Page 67 of Kept in the Dark

“You don’t like it? I was quite proud of it.”

“Meh. Not bad.” With a shrug, James returns his attention to me. “Anyway, when you said that you were going totake care of her, I assumed…” He draws a finger across his throat.

I gnash my teeth. “Why does everyone think that?”

“It’s a pretty misleading euphemism in our line of work, you must admit,” Wesley argues.

“I had no intention of killing her. She is not a threat, but she is in danger. Now that we know who the USB belongs to, it is obvious they will come after her.”

James and Wesley exchange a knowing look, and James shakes his head. “Yeah, if you expect us to just participate in your little StockholmSyndrome experiment, you’re going to need to give us a little more than that. You could have dumped her in a motel or another safe house. It’s clear she’s not directly involved, and the USB is protected, so it’s not like she’d really know anything if she were caught. And hey, civilian casualties are… regrettable, but it would have been smarter to just let it happen than to compromise us all here. Right?”

Regrettable.The word sets my teeth on edge. It would have been far more thanregrettableto allow her to fall into Viktor Volkevich’s hands.

“I… could not let that happen,” I admit begrudgingly, knowing I am echoing the sentiment I disagreed with so furiously all those months ago when James first brought Eleanor here. I can see the self-satisfied smile growing on his face from the corner of my eye, so I try to avoid looking at him directly as I explain, “She is innocent.”

“So… let me just rephrase here… what you’re saying,” James continues, a large, pleased grin now firmly in place, “is that you put a woman you just met before the team. You could’ve just killed her or let someone else do it. Should’ve, by your own rules. Isn’t that what you wantedmeto do?”

My hand curls into a fist. I know he speaks hypothetically, that he is just being contrary and joking at my expense, but I dislike the idea of Nicole becoming a victim of this situation, even hypothetically. “Once this business with the VolkevichBratvais sorted, I will ensure that she does not become a problem—”

“I thought it didn’t matter if she wouldn’t be a problem. That’s whatyousaid when I brought Eleanor here.”

“I owe her a favor,” I grind out. In fact, I owe her more than a favor or my protection. “She sewed my wound. You think I should kill someone who helped me?”

James shakes his head with his eyes closed, holding up one finger to silence me. “Shh. Just let me enjoy this.”

“So, she’s here for her own safety?” Wesley asks.

I nod.

“If that’s the case, how come she doesn’t seem to want to fuckin’ be here?” James cuts in.

“You’re not exactly a paragon of eager female compliance, Mac,” Wesley cuts in. “I seem to recall that Eleanor was quite shaken when you brought her here.”

James waves his hand through the air. “Now, hold on a second. I have done many questionable things in pursuit of that woman, and I would do all of them again. But I’ve never tackled her. In broad daylight. While she was armed,” he pauses, considering, then adds another qualifier, grinning broadly, “without her consent.”

“Yes, yes, you’re very happy,” Wesley sighs. “Must you rub our noses in it?”

Still wearing that smug grin, he shrugs. “My question remains. Why was she running?”

“Because I handled the situation with her poorly,” I grind out.

“No shit,” he snorts, eyeing my black eyes.

I cast an exasperated look at Wesley, whose lips twitch as he steps in as mediator. “If you’re quite finished,” he says dryly to James, who gestures with one hand and a self-satisfied expression for him to proceed. “So, she’s… staying?”

I sigh instead of answering. Has our conversation so far not implied this clearly? He is asking a question that he already knows the answer to, and I dislike stating the obvious.

“Well, there’s plenty of room up in the loft, right, Mac? I suppose she could stay in that spare room next to—”

“No. She stays with me.” It is out of my mouth before I can really consider the suggestion. They do not know her like I do; they will not be prepared for her fire or fight. Besides, I have just made some progress in repairing the broken bond between us, and I will not let anything or anyone take her from me now.

James jumps in. “Yeah, but isn’t she a flight risk? More security in the big house. Plus, she’d probably be more comfortable with a womanly presence—”

“She is staying with me,” I repeat, enunciating each word and glaring at their twin owlish expressions. I feel as though I am being baited, though I could not say why.

“All right, then. I’ve got one of my spiders looking into the case file from her call to emergency services. We should have a better idea of how they intend to respond to her self-reported kidnapping within the day.”

“Good. If that is all we have to discuss?”