Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“Oh, it’s my turn to guess.” Ian took a long breath. “Is it to infiltrate an upcoming medical conference?”
Tristan barely managed to not wince. “I was going to ask if we could find someone who was going and send Kara in with him. I thought maybe Dare would know someone. I don’t think we should send Dare in since we still don’t know how much Huisman understands about how we work.”
“He knows everything,” Kala assured him.
“He’s met Dad and Tash,” Kenzie hedged, proving she wasn’t entirely in step with her twin. “He definitely knows who Dare is and his connection to our team.”
“He knows I run this company,” Ian said. “We’re a private firm, but it can’t be too hard to find out who works here. And he knows I work for the CIA. He’s got the money and the resources to figure it all out. He absolutely knows Tasha is Agency. I have hopes he doesn’t know about the twins. They managed to avoid him entirely while we were in Australia. The question is how did he figure out Tristan has taken over The Jester’s business?”
Grace shook her head and leaned forward, a worried expression on her face. She glanced toward her daughter before posing the question to Ian. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know after today we have to think someone is coming after Carys or Aidan. They need to be in a safe house.”
“Grace,” Aidan began.
His mother, Avery O’Donnell, shook her head. “No. I don’t care about your career, Aidan. You’re going to do whatever Ian decides is best.”
Aidan’s eyes closed—a sure sign he was trying to get control of his emotional state. He opened them and looked at Ian. “Fine. Where is this safe house? If we’re going to burn down both our careers so Tristan can get the glory, we might as well start here and now.”
TJ had been sitting next to Lou at the far end of the table. He raised a hand. “Uhm, or it could be me they were trying to get.”
“So there’s another possible explanation,” Carys said quietly.
“The best option is a safe house while they figure the situation out,” her father insisted.
“For how long?” Carys turned to her father. “I know you want to protect me, but I can’t trust there’s some timeline that could save my career. I didn’t go to school for all those years to watch it go down the drain. So the obvious thing to do is Aidan and I go to the conference and we provide cover for the team.”
“Absofuckinglutely not,” Tristan said, the idea turning his stomach. “It’s not happening, Carys.”
The whole room erupted, everyone arguing. The twins thought it wasn’t a terrible idea, promising they could train Carys and Aidan. Cooper thought he could watch over them. The parents all thought it was the single worst idea anyone on the planet had ever had. Lou tried to explain all the ways tech could keep them safe.
And Ian sat, quietly watching.
The knot in Tristan’s gut tightened because the truth of the matter was only one person mattered. “Ian, they can’t do this.”
The man he’d called uncle turned his way, his eyes slightly cold. His voice was low, meant for Tristan’s ears only. “You would rather they lose their futures instead of trying to find a real way out of this situation? They won’t forgive you, Tris. This might be your only way out, too.”
“Then they never forgive me.” He’d always known it could happen.
Ian’s head shook. “I don’t think they’re going to let you make the decision for them. Can you address Carys’s question? How long will you keep them in limbo? How much of their lives are you willing to ask them to give up?”
Why couldn’t anyone understand? “I’m trying to save them.”
“And they don’t get to decide for themselves?” Ian asked.
“They don’t understand this world.”
Ian shot him a disappointed look and sat back. “Then they’re lucky we do.” Ian held up a hand and raised his voice. “Everyone stop.” He looked at Carys. “Is this what you want, niece?”
Sean’s head fell back. “Damn it.”
“Yes,” Carys replied simply and reached out to her mother. “Mom, I need to do whatever I can to fix this. My cousins won’t let me die.”
“I won’t let you die.” Had she forgotten he was fucking here?
“You need to do this?” Grace asked, tears in her eyes.
Carys nodded. “Then I’ll have my life back, and I can figure out what to do with it.”
She’d always known what she wanted. Him and Aidan and a weird family and a career. A house with dogs and a cat. A life they could all enjoy.
He’d burned it down for all of them.
“Then let’s sit down and figure out the op’s parameters,” Ian said, pushing back his chair. “I need to go call Langley and give them an update. The rest of you take a break and figure out where you’re bunking down for the night. Aidan and Carys, you can stay with your parents or at Aidan’s if Coop and TJ stay with you. Otherwise, I think it would be best for everyone to stay with the twins for a couple of days. When does this conference start?”