Mine

Eli frowned. “Good God, why?”

“Not the reaction I was expecting.” Since she asked for Eli, Andy assumed this would be a welcome bit of news.

“Look, I respect her.” Eli leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “What she did to make it possible for me to leave the CIA in one piece is not something I’ll forget.”

Andy knew buildup when he heard it. “But . . .”

“I owe her. That doesn’t mean she likes me. The idea of her calling me for anything is more than a little stu

“How could anyone not like you?” Andy joked.

A slight shift had Wade’s chair squeaking and all eyes going to him. “And that is why I’m here.”

Andy hadn’t intended to flirt or touch on an issue that would set Wade off. They sat in the middle of the Tosh offices, and Gabe would be pissed if he came in to find blood on the walls. “Just kidding around.”

Eli cleared his throat. “Are we still talking about work? If not, let’s get there.”

Time to man up, and that meant backing off. Andy’s instincts told him to keep fighting but his eyes told him the truth. Wade and Eli wore how comfortable they were with each other in how close they sat together, the stolen looks. The calming change in the way Eli handled everything, problems big and small. There was an intimacy there. More than sex. Something Andy wanted to grab on to but would never try to steal. He had to earn it, cultivate it.

“We’re good.” They were. He wasn’t, but at least now he could turn the corner. Stop picking up guys and limiting every interaction to sex in hope of Eli coming back.

“About Natalie,” Eli said, his dark eyes intent and his expression serious. “Is she okay?”

“She’s with Gabe.” Andy thought that told them everything they needed to know.

“Didn’t we already know that?” Wade asked. “They left the safe house, and Gabe has her somewhere else. Rick filled in Bast.”

Andy knew about Bast’s commanding presence. Knew all about Rick’s stubbor

“Imagine lots of yelling when Bast found out someone in the CIA was having Natalie followed, despite the existence of an agreement that promises that sort of shit wouldn’t happen.” Eli being Eli, he laid out the issues clean and clear. No tact or waffling.

For some reason Andy felt the need to defend his difficult older brother. “Rick said he’s trying to work this out with his client.”

Eli nodded. “And Bast is applying pressure.”

“You mean threatening the release of whatever information they fear Natalie holds.” Andy didn’t blame Bast or Natalie. She had leverage and should use it. A file of information didn’t do anyone any good if the person holding it died before they could release it.

“Something like that.” From Eli’s tone it was clear he meant exactly like that.

“Is this why Natalie wants a meeting?” Wade glanced over at Eli. “Maybe we should talk with Bast.”

Before he could answer, Andy jumped in. “She asked for Eli specifically.”

“You’re sure she’s okay?”

The genuine concern intrigued Andy. The Eli Andy remembered didn’t do a great job with putting other people’s feelings first . . . or even third. Which probably explained how Andy ended up on the wrong side of the door the second after he floated the idea of them not seeing other people. But this version, the new and improved one, didn’t gloss over other people’s pain. That realization brought a fresh wave of disappointment washing through Andy.

“Did something happen between her and Gabe?” Wade asked, his voice echoing Eli’s confusion and concern.

“Nothing bad, to my knowledge.” But some things were private, so Andy stopped there.

Wade laughed. “Interesting answer.”

Andy pretended not to notice how good the guy looked and sounded. He turned to Eli before he figured out what Eli saw in Wade. “Gabe wants me to take you to Natalie.”

“So, she’s close.” Eli tapped his fingers against the table.

There were limits, and Andy decided now would be a good time to impose them. “I’m not going to answer that.”

“He’s going to be able to see where you’re going,” Wade said.

Eli laughed. “No, I’m not.”

Life operated in a much easier way when people understood the score. “Exactly.”

“Wade comes with me.” Eli sat back in his chair. “That’s the deal.”

Not that Andy had much choice. Natalie was his client, and she asked for something Gabe thought they could give. That meant dealing with Wade along with Eli. “I’m starting to think you two are a matched set.”

Wade nodded. “That would be a wise conclusion.”

Rather than sit through another he’s-my-boyfriend-and-not-yours lecture from Wade, Andy stood up. “Can you be ready this afternoon?”

One of Eli’s eyebrows lifted. “Do we need to pack a bag?”

That seemed safe enough to answer, so Andy did. “No.”

Eli smiled. “Then we’re ready when you are.”

•   •   •

Gabe grabbed two water bottles off the counter. The fact Brandon left any surprised him. So did the sight of Natalie sitting on the end of the couch with her legs curled up beneath her. She wore those sexy jeans that made him want to drag her upstairs to bed and pull them off. Topped the outfit off with one of Brandon’s bulky college sweatshirts. Looked like the southern girl had some trouble adjusting to winter.

She turned pages and kept her head down. Gabe saw a flash of a photo here and there. The scene struck him as so normal when they’d both lived lives that were anything but.

He walked into the great room and handed one of the bottles to her. “What are you looking at?”

“Thanks.” She tucked the bottle next to her thigh and kept sca

He looked at the binders on the coffee table. They stretched back in time to the early days. Brandon learning to walk. Brandon in elementary school. One from around the time of his birth. She had to be bored if she fell back on this entertainment. He paged through them every now and then to remember, but these memories would mean nothing to her.

“I have a television.” He picked up the remote and aimed it at the screen he bought solely so he could experience college football practically life-sized.

“I don’t really have any family photos.” She flipped a page then her fingers and eyes moved down and onto the next. “I’m fascinated by how and why you memorialize all of these moments.”

The comment hit him with the force of a punch. Spoken like a woman who didn’t have much she wanted to remember. He hadn’t really thought . . . insensitive fucker that he was. “Did you have any good ones?”

“Sure.” She didn’t look at him. Didn’t stop looking at the photos. “That’s what lures you in, makes you think things could change. You have di

Every word sliced through him, making him wish he could make it better. He spent so much time being angry at Rick for fucking up everything and for the decisions being forced on him that he’d forgotten how lucky he was. He had a support system. He ached for her not having one.

“I wish . . .” Jesus, he had no idea how to finish that so he didn’t even try.

Her head popped up then. “What?”

The intense stare had Gabe stumbling over his words, but he finally got this thought out. “I could bring him back to life then kill him for you. Do something to make this better.”

He meant every word. If there were a way to take on her pain and relieve her of some of it, he would have done it.

She closed the album and leaned an elbow on it. “Seeing you with Brandon makes me smile.”

Gabe didn’t force the issue. If she needed to change the topic, he would. “He’s a good kid.”