Page 5 of Sweet Little Spies

“Okay. I’ll talk to her. But we can make this work if you’llcome home every now and then. I assure you simply spending time with her willsettle a lot of her concerns.” Aidan sounded so reasonable. “And there’s zeroreason for the wedding not to go through. You don’t have to do a thing. Carysand the moms are handling it all. You show up, say I do, we go on a hornyhoneymoon, and then we settle down. If she’s got a ring on her finger andbelieves we have a future together, she’ll be more patient.”

There were a couple of problems with Aidan’s scenario. “Ihave to step back from you both. I don’t want to, but there’s a reason I’vestayed away.” He shouldn’t be doing this, but he couldn’t lose them, and hecouldn’t leave them completely in the dark. Besides, if his boss found out,well, his boss was his Uncle Ian, and he would likely kick his ass. “I’m goingto tell you something not even my team knows. I didn’t join the Agency becausethe twins talked me into it. I joined because it’s the only way I can do what Ineed to do. I’m going to be working for several teams beyond the one the twinsand Coop are on. The arms dealer was killed three weeks ago.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Aidan asked.

“I took over his operation. He worked in the shadows, and soI have to be there, too. It’s the only way to find the person I need to find.The bombmaker. I find the bombmaker, I shut down his operation, and then I cancome home. Until then I worry anyone close to me could be in the line of fireif it ever gets out that I’m The Jester.” Bile rose in his throat. “Fuck. NowI’ve brought you into it, and I am a fucking coward. Aidan, I should never…”

What the hell was he doing? Carys had walked out and…

Aidan leaned toward him. “Hey, I’m sorry. You’re not acoward. I didn’t understand.”

“I shouldn’t…”

“Yeah, you should,” Aidan said. “I don’t know how the teamworks, but I can guess who else is working on it. Lou left her assistantprofessor job to play around in a think tank? Nah. She’s working tech. I’vealso heard Ian and Charlotte and Tash have been mysteriously out of the officeat the same time Coop is out of pocket. So if my brain functions the way itshould, I can put it together, and you’re the one on the outside. Kala hasCooper and Lou. Kenzie has Tash and her mom. You deserve someone to talk to. Iassure you I won’t say anything. Neither will Carys.”

Guilt threatened to swamp Tristan. “I can’t drag you intothis.”

“You don’t have to.” Aidan reached out and gripped his hand.

It was a familiar gesture and one he’d always counted on.All of his life Aidan had been there. Carys had been there.

He had to do this job. For them.

* * * *

Aidan walked into the bar at Top, a familiar sensationbuzzing through him. He’d worked summers and weekends here, washing dishes andlater as a server. Always, always watching the boss’s daughter. Hell, he couldremember running around the backrooms when he was a kid and begging the pastrychef for a taste of whatever he was making. There was so much of his childhoodhere. So many memories.

How could Tristan give all this up? Even for a little while.It wasn’t something he understood, but if he was going to save the mostimportant relationship of his life, he had to go with it.

“Hey, Aidan,” a familiar voice said. “She’s in the bar. Doyou know why she’s drinking straight gin martinis on a night when she should becelebrating Tristan’s homecoming?”

Sean Taggart. Carys’s father was the chef and owner of Top,but there was still an air of military authority hanging around the man decadesafter he left the service. He stood just outside the bar entrance, wearingslacks and a button-down that let Aidan know he wasn’t in the kitchen thisevening. The other thing he wore? A tight expression, a sure sign he wasworried.

“Tristan needs some time.” He didn’t want to give his bestfriend up.

“Tristan is playing dangerous games,” Sean said quietly.“Tell me he’s not bringing you into them.”

Well, at least he’d been right about one thing. He’d knowndamn well there was zero chance Ian Taggart hadn’t talked to his brother aboutthe CIA team he was now leading. “You could have mentioned it to me.”

“I’m telling you now. I hoped he would come home and youcould talk some sense into him,” Sean said. “But then I saw the look on mydaughter’s face and realized what had happened. Did he break up with y’all?”

The fact he’d said “y’all” and not “her” showed how farthey’d come. For many years, Sean had lived in what Aidan’s da liked to callDelusion. According to Da, it was a nice place where one didn’t have to thinkabout one’s children having sexual needs who might make a couple of mistakesalong the way. Sean had been forced out of Delusion when they’d gotten engagedright here on the patio at Top. To his credit, he’d taken a long swig of Scotchand then welcomed both Aidan and Tristan into the family.

“No. He asked for more time,” Aidan replied.

“Didn’t he already ask for more time and you gave it tohim?” Sean asked.

“It’s complicated.” He wanted to talk about it. Sean wouldunderstand. Sean might be able to advise him.

But he’d promised Tristan.

“It always is. So what have you decided?” Sean studied himfor a moment. “I ask because I know you’re about to walk in there and convinceCarys to do what you think she should do.”

“Sir, is there something you would like to talk about?” Ithad been a rough night, but it looked like it was going to get rougher. He nowknew way too much about a former arms dealer known as The Jester and far, farmore than he ever wanted to know about the dark threats of the seeminglypeaceful world around him. A threat that could kill everything he loved if Triswas right. And now he had to deal with his future father-in-law, who seemed tohave taken exception. “Because I don’t make Carys do anything. No one can. Shemakes her own decisions.”

“Ah, but she makes them with the two of you in mind always,”Sean argued. “And now I worry one of you is no longer thinking with her bestinterests at heart.”

“Do you mean me or Tris?”

---