Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
They were fit for their age, no doubt about that. Dad and Uncle Angus still signed up to run 10K for charity every year, I’d seen Elliott in the gym at work, River and Reese had to stay in shape to keep up with their significantly younger partner, Shay, and same went for Darius. They’d ended up with men who were, like, my age. Or even younger. I was fairly certain Gray was a couple years younger than me.
If I ever tied myself down, it would be to someone my own age. Not that I didn’t see the appeal—older guys could be hot as fuck. Older women too, for that matter. My last girlfriend had been ten years older than me. They were hellcats in the sack. But I wouldn’t exactly go to war with them by my side—or walk down some aisle with them.
“Crew!”
“Finally,” I mumbled. I stood up as I spotted Ryan coming toward me.
Yeah, he was definitely handsome—and shared a lot of features with his brother. Both were tall and rugged-looking. But Ryan’s eyes seemed a bit bluer than Darius’s.
“How you doin’, kid? You look better than last time.”
I plastered a smile on my face and shook his hand. “Good to see you again, Mr. Quinn.”
His forehead creased. “Uh. That’s my pop. Don’t call me that again. I trust you remember my name.”
Oh. Touchy.
“Ryan,” I corrected.
“Better.” He clutched my shoulder and nodded toward the gate. “We ready?”
I’d been ready for a while.
“Yes, sir.”
He pursed his lips and side-eyed me, half amused. “The sir is fine.”
Pffft, he didn’t have to tell me. Gray had already gossiped. Or maybe not gossiped; he’d shown me family photos, and when Ryan was being kissed on the cheek by both his wife and another man, one had questions. But I was used to that shit. Uncle Greer was the BDSM freak in our family.
“You keep your kinky bedroom activities to yourself, sir.” I picked up my carry-on, and we headed for the line. They’d just started boarding our group.
Ryan let out a laugh. “What the hell? I mean because of rank and seniority, punk. Who told you I was kinky?”
Oh. I scratched my nose, mildly embarrassed.
“Your brother-in-law likes to show pictures,” I said. “You learn a lot from listening to him for five minutes.”
“Ah. Gray’s a sweet kid,” he answered. “He used to be my favorite before I discovered that he and my wife like to prank me. He puts these ideas in her head, and she can’t help herself.”
I laughed. That reminded me of when the Tenleys flew in the other day for the barbecue; Shay and Gray had pushed Reese into the pool. It’d been so fucking funny.
I liked Gray a lot. Shay too.
Ryan and I boarded the plane and found our seats in Comfort+, ’cause we had to have the extra legroom. At least, Ryan did.
“Have I missed any updates?” he asked.
How would I know? We were part of the same chat server, a secure line set up by a woman I knew only as Squeezy.
I just rattled off the latest. “Elliott and Joel are on their way to Toronto for their transfer to Frankfurt, Javier and Ramirez got tickets on the same flight to Paris as Darius and Gray, and Squeezy is running analytics on the intel Elliott and Joel got in Mexico. She’s apparently very good.”
Ryan smiled to himself and buckled his seat belt. “That she is.”
“You know her?” I hadn’t considered that. I was still so new in their social group, and they had more anecdotes than I could handle. The core of the group consisted of Elliott, River, Reese, Darius, Ryan, Tariq, and Dante. That much was clear. But after that? My fucking God. For spending so many years on their own in the field, they knew a lot of people.
“She’s my baby sister,” Ryan chuckled.
Oh. Okay, then.
“I’m still learning,” I admitted. “Like, right after the attack when we were scrambling for our next move, I heard so many names that it’s just a blur in my head. Call Ramirez this, reach out to Emerson and Danny that, see if Coach is available, get Squeezy up and running… Blah, blah, blah.”
Ryan tilted his head. “Is Coach joining us?”
I stared at him. “I don’t know who that is! Who is Coach, Ryan? Who is Danny? Is he your cousin, maybe? Or an aunt?”
He snorted in amusement. “Okay, fine. How did you get involved in the first place? You were with Hillcroft last year in Belize, right?”
I shook my head. “Um, that’s what I told people…” Because Hillcroft had the right reputation. “Reese floated the idea to me,” I said. “I was visiting my uncle, and River and Reese were there. They heard me complain, basically. I wanted to leave the service ’cause it’d gotten boring—so Reese suggested I go into the private sector, and he arranged an interview for me at Hillcroft. I aced every damn test, but they had ‘concerns’ I wouldn’t thrive in the field without a unit to fall back on.” I wanted to be pissy about that, but they’d been painfully correct in their assessment. “They referred me to another agency that had a six-month waiting period, and maybe I didn’t have that patience, so I found a place on my own that pretty much hired me on the spot.”