King Me (Forever Wilde 7)

Linney crossed her arms in front of her chest. “What was different about the Van Gogh job? What went wrong? It’s been driving Falcon crazy all this time.”

It was my own fault we’d come around to this. I should have anticipated the question. My usual inclination to keep my cards so close to the vest caused me to clamp my lips closed at first.

“Nothing you say here can be used against you, you know,” Mouse reminded me. “You can tell us without worrying about it getting you in any trouble.”

He was right. The immunity offer had been ironclad. According to my sister, I could speak freely. That still didn’t make it any easier to let go of deeply held habits of keeping quiet.

Linney tilted her head. “No honor among thieves?”

“Something like that. I was double-crossed. Might as well be in a heist movie. I trusted the wrong person, and it came back to bite me in the ass.” I couldn’t help but add a little dig. “Luckily the responding agent was a softie.”

Linney’s nostrils flared in annoyance. Mouse on the other hand snorted a soft laugh.

“Never again,” Linney warned. “Falcon will never give you another inch. You mark my words. The man has learned his lesson.”

I strongly disagreed but was smart enough to keep my mouth shut about it. Plus, there were certain inches I wouldn’t mind the sexy senior agent giving me.

Mouse shot her a look. “You want to put money down on that?”

“Shit,” Linney muttered. “I’m out. See you in the morning.”

For some reason I felt like I needed to share the truth. Maybe I didn’t want Mouse thinking the worst of me. “I was young and stupid, Mouse. I let someone talk me into doing something I shouldn’t. And when I finally realized what I’d become, it was too late. Or so I thought. So I did the only thing I could think of to try and make some of it right.” I didn’t tell him the ironic part, that when I finally decided to put it all behind me, the one organization that had wanted me to quit all this time was the one forcing me back in.

Mouse thought for a minute. “I read about the Aleutian totems. Was that you?”

I nodded.

The corner of Mouse’s mouth curved up. “I know I shouldn’t be telling you this, but that was amazing. What you did for those people. Their cultural heritage had been looted right out from under them and used as tourist bait by those… I mean… well, anyway… have a good night. And don’t worry, Falcon doesn’t snore.”

I watched him leave the kitchen. Why did it matter to me whether or not Falcon snored? After I finished straightening the last bits in the kitchen, I turned out the lights and made my way to the front door to make sure it was locked before heading to bed.

Once I’d changed into sleep pants, I slid between the cool sheets and let out a breath. Even though I’d taken a cat nap before we ate, I was still wiped out from the travel and ten-hour time difference.

So I fell asleep right away. Sometime later, I awoke to the sound of tapping on my window. Who the hell would be out in the middle of nowhere on this Greek island? I rose and peered out.

Falcon’s face glared angrily from the other side. “Let me in,” he mouthed. I scrambled to open the window and grinned out at him.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “Why are you outside in the middle of the night?”

“Can you open the front door instead of the window please?” he asked in annoyance. “I’m not exactly petite. And not all of us sneak into houses through windows.”

He had a point. I made my way to the front door chuckling. After unlocking it, I noticed he was wearing jogging clothes that were plastered to his body with sweat. They outlined every muscle, and it was impossible to keep my eyes from tracing over them.

“Did you go for a run?” I asked stupidly. Of course he had gone for a run. It was just that his physique had scrambled my brain a little bit.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m going to chalk that one up to you still being half-asleep. Who the hell locked the door?”

I blinked at him. “Um, Ziv, I think.” Served the asshole right. I turned toward the kitchen, expecting Falcon to head off to bed.

Instead, he followed me in to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I moved to the coffee maker and hunted supplies to make half a pot.

“You’re making coffee at two in the morning?” He took a swallow from the water bottle.

“Well, I’ve already had two sleep sessions now. The chances of me being able to fall asleep a third time are pretty slim. I might as well get up and spend some time with those schematics.” I finished prepping the coffee maker and hit the button to start it. After finding a loaf of bread in a cabinet, I tossed a couple of slices in the toaster on the counter.