Page 198 of Assassin

That was one more piece that she knew was leading to a picture they were trying to put together.

Callen saw it.

Chris saw it.

Now, they had to wait for Ethan to see it.

When her phone rang, buying him time to answer that question, Ethan grabbed it and handed it to her. While she was on the phone, he would straighten up.

“Thanks,” she said.

He just smiled, and tried to put space between them. That was very telling.

“Hey, CJ,” she said, seeing the number.

“How’s the trip?” he asked. “I’m trying not to be jealous you took Ethan.”

She laughed.

“I needed to get him alone,” she admitted, keeping her voice low. She heard the TV go on in the seating area of the jet, and knew he was watching the news.

He had a trip with Gabe coming up.

“Why do you sound worried?” he asked.

Elizabeth began putting on her clothes that Ethan put on the bed.

Oh, there were so many reasons.

“First, I’m going to have to take out the trash, CJ, and I don’t know if it’s going to damage us.”

He knew who she meant.

“Tommy?”

She nodded.

“Secondly…”

Elizabeth hesitated.

“Angel, you can talk to me. Chris is entertaining Gene with the kids in the pool, and I’m alone.”

She needed to talk to someone, and normally, Ethan was that someone.

Well, not now.

“Ethan is madly in love with Gene still,” she admitted. “We just had sex, and it was off. He’s distracted.”

Callen understood.

“This morning was an aberration,” he stated. “He woke up wild, and he wasn’t taking no for an answer. That’s not normally his style. He’s running from something.”

“I know. On top of that, I can see it when he stares at Gene. I don’t know what he’s going to do yet. It’s the variable, and I hate missing pieces.”

He was aware.

“Angel, I love my brother, but if he cheats on any of us…”

---