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Ed took a breath to reassure him that he didn’t have to worry about their fees, even while he was inwardly cringing against making such a statement without conferring with the rest of the guys first. However, Isidore beat him to the punch.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m covering the fees on this one,” Izzie announced in a light and breezy voice.
“What?” half the room cried.
Kairo moved around to stand beside his boyfriend, allowing him to see his face. “You can’t do that. You’re not here so you can pay all the expenses on the jobs.”
“I know that, but this job is the exception. It’s personal. I figured if I paid for this job to be completed, it will keep your mom safe, which earns me brownie points with both her and you.” He dropped his voice into a stage whisper. “It’s always a good idea to get in good with your future mother-in-law.”
Kairo sputtered for several seconds before grabbing Izzie and kissing him thoroughly.
Ed tore his eyes away, chuckling as he met Max’s questioning look.
“Have they been together long?”
Ed shrugged. “A couple of weeks.”
Max tossed his head and laughed. “You people are so weird.”
“Yeah, but we’re a lot of fun, too.”
6
MAX SUTTON
“Everything looks quiet from the street,” Ed said from where they sat at the outdoor café that was a few buildings down from the apartment he’d been renting.
“Yeah, but is it too quiet?” Max muttered, his mouth hidden as he lifted the cup to his lips for a sip of the bitter drink.
Ed made a choking noise as though he was holding in a laugh. His large shoulders shook slightly, and he pressed his lips together, biting them.
So, maybe amid the chaos that was now his life, Max had picked up a new hobby, but he couldn’t help it. There was something addictive about making Edison laugh. It was just that he had this killer deep laugh that left Max almost light-headed. And it was even how his honey-brown eyes twinkled with amusement.
It was more that when Ed was happy and laughing, the entire world was brighter. His career would potentially circle the drain if he couldn’t get free of these bastard thieves, but Max felt like he could handle what was in front of him because of Ed. If Ed could make the world happier, he could handle some rat-fink artifact thieves, no problem.
“Kairo is moaning that he can’t believe you even went there,” Ed relayed. The mercenary had an earpiece in that connected him to Kairo in their hideout and to Charlie and West stationed at different locations in the neighborhood.
Max snorted. “I have no respect for anyone who wouldn’t say that. The setup was perfect.” After finishing his coffee, he pushed the empty cup aside and let his gaze go up the street. He was in more borrowed clothes from Kairo, though Izzie and Will were supposed to be picking up some new clothes for him. He had no clue where the bag he’d packed for his last journey was. Probably trapped forever in the lost baggage room of the Athens airport.
Both he and Ed looked like European tourists, lounging the scorching afternoon hours away at a café. They’d been stuck in this spot for close to an hour while Charlie scoped out the building and West did his sneaky sniper thing from the neighboring rooftop. He wanted to ask West how he avoid notice in the middle of the day, but there was something cold and unfriendly in the guy’s eyes. Max was pretty sure he didn’t want to know too much about West’s skills.
Didn’t matter. If he was as good as Ed claimed he was, there would be no problems.
After spending two more days locked up in the safe house, Max finally convinced them he was well enough to return to his rental and pick up the papers he’d left behind. Ed had wanted to go without him, but there was no way he’d be able to explain all his interesting hiding places. It would be faster if he tagged along.
Besides, he needed those notes if he was going to finish his work. His computer held most of the information. And, of course, cloud storage held everything as backup, but he was so accustomed to writing things on paper while he was in the field. Batteries died. Computers hated sand and extreme heat. A pencil and a sturdy notebook were dependable.
The afternoon sun was dropping toward the rooftops, lengthening shadows around the city. The buildings here were old, worn down by time, wind, and the sand that seemed to always fill the air. Advertisements had faded, making them barely readable now.
People filled the sidewalks, on errands or simply heading home after working the early shift. Cars didn’t clog the streets as badly here, but thick traffic echoed from a few blocks away. The tight web of tall buildings muffled the honking horns, squealing tires, and growling engines. It felt like the city was bland. The real color came from the people. They wrapped themselves in all varieties of bright colors, like fragments of a rainbow scurrying in different directions.
