39. Kyle
There was something in the protein powder and I wasn’t drinking it.
Two down.
And I had no doubt there would be babies being popped out left and right soon.
No thanks.
Not for me.
The settling down part, finding a good woman who shared my need for adventure, I could get on board with. The kid part, no way. Call me selfish, but I like to get up and go. Do what I want when I want, and in my limited experience around children, they’d seriously dampen my ability to be free.
Yeah, not for me.
“You think Max is gonna hold his shit together?” Dec cut through my thoughts.
We were in Dec’s rental driving back to The Del, and with the way he drove the normal twenty-minute drive would be ten .
“He’ll be cool. He just needs a good night’s sleep and time to think on it.”
I hoped I wasn’t lying. Max was bent. We all were.
However, Max was the one who didn’t hide his displeasure or anger.
He let that shit hang out and had no issues voicing his opinions, even if those opinions offended those around him.
He wasn’t a dick, he was honest to a fault.
He had no time for bullshit. He’d lived through enough of it.
Between Emerson being taken and the company as a whole being threatened by Omni, Max’s ability to keep his head straight was redlining.
“Yeah, I saw him. After we left Brooks’ room last night, he went patrolling,” Dec noted.
Max hadn’t slept at all last night. Instead, he walked the hotel grounds, paced in front of Brooks’ and Tatiana’s room, even walked the beach.
“That’s what he does. When shit is extreme it’s always Max who pulls into himself for a few days. He’ll sort himself and when he does, he’ll be cool.”
Declan nodded and I continued, changing the subject. “It was cool what you did for Emerson.”
“Pardon?”
“Getting Autumn to come to the wedding.”
He opened and closed his mouth a few times, likely trying to figure out a way to deny it.
I knew he’d had Thad’s phone traced, and even if Autumn’s number had come up blocked on Thad’s phone, Tex had mad skills and would’ve been able to get her number. Which he obviously had.
The longer I worked with Declan, the more I understood him. He put on a front that he was a heartless asshole, but he wasn’t. Every now and again he’d let his guard slip and he’d give us more of him. He’d obviously been burned by more than the CIA .
No one walls themselves off because their employer fucked them, even if they had by all accounts done him dirty.
“Don’t mention it,” he demanded, confirming what I already knew.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I muttered on an eye roll.
Dec was pulling into the hotel’s lot when his phone rang. He pushed the button on the steering wheel and the phone connected. “Crenshaw.”
“Declan, Ace. I need a favor.” Beckett “Ace” Morgan cut right to it.
“Sure. Whatcha got?”
“Wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. I know Gumby filled you in a little about our last op in Timor-Leste.”
“He did. I heard congratulations are in order,” Declan returned.
“Thanks, appreciate it.” Ace paused before he went on. “There’s a woman, Anaya Baker. She needs some help.”
“Help? Is she missing?”
“Negative. She’s stateside. She works with the Peace Corps.
With the civil unrest in the area the aid workers are being advised to leave, most have been forced to evacuate.
She’s determined to go back. She’s asked for my help, but obviously my hands are tied.
Uncle Sam’s not gonna send me back into a war zone for a favor.
She’s desperate, and if I hadn’t seen what’s going on over there firsthand, I wouldn’t be bothering you.
I was hoping you could give her a minute of your time? Hear her out?”
“Not sure what I can do, but I’ll listen. Can she meet us at The Del in an hour?”
And there it was, proof positive Declan Crenshaw was not the cold-hearted bastard he liked everyone to believe.
“’Preciate it, man. The lobby?” Ace asked.
“Can’t promise you I can help. We got shit piled high right now and are flying out to Maryland tomorrow. But I’ll hear what she has to say, and if we can’t help, I may be able to point her to someone who can. Any idea what she needs?”
“Before the Peace Corps, she worked five years with missing and exploited children. Let’s just say the shit she saw in Timor-Leste has her tweaked.
