Chapter Eight #3
Aidan O’Donnell’s head came up, and he stared at her dad. “I would be if we were in a proper ED and you weren’t such a stubborn asshole, Uncle. You know I never wanted to be some kind of mafia doctor. Oh, I know you’re not mafia, but this feels like Bratva to me.”
Aidan was a trauma surgeon, but for the last few months he’d also kind of been the team’s on-call doc, along with his wife, Carys.
“He goes into the hospital, I assure you there’s someone waiting for him,” Ben said as he held out a chair for her.
He was a little standoffish, and she couldn’t figure out if it was because he was upset with her or because this was how he was when he was working. She’d hoped he would warm up after they put their relationship on a good footing.
Were they on a good footing?
“Which is why I’ve got my family fleeing right now,” her father explained.
“Theo and Erin already agreed to join the boys for a trip to the cabin. I called Case to let him know to up his security. I’ve got bodyguards on Sean and Grace, and Aidan and Carys are staying at their house for a couple of weeks because Tris is going to be in DC with Drake and Taylor working on some project Taylor has going. ”
Drake and Taylor Radcliffe were technically their CIA handlers, though they were given an enormous amount of latitude.
“Is this about the thing Tim found?” Ben asked as she settled in beside him.
“Tim found something?” She had not been informed.
Kala sat across from her, one brow raised. “You didn’t read the report? Ben’s boss sent it two days ago.”
She frowned and pulled out the phone she used for work. Sure enough, there were actually several emails that needed her attention. She gave her dad her best “sorry, Dad, but I’m still you’re baby girl, right” wince. “Technically, I took a couple of vacation days.”
Her father looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “There are no vacation days in the CIA.”
He was forgetting some things. “Uh, tell that to my sister and her brand-new husband, who are currently enjoying a few weeks in Loa Mali.”
“Keep looking at your email,” he said as he hissed. “Hey, kid, gentle, please.”
Aidan huffed but Kenzie was wincing again because this morning her newlywed sister had sent her several updates and new analysis of the data they’d taken from the Nepal site and some reports on the recent anthrax attacks they were attributing to Dr. Huisman.
Tasha was always perfect. Always. Now she couldn’t even use the excuse of the wedding.
But sometimes she needed a couple of days to figure things out.
Some people did that in thoughtful meditation.
Kenzie did it with sad-girl rock, Ben and Jerry’s Tonight Dough, and whatever shitastic reality dating show had recently come out.
She could always watch those and think at least she hadn’t dated one of those assholes.
“You were brooding,” her twin accused.
Yeah. That was pretty fair.
“Please read the files. We’re going to forgo the debrief on the properties because Drake has asked us to work with another team to start investigating those, so I’ve asked Eve to talk to our new friends and tell me if they’re lying and planning on killing us all,” her dad said.
Aidan put his bag on the table as he got to his feet.
“You’re stitched up. Someone needs to change the dressing twice a day, and keep it clean and dry.
Do you want to go to your office for the antibiotic?
No, I am not writing a prescription because you won’t take it.
So I’m not leaving here until I shove this needle into your ass and push the plunger. ”
Kenzie breathed a sigh of relief. She might be able to get through a couple of Tasha’s so important she wrote them on her honeymoon emails while Aidan was making sure her dad didn’t go septic.
Except her dad simply stood on one leg and shoved his slacks down.
“Dad!” She and Kala managed that duo in-synch stereo thing they could do when they were truly outraged.
Her father merely leaned over and let Aidan adjust his boxers as he brought out the alcohol wipe. “Eve, the floor is yours. Did you get the material Ben sent over?”
Kenzie turned to her lover. “When the hell did you have time to work?”
She had obviously failed.
Ben looked entirely amused. “While you were making breakfast. And while you were asleep. I don’t sleep much so I watched you for a while and then I gathered some intel we have on groups that the assassin twins could have come from.”
He watched her when she slept? It was a little stalkery. Slightly creepy. Also hot.
Did she snore? Her sister said she did, but her sister could be an asshole. Surely she didn’t snore. Right?
“Did her elephant sounds keep you up?” Kala asked.
Kenzie used the pen she had like a dart going straight for her sister’s forehead. But Kala ducked, anticipating the move.
Cooper caught the pen midair. “Kala, you said you would be nice.”
TJ held up a hand. “I do believe the deal was that she would be somewhat nice to Ben. Kenz was not involved in those negotiations at all. She can totally be mean to Kenz. I think she would call it sisterly love.”
