Page 57 of Command and Control: GHOST Operative

I keep smiling because Vera's the only person I have to talk to, and whether she knows it or not, she's going to be my friend. "Okay. I'm going to go take a shower then."

Vincent’s housekeeper glares at me again, and I have to press my lips together as I turn away to keep from laughing. Somehow he found a smaller, older, crabbier version of himself to hire as a housekeeper, and I kind of love it.

Once I’m sequestered in Vincent's beautiful bathroom, I go to work getting ready. It's not as easy since I don't have any of my own products, but hopefully whoever packed up my essentials included the toiletries from my bathroom. If not, maybe I can convince Vincent to put a few of them on Vera's next list.

I shower and towel off, using my fingers to strategically twist my curls into something less lioness-ish before pulling on a fresh pair of Vincent’s sweatpants, socks, and a new long-sleeved, black T-shirt. I come out of the bathroom, ready to take another stab at becoming BFFs with Vera, and find her standing at the open door leading to the garage, a frown on her face. She turns my way, looking me up and down. "Your stuff is here." She turns away and marches past me into the laundry room, the exterior door there slamming as she goes outside.

She did not seem happy.

I glance out one of the many windows and find her hiking down a paved walk leading to a second structure.

Holy shit. Vera's got a whole damn house of her own back there. Go Vera.

After watching her disappear into a building that looks more than a little similar to Vincent’s house, I decide I'mready for that bra I’ve been dreaming about and hurry across the tile to the door she left open.

And I stop short.

"What the fuck?" I expected to see some of my clothes and the stuff from my bathroom. Maybe my computer if I was lucky.

But the garage is now packed with the entire contents of my condo. Labeled boxes are stacked up one side of the unused bay. The other half of that side contains every bit of furniture I possess, all of it wrapped in padding and protective clear film.

This has to be a mistake. Surely Vincent didn't mean for them to send everything here.

Right?

21

THIS ISN’T A RELATIONSHIP

VINCENT

IT'S BEEN A long fucking day of bullshit and dead ends, and I’m exhausted. Normally, I'd still be sitting in my office. Nursing a glass of whiskey, pretending everything is how I want it to be.

Today I don’t feel like pretending. Today I'm willing to admit I wanted to go the fuck home. Not because I’m more comfortable there, even though I am, but because that's where she is.

And I hate not being where she is.

Pressing the button on the garage door opener, I grip the wheel, ready to finish these last few seconds before I can get my hands on Julieanne. I need to see that she's happy. Warm. Fed. That, in spite of my inability to track down the source of the men who broke into her home, she’s still okay.

But I get my first glimpse of her sooner than I expect. She’s standing in the middle of my garage, wearing a pair of loose-fitting jeans with tears at the knees and sneakers. It's the first clue I have that her belongings arrived. Thesecond is the pile of shit taking up the spare bay. As the overhead door lifts higher, I finally get my eyes on all of her. The skin of her cheeks is flushed. Her dark hair’s pulled up, piled on top of her head in a messy wad. And a baggy college logoed sweatshirt is tucked into the front of her waistband.

She looks fucking delectable, but seeing her out of my clothes puts a frown on my face. Reminds me that she likely isn't in as deep as I am.

And I’m so far down, I’m drowning.

As her eyes lift to mine, I discover I'm not the only one frowning. Julieanne's full lips are pinched, tipped down at the edges as she watches me pull in. I'm used to people frowning at me, it's not necessarily a new thing, but not her. Glare, yes. Scowl, that too.

But frown? No. I don't fucking like it.

After parking I climb out, punching the button to close the door as I go. She's not wearing a coat, and I don't want to let in any more cold air than I have to. I gauge her expression as I round the front of my SUV, trying to figure out what’s upset her. "Your things arrived." The observation is obvious, but it's the only place I know where to start.

Julieanne nods, her gaze moving over the furniture and boxes. "Yup."

The need to get my hands on her is strong, but until I know what has her so upset, my arms will stay at my sides. "Was something broken?"

Her lips press tighter as she shakes her head. "No. Seems like everything's here." Her eyes come back my way. "Everything."

I meet her gaze, but keep my mouth shut. I’m not surewhat I was expecting when I had them send everything Julieanne owned here. I was secretly hoping she would just accept it. Realize this is the best place for her to be.

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