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We were halfway done eating our waffles when Harrison finally emerged from his room. He moved slowly and hunched over a bit, which gave me the impression of a bear just out of hibernation. He sat in the chair next to Kaylee and cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he rumbled.
“For what?” Kaylee asked.
“I lost my temper. And I said a bad word.”
“It’s okay,” she replied. “I don’t care if you say naughty words. Sometimes I get mad when I’m playing my game and a creeper sneaks up on me.”
His eyes flicked to me for a brief second. They were like glowing emeralds, somehow made even more striking by his clean-shaven face. “Don’t tell daddy Archer, all right?”
Kaylee let out a giggle. “Why not? Will you get in trouble?”
“Maybe.”
“I promise not to tell him,” Kaylee said, “as long asyouapologize to Trish.”
Those green eyes swung back to me again. “I was going to do that next. I’m sorry I lost my temper, Trish.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I said curtly.
“Are we all friends again?” Kaylee asked.
“We never stopped being friends,” I told her.
She gave a single, emphatic nod. “Good.”
Harrison smiled. He had a charming smile now that I could see his lips. “Are you done with your waffles? Why don’t you run along and play your game, so I can talk to Trish alone.”
She stuffed the last bite in her mouth and went running off. Harrison watched her go. Now we were alone. He shifted in his chair, and I was acutely aware of his presence next to me. He had a dangerous aura about him, but it was brimming with a new kind of energy. Like if our elbows touched, an electric current would jolt between us. It was almost sexual, though I knew that couldn’t be true.
“About Prague…” he began.
I quickly shook my head. “I shouldn’t have asked. I was—”
He held up a hand to stop me. “It was a few years back. Our contract was to gather evidence on a certain individual, Anton Novak, and apprehend him and transport him to Germany for trial. Don’t give me that look—this was a bad guy. Sex trafficker. Real piece of shit. We spent three weeks there. Following this guy, recording his movements, passing it all up the chain. Novak liked to visit a strip club. Went there every day for lunch, and then again at night. Because of that, we became frequent visitors, too. And while this was happening… I got involved with someone.”
“Harrison,” I said with just a hint of teasing. “Did you fall in love with a stripper?”
He recoiled. “What? Fuck no. I’ve got standards.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“It was the manager of the strip club I fell for,” he explained. “Karina.”
Her name rolled off his tongue, pregnant with meaning. He kept his face blank, as blank as it always was, but I could tell this wasn’t an easy discussion for him.
“Karina and I had a fling. It was just sex. Nothing more.” He said it emphatically, like he was having an argument. “Until it became more. Turned into a full-blown affair. Worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life.” He shook his head. “Can’t believe how stupid I was.”
“You let it get in the way of the mission?”
“Worse,” he replied. “Karina was working for the guy we were going after. She was pulling a job onme. And I never even realized it. When we finally had gathered enough evidence and it was time to kidnap Novak and take him to Germany, Karina sprunghertrap. She drugged me. I’ve got a high tolerance, so it didn’t knock me out the way she expected. It almost worked.” He touched the scar on his face. “Karina got away, and I got this for my troubles.”
“What about the target? Anton Novak?”
“He got away, too,” he said in defeat. “We apprehended his two brothers, but not Novak himself. He was the one who really mattered. It was the biggest failure of our career. The worst part is that Novak is still out there somewhere. Nobody knows where. And it’s because we didn’t do our jobs. Jordy still feels bad about the whole thing, because he was distracted by a girl he was texting back home, too. But mine was the real fuck-up. We almost died. Worse, we almost lost our standing with the Mathos Company. The three of us had a come-to-Jesus moment and vowed we would never let that happen again.”
He spread his hands. “So what does Jordy do? He brings you along to watch Kaylee. And then you two start playing hide-the-pickle at night when you think everyone is asleep.”