Aww. That was kind of sweet when she thought about it. “You promised to be nice to Ben?”
Kala shrugged. “I said I wouldn’t take his balls, either literally or figuratively. I know he’s a sensitive dude.”
“I’m not,” Ben argued.
Kala glanced his way. “I’m pretty sure your balls are, buddy, but those balls are now attached to my sister, so they are off limits by way of the Treaty of the Johnson High School Cafeteria, junior year.”
Kenz had several high school boyfriends that Kala hadn’t been fond of. A summit had been held. She’d given up a lot for those assholes since Kala had forbidden all girl-power pop from being played in the car on the way to school. Kenzie’s whole senior year was heavy metal and goth rock.
“Thanks, kid,” her father said as he redid his slacks and sat back down.
Aidan stared at him. “I will write you a prescription for pain killers. It’s got to hurt since you wouldn’t let me use anything but lidocaine.”
Her dad simply held up a glass of amber liquor. “Got it covered.”
A long sigh came from Aidan’s chest. “All right. Cousins, good luck, and kill that motherfucker. He’s not a doctor. He’s a butcher.”
Aidan had a run-in with Huisman, too.
Her dad held a hand out. “You wait for a bodyguard. I know it’s obnoxious, but I called in Landon. He’s with the psycho twins in the break room. God, I hope he isn’t attracted to them.”
Aidan chuckled as he started for the door. “I’ll knock before I enter.”
The door closed behind him, and Eve sat back. “I seriously doubt any sex those two young women engage in is for pleasure. I know I’ve only spent an hour with them, but I’ve seen this before in severely traumatized women. If they behave in an overly sexual way, it’s the trauma talking.”
“They did not seem traumatized when they were trying to murder me,” her dad pointed out.
“Or calling me a Bratz doll.” It still rankled.
Kala snorted. “I like her already.”
Kenzie stared, gesturing at her twin. “Uh, samesies. How do you like being a Bratz doll?”
“Oh, I’m like the Halloween edition, and I accept that about myself,” Kala countered.
Ben leaned over. “I find Bratz dolls sexy. Well, the adult, living, breathing version.”
She turned because she loved it when he talked like that. So she followed her instincts and kissed him.
He seemed surprised at first and then his hands came out and he deepened the kiss.
This. This was what she needed. He didn’t get that it was perfectly fine to make out in the middle of a meeting.
Her parents did it all the time. But Ben was Canadian and they probably were polite and stuff in all the meetings he had.
Yeah, her whole body was relaxing under his lips and tongue and…
Something soft hit Kenzie’s head, and she sat back.
“Lou, I need you to make me a water gun out of parts you can find in this building,” her father said.
Lou opened her bag. “Oh, I have the sprayer ready.”
“Do not give that to him,” Kenzie warned. Her father was a terrible hypocrite.
Eve slapped at the desk. “Guys, I know you’re used to playing around, but this is serious and we’re on a timer. I wish I had weeks with them, but I think this is all the time I’ll have.”
“Why would you say that?” TJ asked. “We can keep them safe.”
“I don’t know if they’ll let you. I don’t think they’ll hurt anyone here unless they feel threatened, but I also can’t promise you that they’re not biding their time until they can run,” Eve countered. “Okay, the Canadians have been tracking a couple of groups that like to kidnap young women.”
“There are thousands of traffickers,” Kala pointed out. She looked down at her tablet, studying the reports they’d been sent. “Why is Joseph interested in these?”
Ben sat back up, looking more professional. He looked hot when he was being professional. Could an All-American Bratz doll and a Canadian Ken doll make it work? Their parts fit together perfectly. Would their hearts do the same?
“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, sis, but it’s making me nauseous,” Kala said without looking up.
She glared at her sister and thought lots of mushy things.
They weren’t the twins who could truly read each other’s minds, but Kala was apparently sensitive when it came to perfectly normal romantic thoughts.
Like when they made love, she was almost certain their heartbeats had been in synch and she could hear the music of the earth.
Kala went a shade of green.
Ben chose to ignore them. “Canada takes human trafficking seriously, but my team is studying a very specific type that we believe have a direct impact on national security and our intelligence-gathering operations. We’ve identified three separate groups that target young women.”
“Because they’re doing more than offering them up for wealthy men to rape,” Kala said tonelessly.