Chapter 13
ALEXANDER
The bacon sizzled in the pan in front of me. I cursed as some of the hot grease popped and splattered against my skin.
“Remember, I like my bacon crispy.” Sebastian peered over my shoulder.
“You’ll get it however I make it,” I shot back. Truthfully, I also liked my bacon crispy, but Sebastian’s hovering in the kitchen was irritating. “Why don’t you make the orange juice?”
“Most normal people just buy their orange juice from the store,” he teased as he pulled the industrial fruit press from the bottom cabinet.
“And it’s full of processed ingredients,” I said. “So press the damn oranges.”
“You’re so grumpy without her around,” Sebastian said. “You know she’s fine. She can handle herself.”
I rolled my eyes. Okay, maybe I was a little grumpy.
It was Sunday morning, and we were all at home.
Minus Evelyn. She was hanging out with Grace and Danny at Danny’s apartment.
Grace had been discharged from the hospital this morning, and Danny had moved her into his apartment, something that went down about as well as expected.
Grace and Evelyn were a lot alike: strong, independent, and absolutely resistant to being cared for.
I had helped Danny set up his spare bedroom as a fully kitted out medical room.
A little overboard? Maybe. But I owed Danny for his help in getting Evelyn moved into the apartment below us, so when he called and asked for my help, I was more than happy to give it.
I just didn’t expect Evelyn to go help, and even worse, to insist all of us stay here.
Izzy had shown up to collect her, so she wasn’t alone, but still…
I was antsy at the thought of her out there without any of us.
Not that Evelyn or Izzy weren’t capable of defending themselves, but with no idea who Kingfisher was yet, he could walk up to them on the street, and they would have no idea.
“Smells great in here,” Adrian said as he and Dominic walked through the door. “Mom sent over sourdough cinnamon rolls.” He held up a pan.
“How is Momma M?” Sebastian asked as he pressed the oranges in the juicer.
“She’s doing well. She’s excited to cook for everyone tonight. She kicked us out so she could get ready.”
Adrian and Dominic had gone over to Adrian’s mom, Melissa’s, house this morning to help her with a few yard projects in advance of our dinner with her tonight.
“What is she making?” Sebastian asked.
“Pot pie, mashed potatoes, and enough food for an army is what it looked like,” Adrian said.
Sebastian groaned. “Pot pie? Yum! Dominic, you’re in for a treat.”
“From the smell of the cinnamon rolls, I agree,” Dominic said as he walked into the kitchen. “Need any help with anything, Alexander?”
The more I got to know Dominic, the more I liked him.
He had really hit the ground running with our group, ready and willing to pitch in wherever he was needed, whether it was yard work with Adrian this morning or building a profile for Kingfisher this week.
He had actually made a lot of progress on the latter this week.
From what I heard from Evelyn last night, they should be finished with the profile tomorrow and ready to start matching the profile to potential suspects.
“Where’s Marcus?” Adrian asked.
I looked up from the stove and frowned. “I think he may still be on the phone. Something about the Keenan contract?”
Adrian rolled his eyes. “That’s one client we should cut loose after the contract ends.”
“Really?” I asked. “What’s going on?” Usually, I would have already heard about this, but with so many new clients, I was out of the loop more than I would like.
“Evelyn and I were in the introductory meeting with the Echo team and Steven Keenan, and he was…” Adrian paused. “Demanding, to say the least.”
“How so?” I questioned. Usually, I sat in on those meetings, but I had been trying to wrap some other things up, so Adrian and Evelyn took my place.
“He wanted things that weren’t in the contract,” Adrian said. “Usually, we wouldn’t have a problem accommodating him, but since we are scaling back, we don’t have the extra manpower to accommodate his requests.”
“What was he asking for?” Dominic asked.
“He wanted two more buildings covered,” Adrian said. “The two we asked about in the beginning, but he declined coverage for. Now he’s changed his mind, and he wanted to include those two buildings but not pay anything extra. When Evelyn told him we couldn’t accommodate him, he didn’t take it well.”
