Page 124 of Fire for Effect

“And of course, I had to call Kristin—”

That was the first time Griff flinched away.

I didn’t flinch, per se, but I did tense at the name.

His ex-wife.

The apple of his mother’s eye. He had complained for days in the team room about his mother trying to push him and his ex together again. And that was clearly still happening.

“–And she’s worried about you too.”

“Why the fuck did you call Kristin?” Griff snapped.

“Don’t yell at your mother!” she said, clutching at the double strand of pearls around her neck. “I called her because she’s your wife–”

“Ex-wife.”

“Temporarily.” She shook her head. “She’s the one that’ll get you to the finish line when you run for President. A California family, and...”

Guess she forgot I was here. Or she didn’t care. I suspected the latter.

“I’m not running for President! Mom!” He pushed her away with a pained groan, his movements slow, and tired.

His eyes came back to me, and the anger roiling behind them frightened me. So did the sudden speed of the beeps coming from his heart monitor.

“This is why you weren’t my point of contact! This is why they didn’t call you when I got checked in here! I didn’t want you here. I sure as fuck don’t want Kristin here,” he groaned, his ears turning red with a slow, simmering rage. “And you bet your ass I’ll have words with my father about this. For a family of spies – Jesus! – we can’t keep a single fucking secret!”

“I’ve put up with a lot from your father over the years,” Kamilla lifted her nose in the air. “And when you are married for as long as we have been, you will also deal with the same. The least he can do is keep me informed about my own children.”

The door opened and a concerned nurse came in, her eyes scanning the room.

“Sir, you need to calm down…”

“Kristin is the one you need by your side,” his mom said, waving her hand. “Not… not… that.”

She pointed at me with her eyes, and I recoiled. Yikes.

“Get her out of here,” Griff commanded the nurse. “Taser her if you have to. Handcuffs.”

The heart monitor was emitting a dangerous, long, high tone.

“You need to calm down, sir.” The nurse tried to approach.

“I’ll calm down when she gets the fuck out of here!”

“Sir…” The poor nurse.

“Wifey, you need to go to him,” Sierra said behind her hand, as she pointed at Griff with her eyes.

I don’t know why it was Sierra that finally pulled me from my stupor. But it worked. I ran to him, placed my arms around his neck, and tucked my face into his throat.

I should have done that first, when I saw he was awake. But I hadn’t.

Too much stimulation didn’t frighten me. But it did make me freeze until I had a handle on a situation.

But that wasn’t going to serve me now.

He smelled… chemical. Like iodine, plastic and baby powder. His arms tightened around my waist, and the high tone stopped, replaced by the rhythmic beeps.

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