Alone.
“She’s watching you now,” I say. “And yes… she’d be proud of you.”
Saint squeezes me again, but he doesn’t reply. I don’t say anything either, not knowing what more to offer to atone for what I’ve done.CHAPTER 19SaintIt’s telling I’m glad to be back in Pittsburgh. Coming out of the Fort Pitt tunnel and seeing the rise of a beautiful mountain city seemed like a homecoming of sorts. While I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, I haven’t identified it as my home in an exceptionally long time. Not since I first left.
I’ve lived so many places the concept of roots had never meant much. That was also compounded by the fact I never thought about having a family, so having a solid home base meant nothing.
Until I’d met Sin.
Then I’d thought about it.
A lot.
It’s telling also how much I miss her. We’d parted ways in the airport—her headed to London and me to JFK—and it had seemed okay. But when I got on that plane and started moving farther away from her, it began to sink in how easily she’d inched her way back into my heart.
She hadn’t been wrong to ask about my plans for the future, and she deserves to know what they are.
But it’s also not wrong for me to take my time with this. While I might want her badly, we have so much to figure out. I went straight… working a legit job.
Sin is a world-class thief.
Those two lifestyles don’t mesh.
And even if Sin wanted to go straight, would she want to do it in Pittsburgh? If not, would I be willing to give up this new job to be with her?
There’s so much to figure out, but this is so not the time to do it. The weight of responsibility I’m feeling in not only bringing down Mercier to complete my job, but also to keep Sin safe at the same time has occupied all my brain capacity.
My heart is going to have to take a backseat.
I take an Uber to the Jameson building, brushing off the driver’s concern at letting me off in such a bad area of town. Our headquarters is rundown and dilapidated on the outside, but it’s a wonder on the inside.
I pull up my security app, which rotates a new password to get in through the garage gate—a massive rolling steel structure that is impassable without the password. After I punch it into the key code at the box, I wait for the gate to rumble open enough for me to enter. I walk down the ramp leading deeper into the underground garage, past a handful of cars parked close to the entrance door, and flip down a cover over a metal box.
Leaning forward, I put my face up to the screen. A blue laser light emits, scanning my retinas.
A small chime emits. Welcome, Saint Bellinger, pops up on screen.
Fucking cool. One of the best things about Jameson is it has the best electronics and spy tech gadgets I’ve ever seen.
I enter the unfinished and grungy first floor of the warehouse. After I get in the freight elevator, I let it carry me up to the second floor, which houses the Jameson offices as well as conference rooms. Third floor is all tech and weapons, including an indoor shooting range. Fourth floor is our living space. We have individual apartments, but we share a communal kitchen, theater room, gym, and outdoor rec area.
Bebe is there to welcome me when the elevator comes to a stop. Since the retina scanner was her invention and she’s in charge of our security measures achieved through the technology, she would have been the first to see me enter the building.
She’s a phenom around here. A woman who had spent time in prison for working for black-hat hackers. She’d stolen nuclear codes for them because they’d threatened to kill her son Aaron, but she’d allowed herself to be caught by the police so the codes would stay safe, even knowing she’d be sent to prison. At least Aaron had been safe that way, too. Kynan pulled some serious fucking magic to get her out of prison to come work for us. Frankly, we couldn’t operate without her.
“Welcome home,” she says, holding out her fist.
I bump it playfully. “Thanks. Kynan around?”
“In his office,” she replies, and we both start walking that way. “Not sure how long you’re in for but you and I need to sit down and go over some new stuff I have for you.”
“Awesome. And do we have anyone around here with explosives experience?”
Bebe’s head snaps my way, her eyebrows going up. “Um… yeah, actually.”
“Relax,” I assure her. “I need to talk through a few things. I’m thinking ahead on how my mission is going to finish up.”
“With a bomb?” she asks curiously.