Page 36 of Beyond the Rules

Wake up, Nina.Key word: temporary agreement.Anything else and you’redelusional.

“I don’t want to wait,” I said, pouting. “In case you’re worried, I’ve got a birth control implant and I’m totally healthy, although if you want to use condoms it’s fine because it’s the smart thingtodo.”

“We know,” he said. “You stored your medical reports in your laptop and you had full labs not two weeks ago for that life insurance policy you took out, benefitingSusieMae.”

“Oh, right.” I hated that they knew intimate details about me. I understood it, because I’d done it to people before, clients and investigation subjects alike. It was the only way to truly know who you were dealing with. But I hated it allthesame.

“Which reminds me….” He pulled out three folded papers from his pocket and, laid them out, one next to the other on the chair’swidearm.

“What’s this?” I skimmed through the official lookingdocuments.

“Health certificates,” Tanner said. “We’re a hale and hearty bunch, but we all got tested yesterday. Turnabout is fair play. We want you to know that, whatever you decide, we are completelyhealthy.”

Jesus. These guys…they’d thought ofeverything.

“Can I ask yousomething?”

“Anything.”

“Why share me?” The question had been bogging my mind. “Why not three girls forthreeguys?”

“Three girls living under the same roof while putting up with the three of us?” Tanner’s chuckles echoed in the bedroom. “What a mess. It’d never work. As if the three of us weren’t different enough as it is. So after we came home, we decided that we’d share.Everything.”

“Do you want to tell me whathappened?”

He let out a long sigh. “Much of it is classified, but I think you should know the basics, so you can make up your own mind.” He paused as if collecting his thoughts and looked out the window, his gaze lost on the mountain’s vast expanse. “We went out on a train, advise and assist mission with some Iraqi fighters. Our mission was to infiltrate an area near the border with Syria to assess ISIS’s presence and gather intelligence. We went deep into enemyterritory.”

“Aiden and Zar werewithyou?”

“Affirmative.” His eyes glazed as if he was uploading the memories of that day. “Zar was the tactical commander leading the mission. Aiden was cyber-intelligence, trying to intercept local transmissions and identify potential hives of enemy cyber-activity. I was training my local counterpart on human intelligencegatheringops.”

I was so curious about what he did. “What exactly are the qualifications to do humanintelligence?”

“I’ve got a dual degree in psychology and international studies with additional training in Navy tactical counter-intelligence.”

“Wow.” My admiration for him shot up a few notches. “You’re veryimpressive.”

“Me?” He let out a soft snort. “No way. Truth be told, my father never wanted me to join the military, but the Navy paid for my education and allowed me to become independent from my father, who wanted me ‘safe’ on Wall Street. So it was yes to the Navy and no tomydad.”

“I take it you two don’t getalong?”

“Nothing I’ll ever do will be good enough for my father,” Tanner mumbled, moving on in a brisk way that told me that discussing his father was off the table. “If you wanna see impressive, look at Zar. He’s a Naval Academy grad. Or Aiden. He’s got a degree from MIT, graduated top of hisclass.”

I’d dropped out from Berkeley City College with one semestertogo.

“So what happened while you were on your train and assist mission?” Iasked.

“We got ambushed.” he said. “Two of our trainees were infiltrators and had a different mission in mind. They gave our position away and tried to overtake us. They wanted to kidnap us, but when that didn’t work, they tried to kill us. Four of us made it out alive. Two of us werewounded.”

He hesitated. The pulse beating at the base of his throat quickened. I wanted to kiss the spot, to slow down his heartbeat. Instead I stayed very still and waited for him to resume hisstory.

“Carlos took a bullet to the shoulder.” His throat rippled with the memory. “I got shot in the back. I was in bad shape. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t feel my legs. If it hadn’t been for Aiden, Zar, and Carlos, I’d be dead. But we made a promise that we were going to watch each other’s back and between the three of them, they dragged me through ten days of hell in enemyterritory.”

“Ten days?” I suppressed a gasp. “Jesus.”

“Before those ten days, we were comrades in arms and SEALs, part of a special team, an elite brotherhood. But after the ridge, we were more. Alotmore.”

“Howso?”

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