Page 34 of Shattered

Sliding an arm around her waist, she placed her hands on my biceps for balance as I lifted her off her feet to meet my mouth. I coaxed her lips apart with the tip of my tongue, slipping it inside to tangle with hers. She tasted sweet, like her French vanilla creamer and pancake syrup, a heady combination.

All too soon, we broke apart.

“Damn,” she gulped. “I should’ve shared my coffee with you sooner.”

Barking out a laugh, I kissed her again.

The atmosphere in the office was frigid as I waltzed through the doors. Possibly due to the two agents facing off in the center of the room.

“Go over it again.”

“What crawled up your ass this morning, Noah?”

“Again, Lanie,” he barked.

With hands on her hips and a helluva lot of sass infused in her response, she obliged.

“I’ll be at the bar, sipping a delicious chardonnay at six-fifty so when Brandon gets there ten minutes later, I’ll be in the perfect position to literally bump into him on my way to the bathroom.”

“Then what?”

“Are you fucking serious right now?” she fumed.

From my vantage point, not a soul was willing to intervenein the shitshow playing out before us, which honestly had been a long time in the making. Keaton and Duncan appeared more amused than concerned as they watched from less than ten feet away, leaning against the far wall with their legs crossed in front of them. Nelson—God love him—was attempting to distract the two DEA agents by pointing out something on his computer screen. Unfortunately, their newest acquisition was seconds away from coming apart at the seams.

“Deadly,” he growled.

“No one can predict the way the night will go. Not even an all-knowing control freak like you.”

Unable to stand by any longer, I stepped between them. “That’s enough.”

Noah turned a pleading eye to me. “She needs to know this plan backward and forward, Koen.”

“Sheis standing right here, ass. Andsheknows how to do her fucking job.”

“I’m not willing to watch you go into a dangerous situation until I’m positive we didn’t miss something.”

Tension coiled tighter, to the point I waited for an explosion, or at the very least, I figured Lanie would take a swing. Neither happened. Instead, she lowered her voice to just above a whisper.

“This isn’t about you, Noah.”

If I hadn’t been standing right there, I would’ve missed it. He flinched. Then, without another word, he left.

Waverly strolled out of her office, having missed the action, and joined our group. “Lanie. It’s time to get wired up.”

“Stubborn dick.” She shook her head before following our RAC.

“Those two need to fuck it out,” Keaton said, coming to my side. “Speaking of…how’s married life?”

Game time.

Noah was right about one thing. Our tactic for Lanie “accidentally” running into Brandon Little could go sideways fast. Guys like him didn’t trust newcomers easily, which was why the DEA came up with the idea of using the old friend approach. Unlike most undercover operations, the objective wasn’t to infiltrate his business. Chances were high that he still had ties in Colorado and would be able to see straight through any bullshit cover story we created for Lanie. Instead, the hope was she’d get close enough—as friends only—to potentially see or overhear important information, which would further their case. It was a crapshoot, a shot in the dark, but it was too late to switch directions.

All eyes and ears would be covering her ass for the initial meeting. After that, the drug guys and their team would take point, with Noah and Waverly combining as Lanie’s personal backup.

Noah was a profiler. His brain worked in ways none of us stood a chance of comprehending. He was impeccable at analyzing criminal behavior, which made him essential to this case. Waverly, who typically didn’t get involved in this side of an investigation, had insisted on partnering with him. My best guess? Our RAC wasn’t blind to the obvious attraction blistering between her two agents. She’d positioned herself—smartly—right in the mix in order to keep a finger on his pulse.

Jade was working ’til four and I’d already warnedher not to wait up, but after the events of the weekend, the need to check on her rode me hard.

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