He walks over and wraps his arms around me, nuzzling my neck. My eyes meet Teresa’s and she nods once. A final show she’s agreed to my plan. I take a deep breath, the tightness in my chest easing some at knowing she’ll keep her word.
After a moment, Blake lets go and slides into the chair next to me. “Is there any coffee left?”
“Si, Mr. Mason. I’ll make you a cup.”
28
~Lily~
3 days left.
No one has bugged me about what they think I’m hiding in days. If my team were normal people, I’d be relieved, but they’re not. So now, I’m just paranoid. I know they’re still trying to figure it out, they’ve just given up on trying to get me to fess up. Teresa’s words from the other day still nag at me though.
It’s not that I don’t trust them. I just know them too well. I’m doing this to save them, not because I don’t think they can help. Risking Dresden’s life, knowing he has a family to take care of, makes my chest hurt. I can’t do it. He means too much to me. They all do.
This morning we had a family breakfast for the first time in what feels like ages. Blake smiled at me and kept contact with me in some way throughout the whole thing, whether it was his hand on mine or kissing me every time he got up to do something. It’s sweet, but also makes me feel guilty for lying to him. I’m truly looking forward to the day we can just have a normal life. Well, as normal as two people like us can have.
Sitting at the kitchen island while everyone else is in the living room chatting and watching a movie, I skim through the debriefings of everything that’s happened over the last two years. There’s a stack of at least twenty folders and I’ve only managed to get through two. The files from when Jax was still team lead are riddled with missing information.
At this point, I’m not surprised in the least. I don’t know what I’m going to do if this mission really is him. How do I kill the man that raised me? The man that gave me a life . . . that saved my life. I’ve spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure out why he even bothered if he was really working for the Taurus this entire time.
A loud knock on the front door makes me jump. Before I can move, Teresa heads for the door and waves me off, so I go back to reading my files.
“Miss Lily,” she says a moment later, her voice low and serious.
I turn toward her and almost do a double-take as my breath catches in my throat. Edmond Bates, Hyde’s boss, stands just a foot or so behind her. He’s all business in a dark suit and Interpol badge hanging around his neck. I’ve only ever spoken to Bates a few times.
“Sir. I wasn’t expecting you.” I stand and walk over to shake his hand.
His grip is firm, and his demeanor exudes authority. “Agent Williams. You look well. How is everything?”
“Fine, sir. Best as can be expected. What brings you all the way out here?”
“I’d like a word with you. Some things are still best done in person.” He tilts his head toward my team, all of whom are watching us intently.
“Yes, sir. We can speak in my office.” I turn and head through the living room.
Bates’ shoes echo behind me and I don’t turn around until I’m inside my office. Once he steps through the doorway, I shut and lock the door before heading over to sit behind my desk. He looks around a moment and then takes one of the chairs in front of the oak desk.
My office is plain at best. Nothing but my computer, telephone, a photograph of Blake and Sorina, and a corkboard with maps and bits of information tacked to it.
Bates picks up the picture and stares at it a moment, a small smile on his face before placing it back where it was. “You seem on edge, Agent. Are you and Scholl ready for the next mission?”
“Sir, about that,” I say fidgeting with my fingers. “I haven’t informed Dresden of the mission you sent. I believe its best I handle this one solo.”
He raises his eyebrows and stares at me intently, as if he’s trying to read my mind. “Since when is sending an agent into hostile territory without back up a smart decision?”
I sigh. “Under any other circumstance, it wouldn’t be. But if I’m right, and I think I am, this mission is Jax.”
He runs his hands through his hair and shakes his head. “I thought the same thing the moment I read all the Intel. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make more se
nse to have Dresden with you?”
“Dresden is expecting a child. He has obligations here that supersede his obligations as an Interpol agent. It’s wrong to ask him to put his life on the line with so much at stake.”
“You have a child too, Lily. If it’s wrong to ask him, isn’t it wrong for me to ask you?”
“With all due respect, sir, Sorina is 15. She’s hardly a child anymore. And even if something happens to me, she and Blake will be fine. They lived a year thinking I was dead and while it was hard for them, they both survived. They could do so if that were the case in truth.”