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She froze.
“Are you allowed to drink? Are you on medication?”
“I only took over-the-counter medication today. It’s fine.” She took a healthy swallow of alcohol. Waving the glass toward the ladies, she said, “You better start talking.”
They traded a look as if trying to decide who would be best to break whatever news they brought.
Finally, Lena spoke up. “The guys wanted to talk to Apollo.”
“That’s obvious. Why?”
Lena’s expression softened. “Indika. You’ve been through a lot this week, and I’m sorry we’ve invaded your privacy. It’s just that we were all—”
“Having dinner and…what? Got news that AJ’s up to something so you had to rush over here and get more intel?” She drank another swallow of vodka. The alcohol wasn’t taking the edge off like she needed for this kind of disruption to her life.
Things were much easier before AJ returned from the dead. Ever since that day, she’d been floundering to figure out what the hell was going on. Her emotions were scattered like dropped petals in a garden. Her grief suddenly ended, to be replaced with a blinding anger.
This was the first time she’d admitted such a thing to herself.
She was furious with the man she loved for so many reasons. Now he’d probably gone and dragged her into some black ops thing she didn’t even have the clearances to know about.
She issued a long groan. Seeing her distress, Lena moved forward and took the drink from her hand. She set it aside and clasped Indika by the shoulders. Looking into her eyes, she said, “The guys feel bad that they’re leaving Apollo out. He’s stopped calling and texting them.”
“Is that all?” She huffed a humorless laugh. He was definitely calling and textingsomeone.
Again, the ladies exchanged looks, as though trying to come up with a way to calm her down.
“Why don’t you sit with us? You’re healing, and we probably woke you up.” Teigen, the woman Mustang was married to, pulled out a kitchen chair for her.
Indika didn’t know Teigen very well. In fact, she wouldn’t call Taliyah, Gia or Teigen more than acquaintances and Lena a work colleague.
She wasn’t about to confide her innermost feelings to any of them.
Instead of taking their offer to sit, she headed for the door.
Lena’s voice stopped her. “Let them talk.”
“Why aren’t you out there with them?” she snapped at her, an uncharacteristic reaction, she’d admit. “You’re Blackout.”
Lena had the thickest skin of anyone. She had to be tough to survive living and working with men.
She waved a hand at the chair. Indika stifled a protest and drifted back to the table. She sank to the seat and the women settled around her. Lena hitched herself onto the counter and Taliyah leaned next to her, while the others sat at the table with Indika.
Silence fell over them all.
“Why are you really here? I don’t buy your reason that you just happened to come from dinner.” The small amount of liquor she’d drunk loosened her tongue.
Lena compressed her lips. “You’re part of us, Indika. Always have been, whether you’re with Apollo or just coming by headquarters to help out.”
“That’s right,” Gia spoke up. “We insisted we come along to support you.”
A swell of emotions hit Indika. She bowed her head under the weight of those words. “And if I don’t want to be involved?”
“Oh, honey.” Gia placed her hand over Indika’s. “It’s a little too late for that, isn’t it? You can try to run, but you’re never going to convince that heart of yours to stop loving Apollo.”
Silence stretched. Indika swallowed hard and then nodded. “You’re right. Maybe it’s time I stop fighting him and start supporting him.”
A low grunt from the doorway jerked her head up, and her stare met the deep, dark eyes that belonged to the man she was talking about.
