callum and I shared.
"Davey, I...She, we aren't anything." I stopped, returning to dig around in the gun case, "I have a job to do. Claire will be safe."
Davey grabbed my forearm gently, "If you love her, stop being an asshole and cutting her out. Let her in and tell her about Montreal, let that demon out and move on." He looked down at his well-manicured hand on my arm, "I can already tell she is the best thing to ever happen to you. I can see it in your eyes, your sober eyes." He smiled, pulling his hand free from me, "Just know, if you fuck up I will be the first person at your doorstep." Davey stopped suddenly, dipping two fingers into the edge of the case to slide it closer to him, "Leave this and go get cleaned up." He picked up the case, turning to Claire's.
I felt my heart pound against my rib cage, threatening to break it. I swallowed down my dry throat and forced myself to speak, "It's hard, Davey. I've carried Montreal with me every day and smothered it under as many layers of scotch I could dump over the memories." I paused, staring at the metal table top, "It's hard letting her in." I met his eyes as he stared at me, hands on the two gun cases, "It's hard because I do love her. I am afraid because I have fallen in love with her faster than I was certain was humanly possible. I love her more than I ever loved him and it's easier if I keep her at an arm's length, but when I do it kills me when all I want is to be as close to her as I can." I stopped when I felt tears edge closer to falling.
Davey remained in his spot, "Fear only holds you back, Kit. You know that better than anyone else. Claire has no fear, she is a survivor and a fighter. She has always fought for what she wants, and I can tell she will fight you to the end and with you every step of the way."
The quick clicks of the cases being shut scared me, making me blink, letting a few tears slip out. I couldn't bring myself to look at my old friend, his words were hard hitting truths. I returned to staring at the swirling scratches on the metal table. Davey’s voice was distant when he spoke again, he was close to the door I had entered.
"Kit, let go. She will be there to catch you when you do as she already has." The tone in his voice was the same one he used when he held me in the Montreal hospital room, letting me cry and scream. He was the only one I let get close to me that day and the following days after.
I closed my eyes and waited for the soft click letting me know I was now completely alone in the room.
I let out a sigh mixed with a half sob, leaning on my elbows and enjoying the cool feel of the metal. Letting go would be a thousand times harder than loving the blonde Senator who had my heart.
I took a few minutes to collect myself, straightening up and taking one last look at her target and mine sitting next to each other. Claire could handle herself, she proved it to me with this target and the story of survival in her own home. I ran my fingers over the rounded but ragged edges of the holes before walking towards the elevator.
Smashing the three button, I put my hands on my hips to watch the red digital display count up from B to three. I took a deep breath and wondered if there were any penguins at the zoo for me to meet, maybe I could ask them about my dreams and what they meant.
Chapter 13
Smoothing out the sleeves of the dark blue linen shirt I exchanged my old pub shirt for, I wondered if showing up Kit at the range would work like I had hoped. I did not want to embarrass her or anger her further, I wanted to prove a point. That point being I could handle myself and hiring her was for far more reasons than what she focused on when her temper flared.
I hired her for her intelligence, her observation skills and that she valued human life in a job where lives were tossed to the wayside at a moment's notice, all in the name of protection.
I walked around the corner to the series of bland black lockers lined up like waiting soldiers. Hanging the suit bag with Kit's set of clothes on a locker door; I ran my hand down the soft plastic of the bag. The soft yet scratchy feel of the patterned fabric felt soothing against my palm. I honestly had no desire to go to the exhibit opening. Ignoring stacking emails from Robert Fields and his assistants pleasantly requesting my presence, but then the tension in the house between Kit and I grew exponentially. Forcing me to decide it was high time to break up the back and forth with some space and fresh air, as a result a mega billionaire oil mogul and one of my main campaign contributors got his wish to have me stand next to him as he cut the ribbon.
Tucking the small duffel bag with the remaining items Kit would need to clean up completely in preparation for this impromptu dog and pony show under the suit bag, I left the locker room, catching the sound of the elevator beginning to pull upwards. Telling me that Kit was on her way up from the range.
I wanted to give her some privacy, I had to give myself some privacy.
