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God, I loved his rough, deep voice, especially wrapped around that word when he was directing it to me.
“Thank you,” I said earnestly.
“It’s not a big deal,” he replied.
I settled happily in my seat (yes, this required a little bouncing, sue me, Javi got me a new mushroom!) and looked out the windshield.
I then proclaimed, “It is to me.”
There was a vibe humming in the cab that felt strange, so I turned back to him.
He was also staring out the windshield, obviously, since he was driving, but a muscle was dancing in his cheek.
My heart squeezed.
“Did I say something wrong?” I asked quietly.
Not taking his eyes off the road, he reached a hand to me. Making sure my mushroom was safe, I took it.
Only then did he reply, “No, Harlow.”
“I—”
I barely got that out before Javi cut me off. “I’m just glad you like it.”
I was sensing he didn’t want to dive deep into whatever was going on with him, so I said, “Okay.”
His hand gave mine a squeeze and he let me go.
“Did you have a good day?” I asked.
“Had better.”
Oh no.
Maybe the weird vibe in the cab was because something happened that day.
I tested the waters. “Everything okay?”
“Nope.” He said shortly. “Last night, Cody was in the control room, and he was supposed to be monitoring the cameras. Not sure what he was doing. Am sure he was jacking around. He missed the guy breaking into your place.”
Oh boy.
“Mace reamed his ass,” Javi continued. “Though he was a lot more cool about it than I would have been, and not just because this was about you.” He shook his head. “Cody’s skating. I’m not certain he’s committed to doing his part to be a productive member of our team.”
Hmm.
I was seeing where he was coming from.
After they lost two of their brothers, NI&S had taken on the remaining Shadow Soldiers, Javi, Jeff (Jessie’s brother) and Cody.
But back then, they were his soldiers. Javi’s.
So Cody messing up reflected on Javi.
Or it didn’t, but Javi might take it that way.
“Mace is a badass,” Javi kept on. “But he isn’t a hardass. Moses, who manages the control room, is a hardass. That’s his space. His responsibility. Cody is directly under him. The man is solid, totally cool when shit is good. Patient. Generous with wisdom. You fuck up, not so much. You fuck up when it comes to protecting a woman, seeing as he loves his wife and two daughters and he gets how big that is, he was rightfully pissed.”