Page 45 of Sweet Little Spies

It was annoying. And yet hadn’t there been times when he’dseriously thought about ending things so they never had to know everything he’ddone? He had blood on his hands, and they saved lives. “This is precisely why Ikept talking to Aidan. I never meant to leave them forever. I’m involved insomething dangerous.”

“I’m always involved in something dangerous. I can walk downthe street and somehow I end up breaking up a criminal ring,” Daisy said with asmile. “See, this is why I thought I should consider law enforcement as aprofession. But then I don’t look great in those costumes they wear. It’s why Ididn’t go into the military. Army green is not my color. Now if they’d optedfor emerald…”

The thought of Daisy with a military-grade weapon wasdisconcerting. “I think it’s better you’re going back to school.”

From what he’d been told his sister’s best friend was goingto get her master’s in psychology, with an emphasis in childhood development.She’d spent a couple of years trying to find a job that fit her uniquepersonality. And one that didn’t blow up, get raided, or went under shortlyafter she was hired.

Her brief stay at McKay-Taggart had begun with a streetchase and ended with her distracting a couple of kidnappers. At least thebuilding was still standing. He wished Nate Carter all the luck in the world.He was going to need it.

“Me, too. It’s going to be fun. But my point is couplesdon’t break up because things get dangerous. Or rather the good ones don’t.I’ve had many a dude break up with me because he couldn’t handle the heat. Orthe explosions. But Nate is totally solid. I mean he pretty much told me I washis right after a cartel trying to kill me shot him instead. It was how I knewhe was the one.” She had a dreamy look on her face.

“I’m happy for you.” Had someone moved the chair? He wasalmost certain it had been sitting in front of the closet since the bed pulledout across the space where it would sit at the desk.

Daisy must have moved it. But then wouldn’t the sound havewoken him?

He’d been dreaming about someone stalking him. That’s whatit must be. His brain had been stuck on someone following him and him leadingthe bad guys right back to Aidan and Carys, and now he couldn’t stop thinkingabout it.

It was the only explanation he had for the instinct tuggingat the back of his head. The one that told him something was wrong.

Daisy nodded. “Me, too. And I want the same for my brother.So you’re going to fix this, Tris. You’re going to do whatever it takes to makethis up to my brother and Carys and get back to normal.”

He wasn’t sure what normal was anymore, but finding it againwas definitely a goal of his. “Yes, it’s why I’m here.”

Daisy’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “I thought you were hereso you could sneak into their marital bed.”

Well, that sounded bad. “I came to make sure they weresafe.”

“So you weren’t going to show up on their wedding night?”

“No.” It was mostly the truth. He’d kind of thought maybe hecould talk to them after they were married and had proven to the world theywere done with Tristan Dean-Miles and he was done with them. He’d only takenout the room at the Ritz because it was conveniently located near the airport.If they happened to want to sneak him in… Fuck. “Yeah. Okay, yes, I trickedmyself into thinking I was only doing it to protect them, but I probably wouldhave tried to talk to them. I tried to talk to Aidan before the ceremony.”

“And he told you to fuck off.”

Not exactly, but close. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does because you should learn from your mistakes,” Daisyinformed him primly. “It feels like you’re making another one. Da gave us adebrief on what’s happening, and you are screwing all this up again.”

It was good to know Uncle Li was serious about sharingclassified intel. It was precisely why he didn’t think any of the parentsshould be involved.

His parents. They’d sent text after text and called him atleast twenty times. He was going to have to deal with them. Brianna would havetold them he was here. It would shock him if one or all of them didn’t show upat some point to try to talk to him.

The idea of talking to his parents made his gut churn. Whatthe fuck would he tell them? His dads were heroes. His mom was beloved in herprofession. How did he tell them he’d made a mess?

How fast could he get to The Hideout? They might not lookfor him there.

“Tris, are you even listening to me?”

Tris shoved the covers off. He wore a T-shirt and pajamapants, thank the universe since apparently he didn’t get any privacy. “I am,Daisy. I promise I’m thinking about Aidan and Carys. I’m going to do right bythem.”

“I don’t think our versions ofright byare goingto line up,” Daisy mused and then sighed. “Oh, well. I was going to blackmailyou into doing the right thing, but I suppose I’ll simply do the right thing bymy friend.” She eased off the mattress, straightening her shirt. “It’s been areal predicament for me. Do I use what I know to help my brother or fess up tohelp my friend? Thanks for helping me figure it out.”

Tristan put his weapon into its lockbox in case Daisydecided to go commando on him. “That sounds like a threat.”

Her dark hair shook. “No, not a threat at all. The opposite.I was going to blackmail you, but I can see it probably won’t work. Nate saidyou were too thick. I don’t think he was saying anything about your bodythough. He wouldn’t body shame anyone. He speaks Australian. I thinkthickmeans you’re not very smart.”

Sure, because that was better. “Awesome. Tell Nate hi forme.”

She smiled brightly. “Okay. I will. Good luck.”

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