Page 28 of Provoke You

Tyler sniggered, spitting some coffee back into his cup. “I like her.”

“Just coffee is fine.”

Ela sat back down and crossed her legs. Her gaze shifted between Tyler and me standing behind him. Her usual social media persona was on full blast now. What did she want now?

“What do you do, Tyler?” She raised an eyebrow and turned her attention to me. “I mean, am I allowed to ask? You seem like the kind of guy who would work on some type of special force mission. Super top secret.”

Either she was eavesdropping before or she was extremely perceptive. “We’re dropping him off, and that’s it.”

“I’m afraid that’s true. I’m only here to get Matt to come see the family in two weeks.”

Her smile snuffed out like a candle in the dark. “I’ll be in Paris by then. You’ll be free to go. I intend to keep my word and stay there.” She stared down, suddenly unhappy with her coffee. When she glanced up, she focused on Tyler. “If you were looking for someone, how would you go about finding said person.”

He turned around in his chair to raise his eyebrows at me before he switched his attention to Ela. “I’m not a marine.”

“You seem like someone with access.”

“Ela.” I came to stand next to her.

She stood and rounded on me. “No. Don’t Ela me. I’ve been thinking about our little deal. There are way too many loopholes. How do I know that once we get to Utica, you’re not just going to sit on your thumbs until my three days are up?”

“Fuck me. Another deal? Seriously? Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you promised to help a woman?” Tyler dropped his head on the heel of his hand. I didn’t think it possible, but he looked more tired than he did when he first boarded the plane.

Ela wasted no time. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t care which brother helped her. I had to admit, that stung a bit. “He promised to find someone for me. And in return, I get out of his employer’s way. How do you find a person?”

“You’d be surprised how useful Google can be.” Tyler met my gaze. He was pissed because in his eyes, this looked so much like the Venezuela mission.

“This is completely different.” I glared at Tyler.

“Yeah. I’m sure.” He sat back in his chair.

“Well?” Ela gave up all pretense of being the fun, loving rich girl. “How do I find my missing person?”

“So he does this for you, and in two weeks, I don’t have to come back here and drag his ass home?”

“Exactly.”

“Let’s think about it. Matt came to New Orleans for something he wanted. If you were him, with his level of training, and his ungodly instinct for logistics, would you already know everything you need to know?”

“Mother fucker.” Ela squeezed her hand into a fist and hit me square in the chest. “You already know where Old Ben is, and you’re what? Trying to decide if I’m worthy of your help?”

“Thank you for that, brother,” I said with gritted teeth.

“No bother at all. Happy to help. I’ll leave you two to it.” As if he hadn’t just made my life a hundred times worse, Tyler got up and joined Chase and Kitt in the cockpit. A second later, the intercom in the plane came on. “Thank you for flying Cole Air today. I’m your pilot Tyler Cole. Folks, looks like we have a bit of rough air ahead of us. Buckle your seatbelts and stay seated for the remainder of the flight.” Static and laughter crackled through the overhead speaker before the cabin went quiet.

I stepped toward the cockpit, but Ela blocked me. “You do know, then?”

“It’s too dangerous for you to go looking for him.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

“No. You see? That’s my job. I’m the one who’s supposed to be the judge of what’s safe or isn’t safe for you.”

“Is he even in Utica?” She crossed her arms over her chest. I wanted to hold her and tell I was on her side.

“He is.”

“And you know his exact location.”

I let out a breath and nodded. When it came to Ela, it seemed I was incapable of saying no. “I know his location as of two weeks ago when I ran background checks on everyone associated with the family. That’s the best we’ve got.”

“You did all that work to impress Dad?”

“I don’t do half ass.”

She took a seat by the window and kept her gaze on the runway as we took off.

I liked it better when she took stabs at me instead. She was planning to ignore me the rest of the way. I had Tyler to thank for that. Dammit, how was I supposed to keep her safe once we got to New York? I had to listen to my gut on this one. Something was waiting for us in Utica. I knew it.

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