Chapter 8 #2
“Holy crap, Lena.” Alice’s wide eyes scanned the small feast. “This all looks absolutely delicious.”
Sitting on the woman’s right, her husband nodded his head with a grunt. “Looks great.” He flashed a hint of a smile. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Now, go on.” She returned to her previous seat. “Eat up. Before it gets cold.”
The next hour was spent in conversation while the four of them ate.
Their conversation shifted from one topic to another.
What started as small talk turned into a discussion over Alice’s shooting and the events of the previous day.
By the time the food was all but gone, they’d reached a natural lull.
Rafe started to stand and reach for one of the empty dishes, but Lena beat him to the punch. “I’ll get those.”
“You cooked.”
“And you’re letting me crash at your house while we figure out a way not to end up dead.” She held his stare steady. “Cleaning up after a mess I made is the least I can do.” Lena stood and began gathering as much as she could carry in one trip.
“I’ll help.” Alice stood ever-so-slowly.
“Uh . . . I appreciate that, but no. You really shouldn’t be—”
“The doctor said some movement is good.” She looked to Slade next, whose expression was stern. “And I promise I won’t lift more than five pounds.”
“You’d better not.”
Alice leaned down and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. “Scout’s honor.”
“You were never in the Scouts.”
Lena’s eyes flew to Rafe’s with a grin. The twitch of his lips told her his line of thinking matched up with hers.
They sound like us.
“You boys relax,” she told him before turning away.
It wasn’t long before the two women had fallen into an easy-going, efficient routine.
“So.” Lena handed a suds-covered plate to Alice, who’d taken over the rinsing. “You gonna ask me?”
“Ask you what?”
“Whatever it is you want to know.” She gave Rafe’s daughter a sidelong look. “That’s the real reason you’re in here, right? So go ahead. As long as it’s not classified, I’m pretty much an open book.”
“Are you using my dad as bait to catch Kozlova?”
Lena froze halfway through washing the fork in her hand. Turning to Alice, she gave a vehement, “Absolutely not.”
“It would make sense.” The intelligent blonde’s eyes never left hers. “From an operator’s standpoint, that is. Intel supports him being the one going after your team. Putting you and my dad in one location to wait it out would be—”
“Like putting rats in a barrel.” Lena gave her head a slight nod. “You’re right. It would make for a tempting play. But I promise you, that’s not what this is.”
“No?”
“No.” Her gaze remained locked with the other woman’s. “I care about your father and would never do anything to purposely put him in harm’s way.”
Alice’s baby blues held steady a moment longer before turning away. “So you and my dad.”
“Is that a question?” Lena’s attention returned to the fork still clutched in her hand.
“Are you two a thing?”
She chuckled as she handed over the cleaned utensil. “You’re very direct. I like that.”
“Same.”
“Okay, then. I’ll be as direct as I can. Your father and I are former colleagues and friends.”
“Friends.” A look of suspicion turned her way. “With benefits?”
Lena barked out a laugh. “That’s direct, all right. And no. We haven’t . . .” She paused. “Do you really want to talk about this stuff? He’s your dad, after all.”
Alice turned off the faucet before shifting her petite body to face her.
“Look, I like you, Lena. I respect the hell out of what you do for a living, and I get that you and my dad are both adults. But at the end of the day, he’s the only parent I have left, so .
. . yeah. I need to know you’re not setting him up to get hurt. ”
“I already told you I’d protect your father’s life with my own.”
“I’m not talking about physically. I’ve looked you up. You can obviously handle yourself in the field.”
“Then what are you—”
“Emotionally,” Alice clarified. “I’m saying I don’t want to see him end up with a broken heart.”
Oh. That.
“When I said I’d do everything in my power to protect Rafe, that includes his emotional well-being.” Lena wiped her hands on a nearby towel and sighed. “I like your father, Alice,” she admitted aloud. “The last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt him.”
After waiting a beat, the young woman’s lips curved into a genuine smile. “I believe you. And for what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure my father likes you, too.”
I sure hope so.
“Yeah?”
Alice chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I saw the way he was looking at you during breakfast.”
“There was a look?”
“Uh . . . yeah.” Rafe’s daughter snorted. “The man could hardly keep his eyes off of you that whole time.”
Really?
“I didn’t notice.”
“Probably because you were too busy trying to hide all those little sneaky peeks of your own.”
Her heart gave a kick, but rather than waste her time trying to deny the allegations, Lena started to laugh. “You’d think with my training, I’d do a lot better job at keeping a lid on my emotions.”
“It’s this place.” Alice glanced around the magnificent, up-to-date kitchen. “It’s huge and imposing, and I can’t even begin to wonder how many ghosts wander these halls, but . . . I don’t know.” She released a breathy sigh. “There’s just something about being here that instantly puts me at ease.”
“It’s comfortable,” she offered. “Peaceful.”
“Exactly.”
She smiled as the two women left the room. As they walked side-by-side toward Rafe and Slade—who were still sitting together at the table—Alice leaned in closer, speaking low enough only Lena could hear.
“For the record, I’m all for it.”
“It?”
“You and my dad.”
Lena’s eyes swung her way. “Yeah?”
“He deserves to be happy.” Alice sent her a knowing nod. But then, “That being said, you should know I’m a literal genius when it comes to computers.”
“In other words, I hurt your dad, you hurt me?”
“Pretty much.”
I think I like her even more now.
“You realize threatening a federal officer could get you thrown into prison, right?”
“I know.”
She just didn’t care.
Yep. Even more.
“Duly noted.” Lena grinned as they made their way back over to the table.
“What are you two smiling about?” Rafe sent her a questioning stare.
She sent the sexy Brit a wink. “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”