“Do you think I would be in London, risking our family’s good name, if there wasn’t a damn good reason for me to?”
Leah pursed her lips before reluctantly shaking her head. “You’re showing up on the gossip sites, and I know how much you hate that, which is part of the reason why I decided to come to London. This isn’t like you.”
“It’s what I have to be for the mission.”
“Is that the excuse you’re going to stick with for kissing a member of your team? He’s one of the two we haven’t met yet, right? Which one is he? Kyle or Alexei?”
“We’re not discussing this, Leah.”
“Oh, we’re discussing it, Jamie. You talk and talk all the time about following the rules for your job, that you can’t be seen with Father for his campaign because there are laws against politicizing your uniform. All that talk, Jamie? Just bullshit from where I’m standing if you’re screwing a member of your team.”
Jamie flinched at her words but couldn’t immediately deny them, not when denying them would mean denying Kyle. “It’s complicated.”
“Then uncomplicate it.”
Jamie raked a hand through his hair, biting the inside of his cheek. This was not the conversation he wanted to have, but apparently they were having it. “We’re undercover as a couple for this mission because I needed a partner.”
“Really,” Leah drawled.
He held up a hand to forestall her next verbal strike. “That’s the truth. But we met last year before he even came onto the team. We just never stopped seeing each other.”
Leah shook her head, the loose curls of her long blonde hair brushing against the tight line of her shoulders. “You have some nerve, Jamie.”
“Why? Because I want to find some happiness in this life? My job is important to me. I have never lied about that.”
“Fucking a teammate is a good way to lose it.”
“Do you think we both don’t know that?”
“I don’t think I know you very well at all right now to make that assumption.”
Leah stared at him, her expression the blank, cool mask Jamie was used to seeing when she faced the public or the media. Not her own family. It hurt that he’d driven her there. Jamie pressed his lips together, swallowing against the painful lump in his throat. He loved his sister, and he’d never wanted to hurt her, but he unintentionally had through wanting to find his own bit of happiness. Choosing between his family and everything he wanted had never been so starkly shoved in his face before tonight.
But Jamie was a Marine, and a Marine never ran from a fight.
“You know I do what’s right,” Jamie said in a low voice. “I have always done what’s right. For the country, for the family as much as I can, and for myself. How Kyle and I go about our relationship may not be by the books, but he’s who I want to be with. I’ll leave you to decide what you want to do with that information.”
“You’re honestly not going to tell me not to talk?” Leah asked, her mask cracking a bit.
“I don’t think it would make a difference if I did. And I’m not going to ask my family to lie for me.”
Leah had always been one to toe the family line more than he had, but she’d had her own ways of acting out. Leah’s resistance just never almost got her killed. She was more apt to live her life on social media with her friends around what duties their parents deemed her old enough to handle for their various charity sponsorships and the businesses the family collectively oversaw.
“You should have told me,” Leah said after a strained moment of silence. “You told your team before you told me. I feel that says everything about our family relationship right there.”
“They found out because Kyle and I couldn’t keep this a secret from them. We’re in each other’s pockets too much for us to hide it.”
“And they were okay with lying about it?”
“We didn’t ask them to keep quiet. They offered on their own.”
“So they’re complicit in hiding your relationship as well? Isn’t that everything you’re against, Jamie? How can you just throw all that you say you want away for one person?”
The words Jamie wanted to say weren’t for his sister to hear, so he didn’t give voice to them. “Where else would I find someone who understands what I’ve lived through if not a fellow soldier? Wanting that connection isn’t a crime.”
“Except when it is. You outrank him, Jamie.”
“Do you honestly think we went into this relationship blindly? We both know the risk involved here.”
“I sure hope you do, because this is absolutely the stupidest decision you’ve ever made.”
“I’m not changing my mind.”
“I’m well aware of how stubborn you are.” Leah huffed out an angry sigh and reached up to fiddle with the dainty gold necklace hanging around her throat. “You’re really not going to ask me to lie for you?”
Jamie shook his head, never looking away from his sister’s face. “I won’t ever ask that of you.”
It would be easier if he did and she agreed, but they were past that point now. Leah knew, and she was just one more person who had the power to ruin Jamie’s life. It would hurt more if she did, because she was his sister, but he wasn’t going to put her in the position to keep his secrets for him. Leah would talk, or she wouldn’t. He and Kyle had always known being together was a risk. Jamie just thought maybe they’d get more than seven months together.
“You make it so fucking hard to stay angry with you,” Leah finally said.
“I’m sorry.”
She stared at him, eyes still bright with accusation, but the anger was fading. “Is he worth it?”
Jamie only had one answer to that, and the honesty came out raw in his voice. “Yes.”
Leah nodded, more to herself than to his declaration. “I’m hungry.”
Jamie didn’t dare ask about her intentions, and merely took the change of conversation as a break from an argument he knew wasn’t finished. “Okay.”
“When this is over, I’m visiting you in D.C. Both of you.”
She didn’t mention their parents, and Jamie held onto the tiny, delicate hope that maybe his sister wouldn’t spill his biggest secret to the world at large.
