AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carter’s eyes shot to me as he accepted the scotch, nodding his thanks. “Why do you ask?”
Because the best minds in D.C. had downgraded the probability of our laser being successful to ninety-four percent. “Six percent chance I will fail next week, and . . .”
Oliver declined a drink, but Mya accepted a glass while responding, “Not the same thing as playing Russian roulette with poisonous M&M’s. Don’t stress. Everything will be okay.”
Ha. Allll the stress. But I kept that thought locked up that time and peered at the screens, curious if the others felt likewise.
“In two days, the laser will be good to go,” Gray said with a confident nod, reading my worried look. “If The Collective goes through with their plans, we’ll stop them.” He whirled a finger in the air. “Let’s take a breath. Regroup tomorrow and get back at it.” Why’d it feel like he was worried about that six percent failure rate as much as I was?
“We’ll be fine,” Sydney added with a bit more confidence in her tone. “Camila would tell us if we wouldn’t be. Elaina, too.” She cut her attention to Carter, still quietly sitting on the couch nursing his scotch.
“Right,” Carter finally spoke up, realizing everyone was peering at him.
“Talk tomorrow, then.” Gray ended the meeting, and the three screens we had set up in the room went dark.
Mya set aside her drink and closed the laptops, gesturing to Oliver to head out. “We’ll give you two some space. Come on, boy, want a snack?”
“Are you talking to me or the dog?” Oliver smirked, and Mya swatted his arm. “You’re lucky that was my good arm,” I overheard him say on their way out.
I fixed my attention back on Carter, who was quietly staring into his glass of scotch, wishing I could get a read on him.
I knew he was still worried about not only my safety, but my overall mental state after what I’d learned about my ex-best friend. It was a lot to digest, but I’d opted to focus on the good. Bahar was alive. Also, Sierra, and presumably Jake’s (not Karl’s) daughter, was being placed with a couple in South Dakota who’d been trying to adopt for years without luck. That gave me some peace.
“You okay?” I toyed with the strings of the gray hoodie, which was actually Carter’s, and my new favorite thing to wear.
He swirled the liquid around before sipping. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re in some type of prison until this is all over, but I have no idea how long this is going to go on.” He gulped back the rest of his drink as I moved his laptop to the coffee table to join him.
I set aside his empty glass. “It won’t be so bad if you’re there with me.”
“I can’t take down these assholes and watch you at the same time.” He rested his head back against the couch and closed his eyes.
His bruises were still prominent, but the cuts on his face were healing faster. I’d done my best not to hug him too tight, or kiss him too hard, worried about hurting him. Of course, whenever he’d realized I’d been holding back, that only seemed to encourage him to pull me in closer, kiss me with even more fervor.
“I had an idea, though, I wanted to run by you.” He dropped his head and pivoted to face me. “What if we don’t call it a prison, but a really cool and very safe lab where you can continue your work?”
“I suppose I was close to completing my mission before the lab was hit. I’d been on the verge of figuring out how to make cold fusion a viable energy source.” I grimaced at the memory of that night. “Then wound up stumbling upon the equation to making an EMP weapon a reality instead.”
“What if you can work alongside your friends again, too? Bahar and your colleagues need to be watched over, too.” He was squinting as if worried how I’d handled this lab-prison idea.
“Lock me up with my ex, huh?”
“Trust me, I’m not excited about that, but if you don’t want him to die, and he could be useful with your work . . .” He grimaced. “On second thought, fuck that guy. I’m not that much of a changed man. William can go into hiding somewhere else.”
That’s my guy. Right there. I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, doing my best to be careful with him. “I love you.”
“Wait, so you don’t hate the idea?”
I pulled back a touch to meet his eyes, and he palmed my cheek. “Will this lab-prison include candy, cake, music, and visits from my fiancé?”
“About that.” His forehead tightened, and he lowered his hand, linking our palms. “I think we should make it official after you save D.C. from the attack.” He casually shrugged as if he didn’t just ask me to become his wife next week. “I’m impatient, what can I say? We could do it now here in Dublin, but I know you won’t make love to me until I don’t look like I was in the ring with Rocky and lost. And like hell am I not making love to my wife on my wedding night.”
My stomach fluttered at his words, particularly one of them: wife. “Like you’d lose,” I teased, then fisted his shirt and drew myself even closer to him, doing my best not to climb on his lap. “And yes, I’d love to marry you sooner rather than later. Also yes, we’re waiting to make love until the doctor says it’s safe.”
He tipped his chin toward the door. “My doctor doesn’t actually have a medical degree, and if I tell him to give me the OK, he will.”
I smirked. “Which is why I gave him my own order, to not lie to me because my stubborn guy told him to.”
“Wait, is that a yes, though? To marrying me next week and agreeing to let me tie you up?”
