Yeah, even Gene.
Elizabeth was the glue that held them together. She was the cream in their cookie sandwiches. Without her there, and the kids tucked away, the gold baron’s mansion was…silent.
It was hollow.
It was one of the darkest spaces he’d ever had to haunt.
“Do you think Von Donore is going to make another move?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Don’t you? He needs that crypto code, and he’s an egomaniac. There’s no way he won’t try to punish Poe and Arthur Doyle for staying just out of reach, again. If he puts two and two together and realizes Gamble is Arthur, he’ll even be bitchier. The only thing going for Gamble now is that Von never saw his face. Poe said the files he had were pictureless.”
Well, that was good.
As for what she said, yeah, that was accurate.
Ethan had profiled it for them, and Von’s desire to win was outmatched only by his cruelty. Von Donore was a dick and didn’t like to come in last.
“You could always dangle the actual crypto code in front of him.”
She was aware.
That would bring the man out, but this wasn’t her rodeo. Elizabeth didn’t micromanageThe Hunters. That was Major Maura Gaines-Mars-Armstrong’s shitshow.
“I’ll see what Maura wants to do. She’s the strategist. I’ll leave this up to her.The Huntershave yet to give me a reason to doubt that they can handle this without me sticking my nose into it.”
He figured as much.
“I mean, it’s a cute nose,” he offered.
She smiled.
“Thanks, handsome. Hopefully, I don’t cut it off to spite my own face, at this point.”
Yeah, he hoped so, too.
“Well, I miss you.”
That warmed her up a little. At least they all hadn’t moved on, forgetting about her. Yeah, that was a fear in her world when it probably didn’t need to be one.
Sue her.
She was human.
“The bear isn’t keeping you warm?” she joked. “Is the newlywed phase over?”
He laughed.
“No, it’s not over, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss my wife and her smile. I miss how she smells like cookies, and how she’s more than willing to sit with me in the tipi while I do crazy shit. I miss her antics, and I miss her humor. I miss her love.”
Elizabeth missed him, too.
So, he wouldn’t suffer, she brushed it off, making a joke. It was pure Elizabeth at her finest, even when she wasn’t feeling it.
“And my tits. I know they’re on the list somewhere,” she joked.
He winked.
