Garrett took a deep breath, unfolded his arms, and picked up his tea. “What I’m most curious about right now is whether she knew what the egg was.”
That was an excellent question. She and I had gone through her costume jewelry collection a hundred times, but she’d never shown me the egg. Never talked about it, never talked about the Russian Revolution, let alone about her spending time in France. Or about Delphine. How many other secrets had she kept?
He took another sip, his eyelids fluttering closed for a moment. “Or more importantly, did she know the danger that would follow it?”
Chapter 10
Galahad
The Gulfstream climbedthrough the cloud cover over Michigan. Arthur’s new toy from his father was the kind of luxury I’d only experienced once before, when Uther—the call sign everyone used for Arthur’s father, despite how much he apparently hated it—sent another jet to pick us up after a particularly distressing night in Berlin.
The seats were all cream-colored leather and could fold down flat to work as beds. Four oversized seats in the forward cabin, a couch across from a television in the mid-cabin, a cluster of six in the aft cabin, and a private cabin in the back with seating for two. The cluster was designed around two tables, one on either side of the aisle, with half the chairs facing backward for meetings.
Dark circles clung under Grace’s eyes. She’d finally left the kitchen around two in the morning, but she didn’t look like she’d gotten much sleep. I hadn’t. Too many scenarios kept playing through my mind, especially all the ways this trip could go wrong.
She and I sat in the aft cabin. I was in a single seat on the right, while she’d taken the window seat of the pair on the left. Inthe forward cabin, Arthur and Merlin sat facing each other in the large seats with a table set up between them.
I’d offered her the window when we got on, figuring she’d enjoy the view.
Big mistake.
She gripped the armrest next to her with such force, her knuckles were almost white. Each jostle—leaving the ground, the wheels going up, the engine slowing as we climbed—made her fingers clench tighter. The cheerful woman who had something positive to say about literally everything now looked like she was ready to scream.
A strange tightness settled high in my chest. I leaned across the aisle. “Are you always this nervous when you fly?”
Grace forced a chuckle that sounded more like a wheeze. “I’ve only flown a few times before and never had a window seat.”
“Commercial jets rarely crash, you know.”
She blew out a shaky breath. “At least if we do, I’ll have a great view of my death.”
‘At least.’ There it was again. Spinning every negative into a positive, despite how shitty that positive was. Against my better judgment, I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid into the seat next to her. “If you’re nervous, focus somewhere else.”
“I’m trying to focus on my breathing.” Her nostrils flared with deep breaths. This was going to be a long flight.
“I’d suggest we swap seats, but everything’s a window seat, really.” I patted her hand, encouraging her to let go.
She did, but her fingers latched around mine, and she didn’t look away from the haze of clouds we passed through. She had one hell of a grip, too.
Nice work, Garrett. Now you’re stuck.I cleared my throat and searched for a way to distract her. I raised my volume so the men in the front could hear me. “What are you working on, Arthur?”
“Finalizing our Monaco itinerary.” He handed a tablet to Merlin, whose seat had been the one pivoted to face backward. “Confidential Round Table Security business.”
“And wrapping up a couple of contracts I was on.” Merlin took the tablet, his startlingly blue eyes darting over the screen. Even with his dark hair and beard, those eyes had stood out during our Middle East deployments. He’d worn brown contacts on certain missions—a small price to pay for someone whose intelligence skills were unmatched in our unit. “So notonlyRound Table.”
I groaned. “You caved to Tristan’s idea?”
“It fits.” Arthur smirked at me over his shoulder, telegraphing what would come next: another recruitment attempt disguised as casual conversation. “Galahad.”
Grace pulled her hand away and folded her arms across her chest. “So, um, you’re going with Round Table Security for sure?”
I groaned. “Don’t you start.”
“Tristan told me about it. I think it’s kind of cool.”
“It’s ridiculous.”
“Why do they call you Galahad?” She finally tore her eyes from the window. “Wasn’t he the purest knight of all? The one who actually found the grail?”
