Page 42 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

“Not really,” she admitted. “My mom bailed on me and my father. She couldn’t bear being on this reservation. So I stuck around until I left for college. I had a father to take care of, and to this day, he’s a handful. He’s stubborn, difficult, and set in his ways.”

He let her talk.

It was just easier for him.

“He’s on the council, as you know, and he’s all about the rez and the people on it. I think he made me come back here because he was afraid I’d forget my roots and stray a little too far. So, he got me this job—which is not bad if you don’t mind drunken Natives, vomit, and stolen property reports.”

Oh, he knew where this was heading.

That sounded a lot like what Callen and Ethan said about their grandfather wanting them to only marry someone of their ethnicity.

That to him sounded like a no-fly zone if he ever heard one. He might not talk a lot, but he did have a decent brain in his head.

Because he wasn’t sure what to say back, Uriel stayed silent as she talked.

“How long have you worked with or for the Blackhawks?” she asked, switching it up again and digging deeper.

He thought about it.

“Nine, almost ten years. I’ve been with them since Ethan was the head of the FBI. The Director of the FBI, or any alphabet agency leader, is a high-value target to the enemy. Then, when he stopped being that role, I was hired right over from being an Archangel to another one at Archangel Security.”

She was curious.

“Who owns that?” she asked.

He shared.

“Ivan, the guy guarding Elizabeth. He named it that kind of in irony. A bunch of Marines who did countless things for the government as freelance devils are now saints as they work for the Blackhawks,” he admitted.

She smiled.

“I get the irony. It’s not lost on me. What do you like to do in your spare time?”

Uh-oh.

This was right about where it went to shit, and he knew it. If he got nervous talking, it was only a matter of time before he babbled like an idiot.

Then, women ran for the hills.

So, he kept it simple.

“Reading.”

That seemed like something harmless, and it was true. He was pretty sure she didn’t want to hear about the flower garden at The Fort, or how he had grown his own windowsill herbs.

That sounded gay as fuck—even to him.

As they walked, Rayna was honest.

“I like a good book. What are you reading now?” she asked, checking to see if he was really a reader, or just bullshitting her.

Again, honesty matters.

“I like the classics. I haven’t started a new book yet since I just finished A Tale of Two Cities last week. We’ve had a wild week at work.”

She was impressed and shared what she was into.

“I read mostly journals on psychology. I like learning about what goes on in a person’s head. You know…like what would make them kill someone, strip them naked, and leave their clothes folded neatly on a stone.”

He was to the point.

“You’ve come to the right place for that,” he admitted. “Elizabeth gets the weird ones.”

It made her laugh.

“Touché,” she said. “This reservation resembles that remark.”

Yes, yes, it did.

As they reached her car, she wasn’t sure he was having a good time or not. He was somewhat difficult to read.

Or shy.

Or just not into her.

As they got into her car, he had to move the seat back because someone had long legs.

Starting the vehicle, she glanced at her watch.

“We have plenty of time to get there,” she said, trying to fill the gap with anything. It wasn’t easy carrying a whole conversation.

ALONE.

So, she tried to learn more so she could keep talking. All Rayna hoped was it didn’t come across like the Spanish Inquisition in her cruiser.

“Are you married? Single? Divorced? Into swinging?” she added, just to be funny.

Only, he didn’t laugh.

Not.

At.

All.

Yeah, this was a tough room. Honestly, she didn’t know why she was trying. It was clear he wasn’t into her. Maybe he was married, and just didn’t wear a ring.

It would figure.

All of the hot ones were scooped up by the pretty blondes who didn’t have to work on the reservation because her father made her.

“No, yes, no, and definitely not.”

Uh, okay.

She was pretty sure he was trying to be funny back, but she wasn’t one hundred percent positive. This man was an enigma, and her biggest issue was always having to figure out an enigma.

Oh, this was going to bite her in the ass.

At that very minute, Rayna couldn’t figure Caspian out. What she did know was his hands were giant, his cologne was really alluring, and that she would bet he was damn interesting if he just opened up.

She wasn’t even thinking sex because that might melt her in that seat, but she was betting he could hold his own in bed.

The bottom line for her was that he was giving off good energy, and that also worked in his favor.

“Any siblings?” she asked, as she drove back down the rocky road toward where her father was.

