Chapter 27 #2
“Like I said,” Braden replied quietly, his lips barely moving, “they didn’t tell me, and I didn’t care.”
Sean didn’t say anything to that. He waited, hoping the silence would grow so uncomfortable it would trigger Braden to say more.
It didn’t.
So, Sean gestured to Bjorn that they were done here, and Bjorn hit the call button that was mounted on the wall beside the exit.
Before Sean could get up, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that the screen said KIERA CALLING.
Sean probably should have let it go to voicemail, but after her reaction to him last night, after thinking he’d abandoned her, there was just no way.
“Kiera,” he said.
Braden’s eyes went hard, and the tension in the room turned so thick, Sean could have stabbed a fork through it.
“Sweetheart, I’m kinda in the middle of something. Can I call you back?”
“I saw your note about having some team business,” she said breathily, “and when I went to text you a thank you for being so considerate and leaving the note, I realized your number wasn’t in my phone.”
“Gotcha. But you could have thanked me when I got back.”
“Don’t you see?” she asked excitedly. “That’s why I didn’t get your calls last night.”
Sean glanced at the pissed-off Braden Jones. A muscle was jumping in the man’s jaw.
Kiera kept talking fast. “I checked my log, and there were three missed calls yesterday from the same unknown number. Then I remembered. I have my phone set to silence unknown numbers and send them straight to voicemail. I didn’t have your number programmed into my phone!”
“Why not?” Sean asked, laughing a little because that seemed like something that should have happened before they slept together.
“I’ve never had reason to call you before. For the last seven weeks you’ve always just…been right there.”
Sean couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth. He had definitely been persistent, trying to get her to give him the time of day.
“Elli gave me your number this morning!” she said like she’d just won the lottery.
Sean chuckled. “Did she now?”
“I’m also calling to see if we should wait for you to get back before we make breakfast.”
“If you’re hungry, go ahead and eat without me. I’ll be back within the hour though. Ninety minutes tops. Then we’ll spend the day together.”
“We’ll wait to eat until you get back,” she said.
“Okay, babe.”
“Everything okay?” she asked.
Sean glanced up at Braden, and the tension in the man’s body made his own muscles flex. “Fine.”
“See you soon then. Love you.”
Sean blinked, not having seen that coming. The sound of those words warmed his whole body, and he felt all the tension slide out of him.
“Oh!” Kiera exclaimed. “I mean… Crap. I shouldn’t have said that. It just slipped—”
Sean chuckled. “Take it easy, babe. I love you, too.”
“You do?” she asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
He was going to have to rectify that. “Yeah. I do.”
“Well. Okay, then. Whew! See you soon. Bye!”
Sean disconnected, stared at his phone for a few more seconds, then looked up.
Somewhere along the line, Braden’s body language had relaxed. He was now leaning back in his chair with his hands lying loosely in his lap. “You really love my sister?”
“Yeah,” Sean said, surprised he was saying it out loud—to Kiera, but especially to this clown.
“Are you the one who rescued her from being shot?” Braden asked.
“Yeah,” Sean said.
“Who pulled the trigger?” Braden asked, his eyes hard as steel.
“Don’t know his name,” Sean said. “Human. Five-nine. Maybe one-eighty. Dark, slicked-back hair. Nice suit.”
Braden made no response, but a muscle ticked in his jaw.
Sean rose from his chair, but Braden lunged and grabbed onto his wrist. “Wait!”
Sean froze, then slowly sat down again.
Braden leaned in close and whispered so low Sean could barely hear him, “I only knew about delivering the paper. No one told me they were adding onto the job. If I’d known I was also supposed to make…” Braden dropped his voice impossibly lower. “Steel disappear, I never would’ve involved Ki-Ki.”
Ki-Ki, Sean thought. This guy had a nickname for his sister? The intimate familiarity it suggested had Sean rethinking a few things about this enigmatic brother.
“If it was that important,” Sean asked, “why would they deliver it to anyone besides you?”
Braden shrugged. “Bad communication. I’ve got no other explanation. There are some brilliant minds in that family, but I can’t say that’s true for all of them.”
“Family?” Sean asked.
The door opened, and a guard gestured for Sean and Bjorn to exit.
Sean pressed his lips together, wishing he hadn’t told Bjorn to hit the call button so soon, and pushed himself out of his chair. He followed Bjorn to the door.
“Hey,” Braden called out. “The guy you described. The one in the suit. His name is Lou Ritter. You’ve got my permission to fuck him up.”
Sean glanced over his shoulder at Kiera’s brother. “I don’t need your permission,” he said. “But thanks.”
“Gratitude’s all mine,” Braden called out, and the door clanked shut between them.