Chapter One #3
When Ivan looked at his watch, he knew he needed to get showered so they could get to work. That had been the plan, and he wasn’t sure if she was still going in.
“Are you heading to the office?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Yeah, I’m going to do some paperwork, and I have a classified meeting online with the Department of Defense. Apparently, we have some issues. It will be one big party,” she said, clueing Ivan in.
Oh, and he got it.
It was about a wedding party. On her day off, she was going to be handling personal business.
When he nodded, she knew that he caught what she was putting down.
It would mostly be a ‘work on the secret wedding’ day. Since the day was approaching, or he figured as much.
“I’m going to go with you,” Ivan said. “I need to coordinate some things for security at the other locations, and it’s easier to do at a desktop than on a tablet. Plus, payroll is due Friday, and the chucklefucks like a paycheck.”
Honestly, Elizabeth didn’t blame them. They earned it by working damn hard.
As for Ivan, she assumed he would be all over her like toad on stool—meaning using the computer in her office while she was on the phone coordinating the party and paying the bills for it.
It should be a quiet day, other than that.
So far, the media had been giving them a wide berth when it came to stalking them, and that was likely because of the reservation.
The Natives there weren’t having a bunch of outsiders running wild there, and the chief of police tended to be her biggest fan—as of late.
After all, Elizabeth had given her an archangel, and saved her father from a pack of killers.
Payback wasn’t necessary, but it was always welcome in her world when it came to keeping the media at bay.
Rayna was running interference whenever there were outsiders on the reservation, and she appreciated it.
Greatly.
Their mutual respect, and shared relationship with Uriel was making it easy. Elizabeth liked her as a person, and she loved Uriel like he was one of her family.
Every Marine mattered to her.
They were like her children.
Since Ivan needed to work, and she always needed to work, that meant one thing.
“Okay, well, we should all get ready to head in. Gene, we’re leaving you in charge of the craziness here while we’re away,” she teased.
Callen, who was at the door, protested.
“Uh, why does he get to be in charge. We’ll have more fun if I’m in charge.”
She shut that down.
Oh, they couldn’t leave him in charge, and Chris was sleeping.
“Because you’re trouble. We’ll have more tomfoolery, Mr. Jackson James. Besides, you have a book to work on. You chased me around yesterday, and didn’t get anything done, remember?”
He sighed.
Yeah, but it had been worth it.
Really.
“There’s no rest for the wicked.”
Well, that was the truth.
For her.
Getting up, she kissed Gene on the forehead, patted Toady, and opened the door. It was time for her to get into work, and become The Director of the FBI.
Girl bosses had to keep girl bossing.
That was the story of her life.
When she walked away, entering the house, Callen stole her seat, and joined Gene.
That’s when Gene kept his voice low so no one else would hear him.
“Is she okay?” Gene asked. “Ethan has been worried that his choice to stay here has been nothing but a burden on her, and she seems…distracted.”
This was tricky ground, and there was no way he could be honest with him.
Why?
They were all keeping a secret from the man, despite believing secrets were bad in a relationship.
Elizabeth had planned a gorgeous wedding under the guise of a White House dinner. In fact, she’d gotten Alessandra to book the Conference Center for her to keep the mongrel media at bay.
Their bases were covered, and they just had to not slip up the next five days, or so.
“She seems okay,” Callen said. “I mean, I know she’d rather be back in DC, like the rest of us, but we all agreed that Ethan deserves a chance to be Shaman, and find his way again.”
That they had.
“He really does appreciate that you guys made the choice to stay here. When he’s moving around here, he seems like he has less on his shoulders.”
Ivan said nothing.
Why?
He knew how much Elizabeth was sacrificing for Ethan, and he only hoped it worked out. She wasn’t one to sugarcoat shit, but being here was going to wear thin at some point.
He’d bet on it.
She was a creature of habit.
“What wouldn’t we do for Ethan? All he had to do was tell us, Gene. If someone is unhappy, we need to know so we can adjust, or the marriage will fall apart. This relationship is a delicate balance, and we can all feel when someone is off. My brother has been off for a while.”
Yeah, he firmly believed that, and that was why he’d made Ethan say something.
“Well, thank you,” he said. “He’s much better than he was two weeks ago.”
Oh, he didn’t have to thank them. As a family, they stuck together no matter what.
That was their job.
“I guess I’ll wait for Ethan to be finished with Wyler, and then, I’ll ogle a man for the rest of today since it’s kinda slow,” Callen said. “I know she said I should be working on that book, but I’m not feeling it.”
Immediately, when the words were out of his mouth, Ivan began laughing.
“Well, you just killed that slow streak,” he admitted. “Yeah, and don’t you dare tell her it was me this time. I didn’t say jack shit, and I didn’t cause the chaos that is going to head our way now.”
Gene laughed.
“We’ll be fine. Our last case was mild. It’s like the crazies are laying low or something.”
Yep.
Those would be famous last words.
Because the shit was coming for them.
Again.