The orphanages there are jacked. I went to Timor-Leste single and childless.
I came home the proud father of three. There’s a reason for that.
And if I had the means, and the government would’ve allowed it, I’d be a dad of twenty. ”
“That bad?” Declan asked through gritted teeth.
Yeah, cold and heartless my ass. Though hearing Ace talk about the poor conditions of an orphanage would have Dec on edge.
After his parents died, he and his sister were separated and sent into foster care.
Violet had been adopted early on, Declan had not been.
He knew all about the system and how it failed our children. A third-world country would be worse.
“Hellacious,” Ace confirmed.
“One hour, the lobby.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
“See what I can do.”
Declan disconnected and I wanted to laugh. Zane Lewis must’ve been rubbing off on him. Zane was known for always getting the last word in during any conversation.
“Wanna sit in?” he asked.
“Got nothing better to do.”
“See ya in an hour.”
Declan got out, slammed the door to the SUV, and stalked off.
Shit. He was feeling this.
Dec and I were in the lobby waiting for Anaya Baker to show and his mood had not changed. Maybe this was not a good idea. Unfortunately, I’d seen it time and time again, do-gooders who meant well but often times had unrealistic expectations.
In my experience it was often the wealthy who thought giving soccer balls to the kids in poor African villages could change their circumstances, or by visiting and digging a well somehow the villagers’ lives would be better.
However, that wasn’t the case. That new source of water opened the village up to rebels and warlords.
A village that might not have otherwise been threatened now had something of value and most times were overtaken and exploited.
It sucked.
It was wrong.
It went against everything moral and good. But evil often does.
A tingle of awareness pricked my neck and I looked to the lobby doors. They slid open and in walked Anaya.
Don’t know how I knew it was her, but I did. She also wasn’t what I’d expected. Not sure what I thought a Peace Corps worker would look like, but Anaya was not it. She was also much younger than I’d thought.
Average everyday girl next door. She was wearing a pair of OD green ripstop nylon cargo pants, a tight-fitting white tee, and she had trek-style boots on her feet. Nothing sexy about what she was wearing but somehow on her, it was sexy as all get-out.
Tall, curves, pretty face, brown hair pulled up in a ponytail.
I wanted to yank the hairband out just to see how long it was.
Anaya stopped, looked around the busy lobby. Her gaze stopped on us, and she smiled.
Fucking beautiful .
Her smile deepened and a dimple on her right cheek appeared.
Christ.
Totally girl next door complete with a damn dimple.
She strutted her ass in our direction and she did it with confidence and ease.
“Hi, I’m Anaya. Beckett sent me.”
“Anaya, Declan,” he greeted.
“Kyle,” I told her.
She smiled again, that dimple popped and I decided I really liked that indentation in her cheek. So much so, we needed to find a place to sit before my hard-on made itself known.
“Thanks for meeting with me,” she said.
We seriously needed to sit or she needed to shut up because her voice was sexy as hell, too.
As if sensing my discomfort, Declan spoke. “Why don’t we sit down? As I told Ace, not sure if we can help. If we can’t, we can at least point you in the right direction.”
Her face fell a fraction and she didn’t try to cover up her disappointment.
“I know it’s a long shot. But I have to try.
Even if sometimes I wonder if I’m doing more harm than good.
You know, filling the girls full of hope of a better life, only for that not to happen.
” Interesting, Anaya was a realist do-gooder.
“I just know what they’re going through.
I mean, my experience wasn’t as bad, so it’s not the same, but I still understand.
It’s bad over there. One place in particular is worse than the rest.”
“Let’s sit and talk,” Dec suggested again.
Anaya’s gaze swung to me and her smile this time wasn’t full of sexy girl next door. It was full of pain.
I hated it.
I wanted to scoop her up and promise I would help her with whatever she needed .
In three minutes of being in this woman’s presence, a complete stranger, I knew I was going to help.