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She gave a modest shrug. “I’m trying.”
Gray mumbled something, but Aubrey couldn’t quite make his words out. It almost sounded like he’d asked a question. But it didn’t make any sense to her.
“Where were you a year ago?”
She probably heard him wrong.
???
After their walk on the beach, Gray and Aubrey returned to the bungalow. Her words kept reverberating in his head and the similarity between him and her brother struck a chord. Except, Gray had wanted to die when he hopped on his motorcycle and attempted a demon ride in the rain.
Hadn’t he?
Now, he was second-guessing it. Truth was he felt a lot more like her parents, stuck and wallowing in his grief, than he cared to admit. And what had been his immediate response? Anger. They’d let Aubrey down. Had he been so consumed in his own sorrow that he’d also let people down?
Shit.Raking his fingers through his short hair, he looked over at Zane who was typing away like a maniac on his laptop. Zane had always been a close friend and Gray knew he’d pushed him away over the past year. But the hacker was a loyal sonofabitch and never gave up on Gray. Even when Gray was ready to give up on himself.
“Pharaoh stopped by,” Zane said, glancing up from his screen. “Since my programs are all still running and we’re waiting on more intel, there’s not much to do today. He declared it a day of rest.”
Seemed fitting since the man sometimes reminded Gray of a god, the way he ran things so effortlessly and with a power that seemed nearly omniscient.
“Oh, and it looks like Aubrey will be keeping us company for at least another day,” he added nonchalantly.
“What?” Both Gray and Aubrey spoke at the same time.
“Yeah, sorry, but flights were all booked.”
All booked? To Indiana? That didn’t sound right. Gray was about to say so, but then clamped his jaw shut. If it meant another day in Aubrey’s company, he wasn’t going to question it. He was going to enjoy every single moment with her.
And never mind the fact they had a private jet and pilot at their fingertips.
“Pyro is servicing the jet, FYI,” Zane said, as though reading his mind. “So, like Pharaoh said, enjoy your day off. I’ll be over here working as usual.” His mouth edged up and Gray could tell he wasn’t bitter about it at all. There was nothing Zane loved more than being master of his keyboard and king of the Dark Web.
Now Gray had all day, but he hesitated. Maybe Aubrey would want to be alone and had no interest in hanging out with him.
“Do you think Inda has any extra clothes I could borrow?” Aubrey asked.
“If not, I’m sure Harper will let you borrow something. You look about her same size. C’mon, I’ll introduce you.”
There were four bungalows total, side by side, on the beach. It was a perfect setup. As they walked across the sand, Gray pointed each one out. “Brax and Saint share the one next door to us. Then is Inda’s place and next to her is Ryland and Harper.”
“Harper is Ryland’s wife?”
“That’s right.” Gray paused. “There’s something you should know. I can’t get into details, but our team is deep undercover—like really deep—and we’re trying to take down some very bad people.”
“Okaaay.”
“You can’t tell anyone about us or anything you’ve seen or heard here. Because technically…” His voice trailed off. He knew he was taking a big risk confiding in her, but he also knew nobody would believe her, anyway.
“Technically what?”
“Technically, we’re all dead.”
Chapter Ten
Aubrey’s heart sped up in her chest. “Dead?” she echoed, not quite understanding.
“Yeah,” he murmured in a low voice. “We figured it would be easier to sneak in and take care of these bad guys if they didn’t see us coming. Blindside them. So we staged a plane crash, planted some evidence and now the world thinks we’re dead.”