“Okay.”
“I want you to stop keeping the important things in your life from me. I’m not a little girl anymore. You don’t need to protect me.”
To Jamie, she would always be his little sister and always need his protection, but he knew better than to tell her that right now. “I’ll try not to.”
“I’m still mad at you.”
“You have every right to be.” Jamie sighed heavily before continuing with, “I’ve wanted to introduce you to Kyle for a while now. The timing just never seemed right considering the risk we run. I’m sorry. I should have made more of an effort.”
“Yes, you should have.” Leah turned on her heels and left the office, shouting, “Katie! He’s all yours!”
Jamie ran both hands through his hair, trying to ignore the pounding of his heart as Katie appeared in the doorway. She winced a little in greeting. “I’m sorry, your sister arrived out of nowhere and you know how she bulldozes over everyone. I couldn’t keep her away from the office.”
“I had the soundproofing on most of the day so I could concentrate. It’s not your fault she saw what she saw,” Jamie replied. “Where’s Kyle?”
Katie grimaced. “Keeping out of sight of your sister and Sean.”
Jamie swore softly. “I need to deal with Sean first.”
“Probably a good thing since he needed to speak with you before Leah showed up.”
“Where is he?”
“Living room.”
“Can you send him in?”
Katie nodded and disappeared. Jamie eyed the whiskey bottle in the wet bar situated in the corner but thought better of it. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with alcohol on his breath.
Sean came in moments later, quietly shutting the
door behind him. “Your sister is in a vicious mood.”
“I know,” Jamie said. “Listen, about—”
Sean raised a hand, cutting him off. “Let’s pretend that was practice for your cover. It’s easier for both of us if we go that route.”
“I’m not going to ask you to lie for us.”
“The thing is, I’m very good at lying.” Sean shrugged, his gaze intent and unwavering. “The CIA required it. Hell, it’s in the job description as a warning before you even apply, whether or not you’re recruited. Don’t join if lying to your loved ones will prove too much of a problem. To this day, my family doesn’t know I was CIA and they don’t know I’m MDF.”
“The MDF allows immediate family to know of your status, especially as a metahuman,” Jamie said slowly.
“It seemed easier to keep to the status quo when I joined up.” Sean’s smile was tight, almost a warning, and Jamie opted not to pursue that trip down memory lane Sean was trying so hard to steer him away from. “So they don’t know, and the MDF won’t know about you. I don’t need any payment to keep my silence, so don’t offer. That’s a trail you can’t afford—figuratively speaking, not literally.”
Jamie had two options. He could take Sean at his word and believe the other man wouldn’t ruin his career and his life, or he could spend the future waiting to get called into the director’s office to explain his flagrant fraternization with his team’s sniper.
Sean was MDF; Jamie opted to believe him.
“Okay,” Jamie said, clearing his throat. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I’m about to give you a headache.” Sean held up his tablet for Jamie to see. “I was going over the potential invite list the others managed to compile. A couple of names jumped out, one being an alias that Emmet was known to use back in the day—Rian Monaghan. I can’t be sure it’s him, but you asked me the chances of Emmet being in London at the same time as Cillian. My wild guess is still high.”
Jamie took the tablet from him and studied the list. “If Emmet shows up at the gala, what are the odds Cillian will as well?”
“Officially on the list or unofficially?”
“Would it matter?”
Sean shook his head. “You had Tomas as Cillian’s middleman trying to make deals with the Russians. If I was looking to bring in another partner to broaden my business reach, so to speak, I’d want a recent example of their work. Which means I wouldn’t put it past Cillian to bomb the gala. It matches his MO. Large gathering of people for a high body count in a city where the spread of Splice might slip through quarantine efforts and make everything worse. If Emmet gets caught in the blast, then Cillian will probably toast his death with a bottle of whiskey.”
“The Russians already have Splice bomb-makers. Why would they want to partner with the Reborn IRA, especially if that group is splitting into factions?”
“Maybe they aren’t. Maybe it’s a ploy.”
Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose, running through all the pieces on the board, reviewing what they knew and extrapolating on what they didn’t. “If they don’t need a partner, then it’s more a hostile takeover. It’s about destruction, about getting rid of the competition.”
Sean’s eyes narrowed. “All the competition?”
“There’s no law against monopolies in the criminal underworld.” Jamie handed the tablet back to him. “Let the others know, will you? I need to update my report for the UMG.”
“Will do.”
Sean left the office, closing the door behind him. Jamie pressed his hands to his eyes, grinding down until brightly colored spots exploded across his eyelids. His heart was still racing and the adrenaline was making his hands shake a little. Balling them into fists, he retook his seat behind the desk and reactivated the data he’d been working on before Leah came in and threw everything ninety degrees sideways.
As angry as he was, Jamie refused to focus his anger at his sister. It wasn’t her fault Jamie let his guard down in his own home. Losing his secret in a way he couldn’t control left him feeling off-balance, something he couldn’t afford to be, not now. Not when the gala was shaping up to be more than just a criminal networking party.