Sebastian’s head snapped up. “He was rude to Evie?”
“Easy there, tiger,” Adrian said. “Evelyn put him in his place, but he wanted to speak with one of you three, so Evelyn passed him to Marcus, as it’s a contract thing.”
Just then, Marcus’s raised voice echoed down the hall.
“It sounds like it’s going well,” I said wryly.
Marcus was usually pretty level-headed in contract discussions, but Keenan must really be pissing him off.
“Let me be very clear.” Marcus’s voice got louder as he walked into the living room, phone pressed to his ear.
His fierce expression looked like it was carved from stone.
“You were given every opportunity to add those buildings at the start of your contract, and you declined. That ship has sailed.” He stopped by the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers, a scowl on his face.
“And I’ll tell you something else: the way you spoke to our employees the other day is grounds for us to terminate this contract regardless of what you decide.
So I suggest you think very carefully about your next words.
” He paused, listening to whatever Keenan said on the phone.
“Good. We’ll be in touch.” He hung up and cursed.
“That fucker. I’m half tempted to terminate his contract right now. ”
“Do it,” I said, shrugging when his shocked gaze swung to me. “We’re overloaded as it is, and he’s already starting shit before the contract has even started. We don’t have the time to deal with his shit. I can call and tell him if you want.”
Marcus grinned, his smile devious. “No, it’ll be my pleasure to tell him.”
I laughed along with the others as satisfaction filled me. The last thing we needed was to be dealing with problematic clients. As I told Evelyn earlier, I would burn our business to the ground if it helped her. Plus, no one spoke to Evelyn that way.
“Food’s ready,” I announced.
Dominic helped me carry the dishes over to the table while Sebastian grabbed the juice. Marcus finished typing on his phone and slid it into his pocket.
I waited until we were settled with food before circling back to the topic Adrian had raised earlier this week.
“Dominic, there’s something we wanted to talk to you about.”
Dominic froze, his fork halfway to his mouth. “Yes?” he asked, eyes wide.
I hesitated. I didn’t really know how to bring this up. How did you tell another guy that you were fine with him being your girlfriend’s boyfriend as well? It was awkward. So straight to the point was probably best.
“We’ve seen how you and Evelyn look at each other, and we’ve talked it over. If Evelyn wants you in her life, that’s her call to make. But we wanted you to know that it wouldn’t be a problem with us.”
“Wants me…in her life?” he asked haltingly, his gaze sweeping to each of ours.
“Like, as a boyfriend,” Sebastian helpfully clarified.
Dominic set his fork down slowly. “I…”
I bit back a grin, watching him process. I felt for him. We had all had a few weeks at least to process it; he was getting hit with it all at once.
Dominic blew out a breath. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that. Obviously, she’s an attractive woman, but I would have never—”
“We know,” Adrian said. “We’re not saying anything happened. We’re just saying that if anything does happen—as long as it’s her decision—we’re fine with it.”
Dominic looked around the table at each of us, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “You all actually talked about this.”
“We did,” Sebastian said simply, his usually cheery face uncharacteristically serious. “Open communication is important in a relationship like ours.”
A beat of silence passed. Dominic nodded slowly, something settling behind his eyes. “Okay.” He picked his fork back up. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” I said. “It’s not our call to make; it’s hers.”
“I do have a question, though.” Marcus leaned forward. “I want to know what your plans are after this. Once we’re done with Kingfisher. Are you going back to the FIA?”
Dominic sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I don’t know,” he said. “I thought I would be an agent for life, but now I’m not sure I can ever trust the organization ever again.”
Marcus nodded. “That’s fair. That’s what I thought about the military too. It sucks when the curtain gets pulled back and it feels like your foundation is rocked.”
“It does,” Dominic agreed. “I honestly don’t know what I want to do after this.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to offer him a job at SDS, but I waited. I didn’t want to influence his decision to stay. I wanted him to choose to stay for Evelyn.