He nodded.

“Five. All brothers.”

Oh, well, that seemed like a good area to discuss. Maybe he’d open up a bit, or maybe he just wasn’t into her. She could be pushy at times, and this just might be one of those times.

“Where are they in the world?” she asked. “Do you get to see them at all?”

He was to the point, and didn’t mind her asking since it was a very safe topic.

“One is married with kids in Omaha, one is divorced and a playboy, one is in the Air Force as a General, and two died in combat. One in Mogadishu and one in Kosovo. I don’t see them much, especially the dead ones.”

Oh, boy.

Now, she was horrified. That safe topic wasn’t so safe after all.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said, not knowing what to say. “I probably shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t mean to pry, Caspian. Really,” she said, putting her free hand on his thigh to offer him some sympathy.

Losing two brothers in combat had to be something very difficult to get beyond.

As he looked down at her hand on his thigh, it sent shockwaves through his body.

Right to his dick.

Now, he had an erection, and knew this was the worst possible situation to be in. Slowly, he began meditating in his head, willing that bump in his cargo pants to disappear.

Or for him too.

Either way, something needed to become invisible.

Yeah, now, he was panicking.

Uriel didn’t mind talking about his life. Normally, he was so Zen he couldn’t get riled up, but here he was acting like an idiot as his heart raced, and his palms were itchy. The only thing that was going through his mind was when the last time he’d had physical contact with a gorgeous woman.

He couldn’t recall.

That said it all.

When she moved her hand off of his thigh, he was losing the battle between libido and sanity. She smelled like flowers.

What kind?

He swore it was Lily of the Valley, but he wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Either way, it was tantalizing.

What he wanted to do was escape so he didn’t fuck this up. The minute he tried to talk to her, he was going to make a fool of himself.

What was he going to discuss?

His time as a Marine or his yoga? Neither seemed like a good idea considering. Caspian didn’t want some meaningless romp on the reservation.

He was thirty-six years old, and his clock was ticking. Over the last year, watching Gryphen fall in love, and Raphael find his way into Saint’s life, there had been that kernel of desire building in him.

Caspian wanted his person.

But with his inability to talk in coherent sentences around women, that was likely never happening. Give him a bomb to defuse, and he was as cool as a cucumber.

Have a woman touch his thigh, seven inches from his dick, and he was a hot fucking mess.

Holy shit.

His pulse was racing in his neck because it wasn’t the only thing throbbing on his body.

Now, he had to figure a way through this.

If she kept asking questions, that meant he didn’t have to carry on a conversation.

When she blew a strand of hair off of her face, all he wanted to do was reach over and tuck it behind her ear.

This.

Was.

Bad.

Something had gotten into him because he couldn’t stop staring at the woman as she drove. If he kept it up, she’d start to freak out.

He was staring at her like some ridiculously besotted man, and they’d literally just met.

But deep down, he knew.

There was something about her that he couldn’t shake. It had him by the balls.

Maybe it was that physical attraction, or maybe it was more. Caspian wasn’t quite sure.

Rayna had tan skin, likely a gift from her ethnicity, and the prettiest brown eyes that he’d ever seen. They had flecks of gold in them and were a rich brown. Her hair was hanging down her back in a long braid.

What confused him was how it was tied at the end with a pretty white ribbon with little cherries on it.

She seemed whimsical, but not.

Funny, but serious.

She was a mystery to him, and he was fighting tooth and nail not to fall down that rabbit hole. If he did, she would find out way too much about him.

Oh, he was getting all kinds of vibes from her, and none of them helped him navigate this. He could tell she was focused on him, and that didn’t make him angry.

It made him twitchy and edgy.

Now, he just wished he was back on the crime scene. It was only a matter of time before the jig was up.

Uriel was praying for a miracle.

“It’s okay,” he admitted. “Questions are how you learn,” he offered, finally remembering what she’d said to him.

It wasn’t lost on him that he sounded lame.

Jesus.

What was wrong with him?

He’d heard Elizabeth tell Charlie that when she was frustrated at Christopher Anthony asking a million questions.

When there was a lag, he tried to fill it.

“Do you have any siblings?” he asked back, hoping it wasn’t intruding into a place he shouldn’t go, but she had asked him, like she wanted to learn about him.

He should probably do the same.