Page 72 of Heathen

"Was it the choice of balloons or the table linens?"

Silence fills the line, but I wait her out.

"They had no idea the difference between teal and turquoise," she says eventually. "How can you possibly run a respectable party-planning business when you don't know the difference?"

I pull in a deep breath, smiling at her annoyance. I think the woman would be happier creating her own party-planning business, but somehow, she still gets dressed each weekday and heads to an office where she works as a financial adviser.

"Okay," I say. "Tell me what they had planned and then how you've changed it."

"You know that little nook off to the left of my foyer?" she begins. I let myself get distracted by her voice, because it's always easier to ignore your own situation and focus on someone else's.

Chapter 29

Heathen

I felt like I was losing her with every step I took down the stairs.

I know how insane that makes me.

I don't own her.

As much as I can growl at my teammates the way I did this morning with Rooster and claim her as my wife, a simple piece of paper doesn't give me ownership.

Even if we were head over heels in love with each other, I can't force her to stay. That makes me no better than Dima and Edmon. I'll never put myself in the position to be compared to men like that, no matter how much the muscle in my chest aches at the thought of her leaving.

I'm the last one in the conference room, but no one calls me on it. They all knew I had to tell Kaylee what happened today.

Bandera even looks a little sad that I had to do that when I glance in his direction. It's very possible he's trying to act all fatherly in his effort to get the PRESIDENT patch on his cut.

I pull out a rolling chair and flop my ass into it, looking to the front of the room rather than making eye contact with anyone else who might have an opinion about the situation.

"You all did very well today," Kincaid says, his face on the massive television screen at the head of the room.

I want to argue that today was an epic fucking failure, but no one was hurt and the bad guys were currently behind bars.

"ICE was able to use the information we had to do a wellness-check on the house where the other women were being held. It's been cleared," Kincaid continues.

Kaylee is probably going to be even more pissed to know that those women will also be held until their citizenship can be proven or disproven.

"They were able to find some paperwork hidden in one of the lockers. They have no idea which woman it belongs to because, as you know, no one is talking to authorities."

"What did they find?"Bandera asks.

"Paperwork that proves more of DimaTkachenko's criminal activities. If Kaylee Rhodes was there a little longer, I'd think it was hers. Whoever it belongs to, they were definitely investigating the organization."

I look toward Rooster and narrow my eyes at him when he cocks an eyebrow in my direction, but there's no way I'll challenge Kincaid on using Kaylee's wrong current last name.

"Burke," Rooster says, his eyes on me, and I want to strangle the fucking guy.

"Yes, sorry, Heathen. KayleeBurke," Kincaid corrects. "We're wondering if one of the women isn't actually a UC for another organization, but so far no one has reached out."

I make a mental note to ask Kaylee if she noticed anything unusual about the women she encountered during her short connection to the organization.

"The discovered paperwork did disclose enough to do a raid onTkachenko's house, and that's where ICE is right now," Kincaid continues. "Heathen, I think you should know that they found documentation on Kaylee's friend Morgan Spence. Her address, some cell phone records, etc. So keep a close eye on that."

"Do you think Kaylee is still in danger?" I ask, needing to know what I'm facing.

"I think there's more danger to the women who would know a lot more than what Kaylee could've discovered in the eighteen or so hours that she was withTkachenko'sorganization. I'm confident that she's as safe as any other woman in a world full of deviants could be," Kincaid says. Part of me is grateful and the other part knows that her relative safety means she can leave at any time.

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