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“Go away,” I whisper, then shake my head because there’s no way he can hear me.

“Please, there’s so much more to it than you think.” His eyes beg me to hear him out but I can’t, not when he’s been following me.

Shaking my head at him, I start to walk up the next few steps.

“Please! Let me explain it all to you, you’ll understand then.”

“Go away, Thomas!” I shout back, turning, ready to go up the next flight of stairs.

“I’m your brother!” he shouts.

I freeze, rooted to the spot.

“W-w-what?”

Sat here trying to listen to Daley tell us about this mission is futile when all I can think about is Ava back in my apartment, possibly in my bed and wearing one of my t-shirts.

Fuck. me.

I adjust myself and clear my throat, trying to concentrate on this douche.

“In and out within minutes, that’s the goal,” he says to me and the other five men in the room. They all nod and turn to me, waiting for me to say something.

Sta

nding up, I tilt my head at Daley and cross my arms over my chest as I widen my stance. “This guy is dangerous. You need to have all of your wits about you. You aren’t overseas now, you’re back in the US. We have to go undetected.”

They all listen to me intently and with respect.

I go into all the details, where we will be watching him and the formation we will go in. This should be a quick in and out job and although my mind is fully on the job, all I want is to be back home with Ava.

Once we’ve gone over everything, I send them off to get suited up and walk over to talk to Daley.

“Hey,” he says. “Ready to get out there?”

“Yeah.” I run my hand down my face and sit next to him, huffing out a breath. “I can go home after this, right?”

“Why?” he smirks, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his thighs. “Want to get back to the wifey?”

“Fuck sake,” I say, closing my eyes and leaning my head back.

“What?” he asks, like he genuinely doesn’t understand why I reacted that way. I swear, sometimes I wonder how he even made it as far as he has.

“Wifey? Who even uses that term?”

“Erm... me?” he asks, his eyes wide and mouth open in shock. “That’s what she is, right?”

“I give in,” I say, throwing my hands up in the air and standing up.

Even though I resent him for making me work for him, I can’t deny that he’s good at what he does and knows how to pull together a great team. Plus, I’m kind of getting used to him.

I’ve worked with some good men in my time but this team is one of the best and if it wasn’t for them, I know I wouldn’t be here right now.

They’ve saved my life several times over, just like I had with them.

Walking through the hallway of the safe house we’re staying in, I make my way to my room and pull my cell out. Scrolling through my contacts, I hover over Kay’s number and then over Ava’s, debating who to call first.

Who I am kidding? I haven’t been able to get Ava out of my head since I left. Every night when I go to sleep, I remember her lying on my bed, naked. The image is burned into my brain.