Page 6 of Craved

He manages to keep a stoic expression. “I’ll do my best.”

An awkward silence hangs between us, and I know we’re both thinking the same thing. Finally, when I can’t stand it anymore, I say, “I’ll be fine. It will work. He won’t hurt me.”

“Don’t.” The word seems yanked out of him, and its ferocity startles me. “Do not think like that. Do not think you’ve got the magic pixie dust that will keep you safe. This is not the boy you loved. This man is Lambert’s right hand. The Maxim Wilder you loved is dead, and you know it.”

I open my mouth to protest, then close it again and simply nod. Because what can I say? He’s right.

He takes another sip of beer as he studies me, as if looking for cracks in my resolve.

“You said Zane Parker’s your in-city contact? What do you know about him?”

“Just that he’s scouting real estate. He primarily works in research. Not a field agent. Have you worked with him?”

“Nope,” he says, and I hear what he’s left unsaid: And I don’t trust anyone I don’t know.

“He’s former SOC, too,” I say. “I checked his credentials after I met with Ryan.”

“I know,” Brax says. But of course he’s still going to worry. It’s the job. We’ve been doing it for years, but there’s still always that twist in your gut. A twist that comes with a hefty dose of eagerness, too. Because if we weren’t all adrenaline junkies at some level, we would have crashed and burned long ago.

“Weapons?”

“Minimal,” he says. “You have to look like you’re reaching out to Maxim because you want to join his party. Not because you want to blow away his research team.”

“It’s not my first time to ride this pony.”

“I know.” He lets out a long breath. “But you’re going in alone. Even your in-town contact doesn’t know you’re there unless something goes askew. And—never mind.”

“And it’s Maxim. We’ve already been down this road.”

He catches my eyes and holds my gaze. “Do you think I don’t remember how broken you were when we first met? It had been, what? A year since he’d disappeared, and you were still among the walking wounded.”

“I’m not anymore,” I assure him. “If anything, I’ve grown a coat of armor.”

“I don’t think you can actually grow armor.”

“Armadillos do,” I say, officially ending the portion of our program where he worries needlessly about me. “I can handle myself,” I remind him, just to drive the point home.

“Fine. You win. Memorize this,” he adds, then rattles off a phone number. “Got it?”

“Got it,” I confirm. “Wanna tell me why I have it?”

“One of my burners. I’ll keep it on me until you’re back safely. Actually, go ahead and program that into your phone. Lucky number seven on speed dial.”

“Brax…” I never had a big brother. For that matter, I never had a real mother or a father. Just Gerald and Martha, my egg and sperm providers. So, yeah, as much as I want to tell him to back off, the truth is it’s nice to have someone who worries about me. And, yeah, I program the number into my phone.

“If you get in trouble,” he continues in a no-nonsense voice, “you contact Zane per protocol. But you text me, too. One question mark. I’ll trace your coordinates. Deal?”

“Then you have to do something for me.”

His eyes narrow, and I know he’s expecting me to tell him to back off, to chill, to just stop worrying about me because I know how to do my job.

All of that is true, of course, but there’s no need to say it. He already knows, and he’s going to worry anyway. Just like I worry about him.

So instead, I stand up and move into the living room. I lift Gimble’s cage and set it on the breakfast bar. My sweet little hamster starts to scurry, his nose twitching in anticipation of adventure. “Take care of him, okay? And tell him I’ll be back soon.”

Chapter Four

Brax offered to drive me to the airport, but since navigating LAX’s drop-off zones is the kind of favor that requires handing over one’s first-born child, I told him I’d grab an Uber. And because I’m not a stereotypical female, I know how to travel light—just a computer backpack and a small rolling suitcase. (The secret is remembering that you’re a grownup and can buy anything you forgot). Which is why I now have over an hour before my ride arrives, and I decide to use the time to do a closer review of the file.