There’s a grunt of agreement and Aiden’s quiet response. “She’s exhausted.”
“From what I’ve gathered, she runs on exhaustion.”
“Much like you,” Aiden retorts, but there’s a teasing quality to it. Indulgent.
“Yeah, yeah.” Dax snorts. “But when there’s shit to get done, you’ve got to do it.”
“Only because you don’t trust anyone else to do it.”
“I trust you, don’t I?” Dax fires back.
“True.”
“But not with her,” Dax tacks on.
Aiden huffs. “I figured. Are we doing this now?”
“Doing what?”
“Discussing intentions. Lines. Expectations.”
“With her?” Dax’s voice pitches slightly on theher. I’m almost offended, but what Aiden says next halts that emotion in its tracks.
“Yes, with her. Don’t think I haven’t been picking up on your interest. Flirting, teasing. The phone thing— ‘call me anytime,’and then what happened in the car tonight. What exactly did you whisper that made her blush so beautifully?”
“None of your business. And you’re deflecting, Driscoll. I’ve caught all the looks you’ve given her. That lingering moment inthe bathroom…the fact that she now looks to you more than me because you knocked Eric out.”Holy shit, is Dax jealous?
“It’s not like she knows I fucked his face up.”He fucked my dad up? I’m not sure if I’m scared or excited to hear that confirmed.
“It’s not like she doesn’t know either,” Dax grunts.
Aiden sighs. “This is a complication neither of us need. We’re fixating. She needs stability and we’re mid-mission. We can’t bring her into this.”
“Tom brought her into this. Until she’s safe, we’re keeping her close.”
“How close?” Aiden asks.I strain against sleep to hear the answer.
“Fuck if I know.”
The following silence lasts a long beat. Then Dax asks, “Is it wrong that I want her?”
“Yes,” Aiden grumbles. “But that means I’m wrong too. I don’t know if her vulnerability is drawing me to her or holding me back? We’ll be taking advantage if we try anything with her. We have power over her life and choices right now. I don’t want her making decisions that she feels shehasto make to keep us happy or helping.”
“Us?” Dax sounds incredulous.
“Do you plan on giving up?”
“No.”
Aiden reply is immediate. “Neither do I. She’s…a survivor. She’d fit well with us. Look at how she shifted into another woman tonight. I jokingly called her a chameleon earlier, but it’s a good description of her. Bilingual, astute, intelligent, intuitive, defiant, passionate, she’s withstood torture, physical, mental, and emotional…”
“I know what you’re thinking. I’m not fucking recruiting her into this madness.”
“She’d be an asset,” Aiden pushes.What madness? Recruitment? Asset?
“I don’t doubt it. I see her skills. I’ve considered it too, but she’ll still be vulnerable. I won’t do that to her. I can’t, not after…”
Aiden’s reply is soft, almost morose. “I get it. I do. Let’s just put a pin in this conversation. We’ll circle back to it when we get the trace off her back.”