Leah was definitely not going to the gala if Jamie had to tie her up and lock her in a room. He’d never forgive himself if she got hurt.
Jamie threw himself back into the task at hand, the new, extrapolated information meaning he needed to alter their plans, and in turn, clear those changes with the UMG. If the gala was less a gathering and more a potential grave site, then they had to account for that. Factoring the possibility for Splice chemical bombs on-site was going to seriously impact their ability to contain this mess.
Sometime later the door to the office pushed open while Jamie was in the middle of noting a change in the UMG’s perimeter on the holographic map. He looked up, freezing when he saw Kyle standing there with a plate in his hand piled high with pasta and chicken, along with a beer.
“You should probably take a break and eat,” Kyle said.
Jamie saved his work and closed everything down. The desk dimmed to opaqueness as Kyle came forward, setting the food down in front of Jamie. He straightened up and tucked his hands into his pants pockets, looking at Jamie with a gaze that was impossible to read.
Jamie didn’t care for the distance that had cropped up between them. He got to his feet and came around the desk, drawing Kyle into his arms. He tilted Kyle’s head up and kissed the other man slow and deep, trying to convey without words that nothing had changed between them. The tension in Kyle’s body gradually faded, and he sighed quietly against Jamie’s mouth as he broke the kiss.
Kyle plucked at Jamie’s shirt before smoothing out the wrinkles. “As nice as that was, I didn’t come back in here to make out with you again.”
Jamie tugged Kyle with him around the desk, letting Kyle lean against it while he retook his seat. “What’s going on?”
“Sean said Emmet might be using an alias and that you think the gala is the Russians cutting out the competition.”
“I wouldn’t put it past them.” Jamie picked up his fork. Now that he could smell the food, his stomach was making itself known to him. “I’m looking into it.”
“And what about us?”
Jamie twirled pasta around his fork and dragged it through the sauce. “I’m not breaking up with you just because my sister found out we’re seeing each other. She thinks I’m a raging hypocrite because of our relationship, but there you go.”
“You kind of are,” Kyle pointed out quietly.
Jamie shrugged off the criticism, stabbing his fork into a piece of chicken. “I don’t regret a single decision I’ve made when it comes to you. Maybe it’s not the right decision from a command point of view, but I’m not willing to give you up. That hasn’t changed.”
“And if they report us when we get back to D.C.?”
“Then they report us. I won’t stop them. I didn’t ask my sister or Sean to lie for us, but I don’t think that will happen.”
“But if they do?”
“Then we cross that bridge when we get there.” Jamie took a larger-than-was-polite bite, but didn’t care. He was starving. “You should probably bring me another plate. I’m going to demolish this.”
“Next time, don’t skip lunch.” Kyle tipped his head at the door. “If you want another serving, come eat it with the team. Everyone’s a little tense out there and seeing you might make them feel better.”
Jamie shoveled another bite of food into his mouth before picking up his plate and beer. “All right, let’s go.”
Jamie would rather have space to think, but a good commander put his people before himself. Jamie followed Kyle back to the living and dining room area where everyone was eating. Leah’s luggage was stacked neatly by the front door, most likely having been brought in by her security team while they argued. Leah sat at the dining table with Katie, Madison, and Annabelle, discussing what sounded like Katie’s dress. The others had tak
en seats around the flatscreen television, watching a sports channel and heckling at what was happening in the game.
Everyone looked up when Jamie appeared before going back to eating. Jamie carried his plate with him over to the table, hoping his sister wouldn’t mind the company. She was eating the same food as everyone else, just in daintier bites. Leah nodded at him, but continued her conversation with Katie—something about what was the best place to hide a knife in a dress. He couldn’t even be angry with Katie for having that conversation with his little sister, and Jamie took her silence with grace. Better than a screaming match any day.
Kyle didn’t join them; he’d left his plate on the side table by the couch near Alexei. Jamie ate his way through his food, trying not to miss Kyle’s presence, before getting up to get another serving. Donovan had made enough food to feed what felt like a full platoon, but in reality was just enough that Jamie doubted there would be any leftovers.
“I’m going to stay here tonight and then leave tomorrow,” Leah said, catching Jamie’s attention a few minutes later.
He looked up from soaking up sauce on his place with a piece of garlic bread. “I’d rather you stay here.”
“Everything you do here is going to be classified,” Leah pointed out.
“There’s a threat out there that targeted you by inviting you to the gala. The people behind that are dangerous and I don’t want you in the cross fire. I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know where you are.”
Leah reached for her wine glass and took a sip of the crisp sauvignon blanc. “First you don’t want me here, now you don’t want me to go. Make up your mind.”
“I never said I didn’t want you here. I asked earlier what you were doing here. I thought we cleared that up? I want you safe, Leah.”
“You are so overbearing sometimes.”
“Leah.”
“Fine,” she snapped back exasperatedly. “But I don’t want to stay here.”
It hurt that she didn’t want to be around him, but in the long run, her absence would make it easier for them to work. “I’ll talk to Liam about safeguarding you somewhere else tomorrow, but you’re staying here tonight.”
In the Ruins (Metahuman Files Book 2) Page 23