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I spin on him, my fists automatically tangling in the fabric of his t-shirt.
“If you don’t get her out of your thoughts, I’m going to beat your ass until you can’t even remember your own name.”
“Is there a problem here?”
I release Stormy the second I hear Kid’s voice.
“Just proving a point,” Stormy says, his grin still in place as he straightens his shirt.
“And that would be?” Kid asks.
“Legacy has claimed Devyn.”
“I thought that was a given?” Kid says looking at me. “Aren’t you two getting married?”
Stormy chuckles, making me wonder what the consequences of punching him in front of one of my bosses would be.
Instead of taking the chance, I walk away, both of them laughing as I enter the garage like they know more than I do about my own damn life.
It’s early afternoon, but since I have nowhere to be but here, I grab a beer from the fridge and drop my ass into one of the chairs. Stormy follows suit. I’d apologize for putting my hands on him, but he still has that smug-as-hell look on his face.
We sit in silence for fifteen minutes until we hear the crunch of gravel.
Stormy pops up first, but I’m not far behind him.
Kincaid climbs out of the passenger seat of the SUV as Shadow, our VP, climbs out from behind the wheel. The rear doors open, three guys piling out and looking around in amazement.
It’s easy to think back to doing this very same thing months ago when I first arrived.
We’re introduced to them and vice versa as several more of the guys pile out of the clubhouse.
“Wow,” Newton says.
“You’ll get used to all the people,” I assure him.
“I’m going to feel like a jerk not remembering everyone’s names.”
“We won’t hold it against you,” Stormy says. “It’s quite overwhelming and there’s twice as many people inside.”
In the time that we were sitting in the garage, others have walked across from their houses on the opposite side of the road from the clubhouse. The living room is packed with people.
“Just mingle and have a good time,” Kincaid assures them as we walk inside. “This isn’t a test. We want you comfortable here.”
Hemlock looks around, his lips a flat line. If I didn’t know the extensive vetting the Cerberus guys do for him to get to this point, I’d think he was a criminal. His dark beard and assessing eyes make him damn near unapproachable. Maybe he’s just as overwhelmed as any of us were, and seeming unapproachable is just how he deals with those kinds of stress.
“Legacy,” I tell him, holding my hand out.
He looks down at it, the action making me think he’s going to refuse to shake my hand.
“Hemlock,” he says after giving my hand one pump and releasing it. “Is it always so busy?”
I turn and look around the room. “Not always, but we do have a lot of gatherings. Em, that’s Kincaid’s wife, likes a lot of socialization among everyone, so she’s always got a party of some kind planned.”
“Are they a requirement for the job?”
His question floors me. We all come from a Marine background. The military isn’t a solo operation. We’re always in teams. Cerberus is no different.
“I don’t think so, but—”
“Kincaid said my room is the one at the end of the hall. You got any idea where that is?” he interrupts.
I tilt my head to the side. I’ve met a lot of brusque people in my lifetime. Some guys don’t give a shit what people think of them. They are who they are and make no excuses for it. It seems Hemlock is going to fall into that category.
“I can show you,” I tell him, only now realizing he’s the only one of the new trio that carried his duffel inside.
He falls into line behind me, following me from the room. I point to his closed door.
“That one. It’s been recently cleaned.”
He nods in my direction, a token of appreciation rather than wasting his breath, and then heads in that direction.
His door opens and closes with a light click, making me wonder if he has any plans to rejoin the party.
I make my way back out to the living room, honestly a little glad he’ll be on Team A with Stormy rather than my team.
“Did he say more to you?” Newton asks as he approaches me.
“Not much.”
“He literally didn’t say a word on the drive here.”
“All of this can be a little much,” I say, still giving the guy the benefit of the doubt.
He tilts his head as if he agrees, but it still may not apply to that new guy.
“You like it here?” Newton asks, his eyes canvassing the room as he lifts a bottle of water to his lips.
“It’s an amazing organization. The guys are—” My words freeze when I see Oracle walking toward Devyn. “You know anything about him?”
