Page 37 of Condor’s Vow

He leaned into her neck and nuzzled her skin. “I know right? Make them stop, gorgeous.”

“I need to take a leak and then get more drinks. Same again?” Reid stood, and Clay looked at her.

“You want anything?”

“Please. I’m on a late tomorrow so I can sleep in a little.”

“Go help Reid, Clay. I want some girl time with Hattie so we can talk about you.”

Clay looked around and hesitated. “Fine but don’t move from here and don’t listen to anything she says, it’s all lies.” He kissed her then and walked away to meet Reid at the bar.

“Oh my God, you guys are the cutest. I’ve never seen my brother so smitten.”

Hattie blushed. “I love him. He makes it easy.”

“He’s a good man, always has been and he’s the best brother.”

Hattie turned to watch the two friends at the bar and could see the easy friendship between them and the bond of family.

“I thought for a while me being with Reid had wrecked that bond between them. They were more than friends, they were brothers from the day they met and when Reid and I had our differences, shall we say, Clay took it badly and they fell out.”

“They seem fine now, though.” Hattie saw them laughing but still knew Clay was watching her as Reid was Callie.

“They are, thank God.” Callie took her hand, surprising Hattie. “I’m so happy he found you, he deserves to be happy.”

“I’m the one who’s lucky to have him.”

“And that’s why he’s lucky because he thinks he is, and you think you are. It’s a perfect balance.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You need to come to England next year and meet my friends. They’d love you, and they’re a blast. There’s Evelyn who is with Alex, Reid’s teammate. She used to be an assassin, but I’m not sure if she actually does it now. Then there’s Pax who is with Blake, Reid’s other teammate. She works with Evelyn but does more admin stuff.”

“Assassins need admin?” Hattie wasn’t sure if Callie was pulling her leg, but she had the distinct impression she wasn’t.

“Oh yeah, there are so many logistics to take care of. Let me see. Oh, there’s Princess Taamira, who’s with Liam. He helped Reid save me, and then there’s Mitch and Autumn who have baby Maggie, and she’s adorable.”

The men returned with their drinks and Callie scooted over to let Reid sit. “The others are mostly single, except for Roz, who’s married to Kanan, but he works for Fortis, not Eidolon.”

“Your head spinning yet?” Clay asked as he kissed her cheek and brought her close again with his hand on her hip.

“Yep, but I love it. They sound amazing.”

“They are, and when Callie was missing the entire team dropped everything to help.”

Hattie glanced at Reid who was watching them intently but with no malice, only those watchful eyes she’d come to expect from Clay and his friends. She’d come to think of it as their protector look.

“What do you do?”

“Officially, we work for the British Royal Family doing guard duty on royal tours, offering security advice and checks on trips, and other things that I can’t say.”

“Hmm, I have a feeling the other things are way more than security and probably not something I want to know about.”

Reid smirked. “Very astute. Let’s just say Eidolon means ghost and leave it there, shall we?”

Hattie nodded, and the conversation quickly turned to Thanksgiving, which Reid and Callie were spending with his mom and two sisters.

“Please come, it will mean the world to us.”