Page 79 of Declan

And it was worth noting that while Zane was staring at Declan, Declan hadn’t taken his eyes off of me.

Holy smokes, those red eyes were an inferno of goodness. I could get lost in those eyes. Who the hell was I kidding? I already was, and it scared the piss out of me.

“Let’s get this started so I can get back to my wife,” Zane suggested, or more aptly, demanded.

“What did Ashaki say to you when you saw her in Iowa?” Brooks asked.

I gave them a quick rundown of the conversation, leaving out that Declan was wildly in love with me, instead saying she thought he was into me. When I was done it was Max who was studying me and doing it closely.

“And now, your opinion of her has changed,” Max wisely surmised.

“Yes. Now that Declan has expressed his concerns and I’ve had time to think about it, I’m wondering why she was watching. I’m also wondering what she was doing in Maryland in the first place. I’ve worked with her in the past. We’ve gotten together when we’ve been overseas and in the same area. But mostly we communicate over the phone. She’s never just popped up somewhere I’ve been for the sake of grabbing a beer and having a gab. So, yes, I’m concerned she was watching me. But more, I want to know why she was watching Declan when I never told anyone I’d been seeing him. I need to call my girl Beth and see if she can fill in the blanks.”

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, had her contact info pulled up, and hit the green button when Zane asked, “Who’s Beth?”

“I’ll explain when we’re done.”

The phone started ringing and I put it on speaker.

“I was wondering when you’d call,” Beth answered in her sing-song voice.

I had to admit, over the years, hearing Beth’s chipper voice had been one of the only bright spots in my life. She always sounded upbeat and happy even when we were discussing filthy scumbags.

“Listen, you’re on—”

“Ash called me, told me you’d hooked up with Declan Crenshaw.” She let out a whistle and continued before I could shut her up. “I have to say, I was shocked. Never met him but I’ve heard of him. I mean, everyone has. He was the CIA’s golden boy. I think they wept when they lost him. Legend has it he wiped out an entire camp of insurgents and saved a ranger unit.”

Shit. My eyes went to Declan and I tried again. “Beth. Stop, you’re—”

“It’s also widely known he’s untouchable. Not cold but glacial. Girl, if what Ash says is true, you gotta tell me—”

“You’re on speaker and Declan is right here.”

“Shit. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried. But you were all fired up to tell me what Ash told you and you didn’t take a breath.”

“Did you expect I wouldn’t be fired up to hear how the woman known as the Angel of Death landed herself the King of Frost? I’ve known you a long time, Autumn, never did I think I’d see the day you’d walk away.”

Shit.

Everyone in the room was now staring at me. Except for Thad, he was smiling. Damn. I hated to do this but I had to.

“Is that what Ash said?”

“Yeah, she called to tell me you hooked up with Declan, and you were done. Which I have to say makes me happy.”

Damn. That made this next part worse.

“I’m not walking away, Beth. I’m not sure why she told you that.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Then I told the story for a second time, again leaving out Ash thinking that Declan was in love with me.

“So with all that, do you have anything for me?”