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Zach was staring at his cell, likely reading through the reports Drake had sent. Of all the people in the room, he looked the most grim.
“Tash couldn’t have possibly known,” Lou argued.
“Tasha slept with Darren Nash.” Cooper seemed to need a moment to wrap his head around that reality. “When? I wasn’t aware you were seeing anyone. When did you have the time to meet this guy? Did you know him back in the States? I thought he was Canadian.”
Captain America was in the house, and she wasn’t going to let him make her feel slutty. He didn’t mean it. Coop had been raised like the rest of them to be open about all their needs, but he could also be overly protective. He reminded her so much of his father, Alex McKay. Uncle Alex, though there wasn’t a drop of blood between them. Kenzie had stopped calling him anything but Mr. McKay by the time they were ten and she’d realized the ramifications of the relationship. Like Tash herself, Cooper had been adopted and didn’t look anything like his father or mother, but the gestures were so familiar they didn’t need things like hair color or eye color to make it clear they were related.
Tasha enjoyed being told how like her mother she was. Her mom was the best. Her mom would know how to handle this situation.
“I didn’t know him before. It was a one-night stand,” Tasha explained. “Like you’ve had one-night stands. And the twins have had one-night stands.”
“Mine ended in me stabbing someone,” Kala admitted. “I didn’t know he was a Russian operative. I just thought he was hot. I didn’t actually get to sex, so it was more like a one-night violence. Kenzie is a true-love girl. Zach has had his share, but he’s discreet. Coop is the manwhore here.”
A light pink stained Coop’s cheeks. “I thought we weren’t going to use hurtful words anymore.”
“Well, I’ve never had a one-night stand.” Tristan acted like he was adjusting his halo. “As the purest person here, I’m proud of Tash for getting some.”
“I didn’t say she shouldn’t have a good sex life, but it might have been nice if it hadn’t been with the freaking target,” Coop shot back.
“Hey, it’s not Tash’s fault, and this conversation is doing none of us any favors,” Zach proclaimed.
Kala’s expression had lost its humor, and Kenzie had gone quiet.
“Well, I think I’m probably purer than Tris since I’ve never had a three way.” Lou filled in the awkward silence. “And I’m proud of Tash, too. He seemed like a great guy. I spent a lot of time talking to him. What are these rumors?”
Tasha wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to that question, but here she was. “Cooper, can you give us a report on what you know about the target?”
She’d called Dare the target. It made her stomach roll.
But the op was important. It wasn’t terribly dangerous. Not compared to some of the stuff they’d been through, but there was a reason this op had been selected as their first solo mission. It was supposed to be fairly easy, with Kenzie and Kala tag teaming a man profiled for his harmlessness. They were to listen and evaluate relationships. If they had a chance to gather more intel in a safe fashion, they had the go ahead. Easy peasy. In and out.
If this op went well, they would be allowed more freedom.
She might have screwed that all up.
“Dare Nash was born out of wedlock. Not usually a big deal these days, but it comes into play here. The Nash family has roots in the Toronto area that go back a century. They’re old-school money,” Cooper began. He glanced over at Tristan. “If Tasha had an…encounter with this guy, I would bet you looked him up. You might know more than me.”
“Encounter?” Tris rolled those emerald eyes of his. “She had nasty, glorious sex and yes, I did a deep dive on the guy because our Tash is so awesome I figure he’ll show back up for another taste. I wanted to be ready.”
“Do you think he would be open to seeing her again?” Zach’s gaze had gone hawklike, and it was easy to see he was trying to decide the best path to take.
“Oh, if he gets another shot at her, he’ll take it,” Kala replied surely.
“He was into her,” Lou agreed. “I didn’t get a sense that he was dangerous. I did have some weird vibes from Brian, though.”
“Because he’s a douchebag player,” Kala said with a shake of her head. “All I’m saying is this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s fortuitous given what happened to the previous target. We should look at this as an easy in.”
“He was accused of getting rough with his wife.” Tristan’s words threw a chill over the room. “Or rather that was the talk going around in certain circles.”
