Page 94 of Newly Tied

“I would love to see that,” she teased, then stopped again before going inside with Miro. “Don’t leave without saying goodbye. I won’t either.”

“Deal.”

I threw the ball for Chickie some more, but eventually he had to go inside. It was too hot outside for a dog with such a heavy coat.

When I went in, Lang was talking to Kohn. Talia and Sharpe were in the kitchen, talking to Callahan and Celso. I noted Talia and Celso holding hands. I was glad they’d hit it off.

Grabbing a bottle of water, I was on my way back out when I bumped into Sen Yamane.

“Hey,” he greeted me, taking hold of my shoulder. “Thanks for being nice to my partner earlier. I know he can be a lot sometimes, but all that anxiety comes from a good place.”

“He told you about that?”

“He tells me about everything, and I do the same. That’s how it works, right?”

With partners he meant. “It does,” I agreed. “And Lang was nice too, so ya know.”

“And I appreciate him as well.”

I nodded. “We’ve all got things. We can only do the best we can.”

His smile was warm.

Back outside, I took a seat on the last step, drinking my water, thinking I should go back inside where it was cool, but I needed the people to thin out. I was getting hungry, though.

“Hey.”

And there was Lang.

“Don’t come out here. It’s hot.”

“But you’re out here,” he said, coming down to where I was, stopping one step above me. “And I have to be with my boy.”

I was going to get on him about the “boy” comment, but he put his hands in my hair and tipped my head back to kiss me. I didn’t care after that.

“I saw Talia. She looked happy to see Celso.”

“She was. Very. She’ll probably start looking for you soon.”

“No, Sharpe will need to introduce her around.”

He grunted.

“Hey, do you think we need to tell Kage that we’re more than work partners, or is that none of his business?”

“It’s none of his business,” Kohn said from above us, and when we looked up at him, he was pacing the tiny porch, texting on his phone.

“You all right?”

“Yes,” he said quickly, which meant he didn’t want to say. “But truly, our boss has no interest in your relationship status. He only needs to know if it becomes an issue on the job.”

“Thank you for clearing that up,” Lang said, smiling. “We both appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” Kohn said, not looking at us, still pacing.

After watching him for a moment, I realized I had to know. “Can you say what’s wrong, or no?”

He looked up then and I noted how tense he appeared. “Nothing is—I have to make a comment on the apprehension of Tobias Mosbach and the fact that he is now cooperating with the FBI and is currently answering questions. I also have to comment about the gang members who were wounded during their arrest in the raid in the Loop early this morning, and, of course, on the derogatory comments some members of the marshals service made about the DEA to a documentary film crew.”