Page 48 of Death Wish

“Good.” She pressed her face to Jesse’s neck. “I was worried.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Did you get the information you wanted?”

“Most of it. We’ll talk on the way to work, all right?”

“Okay.”

Jesse laid Simone on the bed and draped a quilt over her. “Sleep well, Simone.”

“Night, Jesse.”

He watched her a moment to be sure she was asleep, then left her bedroom, leaving the door ajar in case she needed him during the night.

Jesse rolled his eyes. He was such a sap and in way over his head with the spunky computer hacker. The members of Artemis might be correct in assuming he would mess up and lose Simone. If he wanted to avoid that outcome, he’d have to work hard to convince his woman that he was worth the risk, no matter how many weeks of separation she’d have to endure while he deployed.

He went to his room and got ready for bed himself. Minutes later, he slid under the covers and drifted into a light sleep. At least he didn’t have to worry about Trevor White blowing their covers. He would deal with his obsession with Simone after this mission was over.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SIMONE WOKE AN hour before her alarm would have gone off and sat up. Great. This was becoming a bad habit and not the way she planned to start the day. She sighed and threw off the quilt Jesse had used to cover her early this morning.

She grabbed a change of clothes and padded to the bathroom. Emerging clean and clothed thirty minutes later, she tugged on her running shoes and stood. Time to prepare breakfast and find out what happened with Trevor.

She shivered imaging all the horrible things Trevor said about her. He’d always been vocal in his opinions, especially of her. All bad, of course. Everything wrong was her fault. She’d stayed with him too long. Trevor was a bully and enjoyed belittling people, particularly women. But she’d escaped his clutches. Better late than never.

Turning on the light, Simone walked to the pantry and refrigerator to check their stock of ingredients. After careful consideration, she went with French toast, always a winner in her book.

She prepared the egg mixture, soaked pieces bread and tossed two slices on the large skillet.

“Something smells good.” Jesse walked into the kitchen. “What are you fixing?”

“French toast.”

“One of my favorite breakfast foods. How can I help?”

“Make coffee and let Iona and Tegan know breakfast is almost ready.”

He sent a text and headed for the coffeepot. “How did you sleep?”

“Okay, I guess.”

Jesse looked at her.

“It was rough, okay?”

“Something bothering you?”

“You mean besides the fact that we’re hunting a traitor to the country, someone who is ruthless enough to sell anything and everything to get ahead, no matter what it costs?”

His lips curved. “Yeah, besides that.”

“I’ve been thinking about the program and how invasive it is. Zane had asked me to save a copy for him to study before I destroyed the original. I’m thinking the only way to get rid of this virus is to wipe out all traces of it.”

“So no copy for Z? I don’t know how wise it is to tick off your current division head.”

She laid two pieces of French toast on a serving platter, then soaked two more pieces of bread in the egg mixture. “You’re probably right but I don’t think it’s wise.” She tossed him a glance. “This virus is too dangerous to keep around.”

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