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Nodding my head against his chest, I pull away and walk over to Jackson who’s waiting by the open passenger door.
“I’ll look after her,” he announces, puffing his chest out.
I turn back to them all and roll my eyes at his dramatics. I have no doubt that Jackson can take care of himself, I’ve seen him do it after all, but it’s the way he stands there puffing his chest out as far as he can, it’s just too comical.
“Yeah, alright, lil’ bro.” Ty snorts.
I smirk as I get into the truck and watch them all disappear slowly in the rear-view mirror.
There’s only one thing that nags at me as we drive out of town; why Corey hadn’t come to say goodbye?
We had an amazing day together yesterday and I woke up nestled in his arms early this morning with my head on his chest. For a second, I thought about waking up every morning like that but I swatted that thought away as soon as it came.
When he cracked his eyes open and said good morning, butterflies took flight in my stomach. His voice was deep and gravely all the time but when he’d just woke up, it was even gruffer.
We both watched the sunrise together before he took me back home and in that moment, I couldn’t imagine anything that could have been more perfect than that.
So, why hasn’t he come to say goodbye?
I don’t say much on the drive back to college and when Jackson drops me off at the apartment, insisting that he walks me up, I huff and let him follow me.
“I’ll text you tomorrow, okay?” he says, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me in for a hug. I wrap my arms around him and close my eyes as he plants a kiss on my head.
Once he’s gone, I go straight to my bed, not bothering to get undressed, and wrap myself up in the blanket, remembering the lake.
Pulling my car into the parking lot, I push out of it and slide my sunglasses down onto the bridge of my nose. Looking around, I spot him straight away; sat out front of the Italian coffee shop.
Blowing out a breath, I walk towards him as I scan the area. He always has people with him and I want to know exactly where they are, I know they won’t hurt me but I still need to be on alert.
I clench my hands into fists as his cocky smile turns my way. I hate how over confident he is but he had a right to be, he’s one of the mostly highly trained men and from what I’ve heard, he’s tried to be recruited nearly as many times as he’s tried to be killed.
“Anderson.” He tilts his head at me in greeting. For a second I’m shocked. The last time I saw him he had bright blond hair and his face was clean shaven, now though, his hair is dark brown and he has the start of a beard. I’m about to ask him what’s with the change, when I realize that the last time I saw him he was undercover, so he had to look different.
I nod back, knowing better than to call him any one name in particular. Kay and the guys know him as Daley but that isn’t his real name. They’d stumbled upon a case he’d been working on under a fake identity and thought he had something to do with it all. They’d investigated him not knowing who he really was, until I forced him to come out of hiding to help Kay when she was taken by her ex.
And now, I’m at his beck and call because of that.
“Have a seat.” He waves his arm at the chair opposite and I sit, not drawing any unnecessary attention to us. We’re meant to be incognito after all. “Enjoying your break?”
“Yeah,” I say and turn to the waitress, asking for a black coffee.
“Seeing the family?” I grit my teeth to stop myself from saying anything that I’ll regret.
They’d be the first ones that any enemies would target to try and get to me. For years I managed to keep them a secret, until Kay was taken and I had no choice but to ask for Daley’s help.
Now I wasn’t sure who knew about them, the only thing that kept me at ease was the fact that they live on an enclosed compound, with top security and a whole team at her back.
Being back there now though, it doesn’t feel like home. I move around so much that planting roots in one area is hard, I tried to do it before I started working for Daley, and I intend to make those roots more secure with my time off, although I have no idea how long that’s going to be.
“Yeah,” I finally answer and smile at the waitress as she places my coffee on the table. “Let’s cut to the chase. Why am I here?” I grit out once she’s out of sight.
I’m meant to have three weeks leave before I can potentially be called back in but I know how it works. I rarely manage to have all of my leave, I’m almost always called back to clean up someone else’s mess.
See, that’s the problem when you’re one of the best; you’re relied upon. People don’t know how to survive without you. That’s not me blowing smoke up my own ass, I’ve been told the same thing countless times.
Sometimes I wished I wasn’t as good as people think but then that thought drowns me in guilt and I push myself to be better, thus, making me even more indispensable.
“Just thought we should catch up.” He shrugs and pushes an envelope towards me. Frowning down at it, I lift the seal and pull out the photo that’s inside it.