I trailed down the hallways that eventually took me to the small private lounge for executive clients. I moved to the large plush leather couch, underneath a series of heavily tinted windows that allowed me to look out, but no one could look in. Alternating my gaze between t
he news scrolling across the large flat screen television and my emails, I thought about Kit. In truth, Kit was always in my thoughts over the last day or so ever since I went to her and we kissed, setting so much into motion.
We were complicated, yes, I could agree with her statement. This thing that was between us swung like a pendulum, moving from foolish romantic feelings straight out of a drug store romance novel to the other end, an end that held harsh reality. A reality in a world that had hit us both deceptively hard, tainting the ideas of what we wanted and what we thought we could have.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, sifting through emails on the phone. I was entertaining the idea of sitting down with Davidek in private and asking him about the Montreal incident and why it continued to hold so much power over Kit. Only because I was running out of ways to show her that I cared and could be trusted enough to allow her to let go of what happened that day and what happened with Callum. If it wasn't me who received her heart, at least I could try to be the one to give it that first breath of a new life.
The sound of a helicopters dull throbbing blades drew me away from the phone and up to the television screen. Idle news reports of financial statuses across the country and what the capital was doing to improve or ruin the economy was presented by a chipper blonde anchor. I stared at the perfect coif of the anchor woman half listening but still thinking about Kit.
I was slowly resigning to the fact I may not be the one to reach Kit. As much as I felt for her and knew I was falling in love with her, I couldn't tell if it was consistently mutual. There were moments when she looked at me that it shook me down to the deep core of my heart and I could see the profession of love from both of us inches away, and then she would turn. Her temper flickering and things getting muddled in the personal hell she held herself in every day.
Self-preservation, protection, fear, or cowardice.
I would never be able to tell unless I read her deeper and poked around in the dark caverns of the mind of the redhead who enraptured most of my daily thoughts. The one nagging thought riding at the far end of my mind pushed to the front for a second, was she worth it?
I blew out a quick breath as my heart answered in the split second that thought hit my conscience, yes Kit was worth it. Worth every backhanded compliment, very breathtaking look she offered my way and worth digging into the trenches with her as she fought me and the past. I would have to show her and continue to show her every possible way I knew how.
The quiet throbbing blades of the helicopter flew past the windows, breaking my trance of Kit and the news, allowing me to return to the phone. I would have to figure Kit out in the next few days before I returned to D.C. We both would have to figure out the path we would carry out from that point on and not return or dwell on the option we left behind. I was willing to take on complicated with her, but I was not willing to sit and wait forever until she decided the past was not worth wasting a future on.
My logical mind started crafting all the possibilities a heart to heart with Kit would go, when an email from Ivan popped onto the screen. I tapped at the icon, I was expected his final report on the IP address breaches both at the Malibu home and the D.C. Home
-Claire
All of the connections are clean. I rooted out all of the bugs and possible intrusions. Resealed all of the firewalls and upped them to triple the security level. All of the files were scanned and came up clean and unhampered with. The Criterion hub was virtually untouched, but I upped that security as well and reissued new passwords.
The only weird thing that I found was when I traced the initial breach it went all way back to the CIA and their fringe counter intelligence hacking unit. A unit full of white hat and black hat hackers hired to do all the dirty work of protection and theft in the name of national security.
I made a few inquiries in a few of my groups. The CIA medical research group was the one who put in the request for the Intel unit to go digging. I know what you are thinking; yeah it is a cyber-attack on you. But this shit is so black ops and so buried in lies, there would be no way for you to prove it ever happened without revealing yourself.
The medical group, codenamed Beekeeper, is desperate to get their hands on your research and work. My guys in the wires told me that the CIA wants it to continue working on small units of super soldiers to do the work the Navy seals, the army rangers and any given super military squad does, but faster and without casualty. I didn't believe it until they sent me the broken bits of an erased file they rebuilt. I am forwarding that to your home computer for you to review.
It's not good Claire, the government is getting antsy you won't give them the cookies they think they deserve. They are pushing hard if they are using the grey world workers.
I will keep things locked down and you in the loop.
Ivan-
I squeezed the phone typing out a quick thank you to Ivan. After hitting send, I left my vista of the skyscrapers and palm trees and headed back to the locker room. I would have to fill Kit in on Ivan's findings.