“Just don’t hurt her,” Marcus said.
“I’ll try my best not to,” Dominic said. “I haven’t been in a relationship in years, though. I don’t even know if I would be a good boyfriend.”
“That’s why this relationship works,” Adrian said. “We’re all busy—Evelyn most of all—but with all of us here”—he gestured around the table—“Evelyn’s never alone; because at the end of the day, she’s our priority.”
“She’s been abandoned before,” Sebastian said, his voice low.
“We won’t tell you the details because that’s her story to tell, and she’s been failed by the whole fucking system; so before you commit, think about it.
” He leaned back and grinned, although there was an edge to it. “I would hate to have to kill you.”
“Maybe we don’t threaten a federal agent,” Adrian said dryly.
I chuckled as Dominic waved it off. “I understand,” he said. “I would do the same. I promise I’ll think about it.”
“Good,” Adrian said. “That’s all we’re asking for.”
“Well, now that that weird-as-fuck conversation is over,” Marcus announced. “Let’s eat and watch football.”
Everyone laughed, and there was an easy camaraderie that wasn’t there before. Dominic looked lost in thought as watched the game. We had given him a lot to think about. I hoped he stayed. Ultimately, it was Evelyn’s call, but I hope he stayed and chose her.
The afternoon passed quickly, but with a sense of normalcy that had been missing for the last few months.
Marcus, Sebastian, and Adrian shouted at the TV screen, while Dominic and I sat back and sipped our beers.
About an hour before we were supposed to be at Melissa’s, we headed out to pick up Evelyn.
Melissa’s house smelled like butter and thyme before we even got through the door.
Evelyn stopped just inside the entryway and breathed it in like it was something she’d been missing without knowing it.
I wondered if her house ever felt like this growing up.
Were her parents always neglectful, or was it just in their daughter’s true hour of need that they abandoned her?
I watched Evelyn more than I watched anything else that night; the outcome of her last visit with Melissa clear in my mind.
I saw exactly what Adrian was talking about.
She was careful with herself as soon as we walked in the door, like she was guarding against the warmth emanating from the home.
My heart ached for her a bit. Based on her accounts of her childhood, a home like this was foreign.
I would bet every dollar in my bank account that she was trying to prevent herself from wanting what she saw here.
Or worse, telling herself she didn’t deserve it.
Melissa pulled Adrian into a long hug in the kitchen, and Evelyn turned away to help set the table.
Her expression smoothed into something neutral in a tell I was learning to recognize as her guard going up.
I filed it away for later, not saying anything, just squeezing her shoulder as I sat next to her.
Dinner was loud and comforting in a way Melissa’s table always was.
Melissa was one of the strongest women I knew, next to Evelyn.
She had been through hell but still managed to stay upbeat and positive; although I knew now that part of that had to do with Evelyn and the Archers’ help.
The pot pie was excellent as always, and Evelyn ate two helpings.
After dinner, Melissa proposed a game of charades.
Charades was one of her favorite games, and we inevitably ended up playing every time we came over.
Within twenty minutes, Sebastian was performing what he insisted was Titanic with a level of physical commitment—or flailing, depending on your interpretation—that had everyone doubled over in laughter, including Evelyn.
Evelyn’s eyes were bright and sparkling, the guarded expression she had been wearing melted away as her grin split her cheeks.
I wanted to keep that look on her face permanently.
Later that evening—much later than I intended to leave—we drove home. Evelyn was tucked between Adrian and Sebastian in the backseat, her head tipping onto Adrian’s shoulder halfway home. By the time we pulled into the garage, she was half asleep.
Ignoring her half-hearted protests, Adrian scooped her into his arms. She was stiff for a moment, then she melted into him, and something in me eased.
I wasn’t going to say anything about the look on her face in Melissa’s kitchen.
Not tonight. But eventually, when the time was right, I was going to bring it up.
Because this woman deserved the world, and I was determined to not only give it to her but prove to her that she deserved it.