Page 23 of Deliverance

“What? They are!” Sebastian shot back.

I snatched the napkin he tossed back at Marcus out of the air. “I was actually thinking of doing dinner at my mom’s again. With all of us.”

Alexander frowned. “She kind of shut down after the last one; are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“She did,” I acknowledged. “And I think it probably had to do with her parents. But I think it would be a good idea to show her what parental love can be, and you know my mom will smother her in love if given the chance. I think between my mom and us, we can show her that love isn’t going to abandon her, and that’ll help her feel more settled and maybe heal a bit.”

“I think that’s what makes me hesitant about Dominic,” Marcus said. “I know he’s here while he’s suspended from the FIA, but what happens after he’s reinstated? If he goes back to DC, that will just hurt Evelyn.”

“That’s a fair point,” I said. It was a valid worry.

“I would hire him at SDS,” Alexander said, then shrugged when everyone looked at him. “We’ve hired federal agents before.”

“We can tell him he has options,” I agreed. “He may still want to go back to the FIA, but I think the FIA’s actions recently have maybe changed his mind.”

“We’ll see,” Alexander said. “So when are you thinking of doing dinner with your mom and all of us?”

“I was thinking about this Sunday,” I said. “And we should try to do some dates here and there too, so it’s not just work,work, work all the time for her. Because we know she’ll drown in it if given the chance.”

Alexander chuckled. “She definitely would. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who works as hard as she does.”

“High praise coming from the workaholic,” Sebastian teased.

Alexander lifted his eyes to the ceiling, looking for the patience we all sought when dealing with Sebastian.

“On that note,” I said, standing, “I’m going to go.”

“Are you sure I can’t crash your night with Evie?” Sebastian pleaded.

“No,” I said. “It’s my night with her.”

Sebastian pouted, an odd expression for a grown man, but I could see how Evelyn called him a golden retriever puppy.

I headed downstairs and popped into my apartment to check on Dominic real quick. I expected him to be in bed, but he was standing in the kitchen with an odd look on his face, like he was contemplating life. I recognized that look. He must have spent some time with Evelyn. Only she could put that starstruck look on a man’s face. I hid my smile.

“Hey,” I said. “Evelyn get in okay?”

“Yes.” He shook himself out of his thoughts. “We had a drink, and then she started yawning, so she went to bed.”

“Good,” I said, deciding to push a bit and see what he was thinking. “Everything okay?”

His expression smoothed out as he hid whatever he was thinking. I wanted to laugh but held it in. The man had it bad. “Yep, just getting some water before I hit the sack as well.” He raised his water glass.

“Good. Just let me know if you need anything,” I said. “I’m going to sleep over at Evelyn’s tonight.”

“Sounds good. Goodnight.”

I didn’t miss the flash of longing on his face before I closed the door behind me. I smiled widely once I was in the hallway.Evelyn tended to have that effect on all of us. Some might say I should be jealous that another man had caught her eye, but I was secure in our relationship. Besides, as we headed into the heart of the storm, Evelyn was going to need as many people as possible to keep her safe as we faced Kingfisher.

CHAPTER 11

EVELYN

“Okay, so here’s how we usually put a profile together,” Dominic said as he stood in front of a blank whiteboard.

Izzy, Liam, and I reclined in the leather chairs of the executive conference room. Liam had his laptop open in front of him. Izzy had her trusty tablet balanced on her lap, and I had a blank notebook in front of me. As Dominic continued, I tried to keep my focus on what he was saying, not how he looked. He was dressed in navy slacks and a sharp white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. There was a serious case of forearm porn going on, and I was fighting to keep my focus. Ever since he kissed me on the cheek last night, it was like I couldn’t keep my focus off the man. And it was just a kiss on the cheek. And I had four boyfriends. Having a fifth would just be greedy, right?

“Building a profile isn’t a quick process. It’s methodical, and you have to sift through a lot of data, but it’ll help us define how Kingfisher operates by tracking what he’s done in the past to predict what he will do in the future. We’ll take everything Kingfisher has done and look for any connections, consistencies, or even inconsistencies.”