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“I’ll let you know,” I say finally. “I’ve gotta run it by Veronica.”

“He’s not coming out,” Gears groans, dropping onto the bench like I just ruined his night.

I roll my eyes and shrug, already annoyed. “I’ll talk to Veronica.”

Gears makes a noise under his breath. “That’s a no.”

Maddox slings his bag over his shoulder. “Just let us know.”

I nod once, grabbing my own bag and heading for the door, already dreading the night.

***

I don’t even bother asking Veronica about the bar.

I didn’t really want to go in the first place, and after Gears running his mouth about Blaire, the idea of sitting across from him all night sounds like a waste of time. He knows better. I’ve been clear about that line.

I don’t care what any of them think about Blaire, or how we handle things with Theo. She’s a good mother. Better than good. And she’s dealt with more from me than she ever should have had to.

So no, I’m not spending my night listening to commentary about her. By the time Veronica comes over, I’ve already decided I’m staying in.

We’ve got takeout spread across the coffee table. Sushi, lo mein, some random appetizer she insisted on ordering that neither of us has touched.

“How was work?” she asks, leaning forward to grab another roll.

I finish chewing before I answer. “It was fine. We ran some training drills with the new gear. Stuff’s heavy, but it’ll be useful.”

She nods like she understands, even though she definitely doesn’t.

“What do you even do?” she asks, waving her hand like she’s trying to pull a real answer out of me.

I take another bite of sushi before responding. “Covert intelligence.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she says, rolling her eyes. “You’ve said that. What does that actually mean?”

I raise a brow at her. “That’s about all I can say, doll.”

She leans back with a dramatic sigh. “Oh, come on. Please.”

I huff out a small laugh, thinking about how to phrase it in a way that doesn’t get me in trouble.

“I help the CIA get bad people,” I say finally.

She scoffs. “That sounds like something you’d tell your kid.”

I grin. “Because that’s exactly what I tell him.”

“You’re an ass,” Veronica says, laughing as she tosses a crab rangoon at me.

I catch it easily and shove the whole thing into my mouth.

“I was thinking we could—”

My phone alarm goes off.

“Gotta call,” I cut her off, already reaching for my phone.

I stand up and head toward my bedroom before she can say anything else, shutting the door behind me as I scroll to Richard’s contact.