Page 22 of Three of a Kind

She’s Bless’s second in command.

She also knocked me on my ass in Virginia when Gunner and I walked up on her and Bless changing a tire, but that’s an entirely different story.

“Where’s Bless?” Gunner growls, leaning his elbows on the table.

“She had something else she had to take care of.” Stacia waves her hand. “Let Avery take a seat, or you’ll make a scene.”

Gunner’s lip curls, but he scoots to the inside of the booth.

We always need to be in a position to move—it’s ingrained as part of our training. They also taught us all about sitting with your front facing the exit; that way, no one can sneak up on you.

Gunner is stubborn.

Over the years, I’ve learned to just let him take the seat that has the best view of the room and, subsequently, the exit.

It bothers me less than it would him, so I’ve adapted.

“Why are we here?” Gunner asks, stretching back into the corner of the booth.

“You’re here to take over watching one of our contacts.” Stacia nods toward the stage. “Well, her sister. The woman in the white skirt is Lennox. She needs to be monitored and protected. She’s stubborn. I would recommend no close contact, but you’re professionals. I’ll leave that determination up to you.”

“Professionals.” Avery snorts, swiping her long blonde hair behind her ear. “Just don’t fall into the same mistakes you made in Virginia.”

I laugh to cut Gunner off from saying something dickish. “We caught on to that lesson.”

“Good,” Stacia says. “Something major is going down with the Barretts—outside of the unfortunate disappearance of Braxton.” I frown. We all know Braxton is dead, but I guess she could be worried about someone listening in. “We’ve heard chatter that another family is going to make a play to wipe them off the map.”

“What?” Gunner leans forward, resting his elbows on the table once more. “Who?”

“Mikhail Ivanov used to run New York. He lost control to the Barretts early last year.” Stacia shrugs. “Rumors are that he’s asked the higher-ups in Russia for a whole new crop of soldiers.”

“Damn,” I mutter, swiping my hand through my hair. “That means things could get ugly fast.”

Gun scoffs. “No shit.”

“It will, but we also have no idea when they intend to make that play,” Stacia says calmly. “Ideally, we would get both women out at once, but Avan has sporadic contact with his kid. If the little girl and mom suddenly disappear, it will be all-out war as he tries to get them back.”

“You’re hoping the assault by Ivanov will take up all their focus while the ex and kid disappear,” I say, following her train of thought.

“We’re hoping the Barretts assume Ivanov is responsible. Then, Avan would spend his time looking in all the wrong places. It would also prevent them from ending up as collateral damage in the clusterfuck that’s coming.” Stacia sighs, snagging my half-empty beer. She takes a long drink and drops the bottle on the table. “Lennox is the holdout. She doesn’t want to leave her fuck buddy, and she’s making shitty choices, like every other woman in the world at twenty years old.”

“Do you have an info packet?” Gunner huffs like an old man.

“Do you feel old right now?” I ask, kicking his boot under the table. “Twenty? God, I feel old.”

“That’s because you are.” Stacia chuckles, moving to climb from the booth. “It would be weird to walk in with a file folder, but you’ve got eyes on your target. Don’t lose her, and you’ll be golden. We’ll text you the info for the other team. You’re doing twelve and twelve shifts.”

“I hate this job already,” Gunner mutters, swiping his hand through his dark hair.

Chapter Eight

Brooklyn

It’s been a few days since I saw Noble in the bookstore, but tonight is the night for our…hang-out session?

Date?

God, I don’t even know what it is.

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