There were a handful of government representatives expected at the exhibit opening today and she would need to be aware of them. Fields did contribute all across the board since he was pro-republican and pro-military, leaning more towards the pro-military side since they purchased oil and petrol from him in large quantities.
Tapping the phone against my palm as I rode the elevator back to the locker room, I began wondering if the sudden hard push from both of my enemies was connected. The religious groups were increasing their attacks at the same time the government agencies were.
Opening the locker room door, I heard Kit rattling metal locker doors. I shuffled around the corner, "Kit, I need to talk to you before we leave for the zoo. Ivan provided me with some interesting information."
I paused when my eyes drifted from the floor and up to Kit buttoning the top of her dark fitted jeans, a small white towel still wrapped around her top half. I felt the air fall from my lungs at the sight of her still wet hair draped around her shoulders. Leaving wet droplets to roll down the curve of her shoulder and to the top curve of her breasts. One particular water droplet moving in slow motion, rolling and settling at the edge where the towel and breast met. Teasing my photographic memory with this snapshot I knew would hang in my memory for longer than was healthy and making me very envious of that droplet, touching the skin I suddenly wanted to touch.
Kit glanced at me from the side, a light smile as she reached for the pale Begonia colored chambray shirt I had left for her. "I'm listening."
I nodded, clearing my throat and moving my eyes to the floor, "Ivan was able to trace the breaches back to a sub sect of the CIA. A medical research and development group called Beekeeper who desperately want me to share my notes and work with them." I leaned against the closest locker, swiping open the email so I could refer to it, "There will be a few representatives from an assorted intelligence and military agencies at the zoo. I need you to keep your ears open as I introduce you to a few of them as we go along." I scrolled through the email, re-reading it for the fifteenth time.
I looked up at Kit just as she dropped the towel from her top half, letting it tumble into her hand as she turned her back to me, reaching down into the duffel bag for a bra. I caught the curve of the side of her naked breast, my palms became sweaty and it felt like the temperature in the room suddenly went nuclear. I could feel the blush move up my neck and settle around my cheeks.
Kit kept her back to me as she dressed, "Anything in particular you would like me to listen in on? Keywords? Or would you like me to interrogate them all?”
I was distracted by the way the toned muscles in her shoulders and back moved. I was all out staring at the woman's bare back letting my mind imagine what it would be like to run my fingers over her.
Kit was beyond beautiful.
The effect she had on me was unlike any other I had ever experienced, she set my body and mind on fire with desire more often than not, and sneaking a
look at her half-naked made me feel like a teenager at the peak of blossoming hormones.
Kit turned to face me after she hooked her bra on before sliding on the dress shirt. Her eyes moved from the buttons she was working onto settle on mine, a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, letting the dimple on that side show prominently.
I was caught red handed and red faced. I tore my eyes away, focusing on the black metal locker door I was leaning on, trying to recover and get my cheeks and body to cool down.
"Um. I think, just listen to conversations and see if anyone is wishing to dig deeper." I cleared my throat, "This will be the first time I introduce you as my assistant, so expect to receive a fair amount of attention." I grasped my phone tightly, forwarding the email to Kit, "You can read the email from Ivan on the way in."
"I think I can handle it." Kit's voice came across soft and full of bravado, obviously enjoying that she had caught me staring.
I nodded quickly, "Of course." I freed the locker door from my body weight. Standing up straight I nervously smoothed out my shirt ending right as the hem met the top of my khaki colored dress jeans. "When you're ready, I will meet you by the Cadillac."
Turning to make the rear exit, Kit spoke, stopping me, "Claire, I understand what you are trying to do." The soft rustle of the suit bag filled the heavy pause, "I am not used to the kindness, the care you have shown. I want to apologize for getting mad earlier." I heard her suck in a breath, "I don't know how to do this."
I half turned to look at the redhead, her hazel eyes soft, looking in mine for affirmation and acceptance. "If either of us knew how to do this, it wouldn't be this hard Kit. I am with you every step of the way, but what I am trying to do is get you to listen and hear that I am here for you." It was my turn to take a quick breath, speaking as gently as I could, "You do need to understand that patience is not always my best virtue." I issued a tight lipped smile when I saw in Kit's eyes that she understood what I meant. I could not always bend to the way the woman looked at me, I had to gently warn her that I could not continue to endure her pendulum swings for as long as it suited her.
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