Page 15 of The ARC Unit: Breach

I accepted the fork he offered and sat down. “You always feed people without asking?”

“Only the ones who look like they forgot food exists.”

I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until the first bite. Raven finished whatever careful ritual he’d been performing and poured coffee into a mug, then pushed it across the table toward me. I took a sip and immediately understood why he had been willing to insult an entire country over it.

Unfortunately, it was excellent.

“Damn it.”

Raven smiled as he sat beside me. “You can say it.”

“I’m not giving you that.”

“You don’t need to. Your face already did.”

Jackal pointed toward him with the cereal box. “Do not compliment the coffee. He becomes unbearable for the rest of the day.”

“I’m sitting directly beside you,” Raven said.

“Exactly. I know what I’m talking about.”

Raven took a drink from his own mug. “Chai is better anyway, but I’m not attempting that before seven.”

“Finally,” Jackal said. “A flaw.”

Breakfast told me more about the unit than the personnel files had. Bear cooked because nobody trusted Jackal near the hot plate after what everyone kept calling the Budapest incident, which Jackal insisted had been caused by defective cookware rather than anything he had done personally. Raven had claimed one cabinet for coffee and tea and labeled it with his name, only to discover that men trained in intelligence and special operations considered labels an invitation rather than a deterrent.

Hawk came through halfway through my eggs with an apple already in his hand. He stopped at the end of the table when Jackal immediately looked between him and the operations floor.

“Where’s the other one?” Jackal asked.

Hawk took a bite of the apple. “Other what?”

“You know exactly what.”

Viper appeared from around the corner at almost the same moment, carrying the yogurt he had apparently defended so fiercely the day before. Jackal pointed at him with the cereal box as if the timing proved something.

“There. See? They travel in pairs.”

Viper looked at Hawk, then at Jackal. “We came from different rooms.”

“That’s what you want us to think.”

Hawk leaned one hip against the counter. “You’ve known us for a long time now.”

“And I’ve remained vigilant the entire time.”

I laughed and looked between the brothers. “Do you ever get tired of him doing this?”

“Yes,” Viper said.

Hawk took another bite of the apple. “He doesn’t care.”

Jackal looked pleased with himself. “Correct.”

I glanced around the table. “Does everyone here have siblings, or is it just the two of you?”

Jackal’s expression changed first. It was small enough that I might have missed it if I hadn’t been looking directly at him. The cereal box lowered a few inches before he answered.