Page 16 of Coming Up Aces

“I would ask you to teach me, but my grandmother tried. For whatever reason, I just don’t get it.”

Ace stabbed a dumpling on his fork. “We all have our strengths and weaknesses. You’re smart, but that doesn’t mean you’re capable of everything. You’re proficient with a gun, and I’ve never used one. You can knit, but I wouldn’t have the patience to work on something long enough to make a blanket or sweater. I have no doubt there are plenty of things you’re good at, so don’t worry about your lack of skills in the kitchen.”

“Why do you think I’m smart?” she asked, scooping up a bite of tomatoes, spinach, and chicken. He noticed she ate the gnocchi separately.

“I doubt the FBI recruits uneducated agents.”

Rayna grinned. “I don’t know. I’ve met some agents who don’t seem to have their shit together.”

Ace smiled back. They dug into their meal, eating in companionable silence. Rayna washed the pot after Ace put the leftovers in the fridge. It should have been awkward, having this stranger in his home, but it wasn’t, and that scared Ace. It had been too long since he’d had someone else in his space. His last relationship, if he could call it that, had been several years ago. He had resigned himself to being single, thus the decision to start the adoption process on his own. Rayna mentioned children being precious, and he couldn’t agree more. He’d bought his house with kids in mind. It had three bedrooms besides the master and a big, fenced-in backyard with shade trees. Granted, it didn’t offer privacy for a shifter child, but he had enough money to buy some land the way Ripley had.

Instead of letting the melancholy take over, he plastered on a smile and asked Rayna if she wanted to watch TV.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked, drying her hands on a towel.

“You mentioned there were shows you wanted to binge. Any of those.”

“Are you okay with hot firefighters?” she teased.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Beauty is beauty, no matter the gender,” he admitted. Rayna opened her mouth, then closed it. “You can ask. I won’t be offended.”

“It’s none of my business, really.” She grabbed her soda can and padded into the living room, taking one end of the sofa. Ace snagged another beer before joining her. He tossed her the remote, sat on the opposite end, and a few minutes later, a show about firefighters played. Ace mostly read or streamed movies, but he was quickly drawn into the drama while admiring both the male and female actors. Rayna explained the characters and the overarching plot since she had started with a mid-seasonepisode. He wondered what she had considered asking, and he was sure it had to do with his sexuality. One of his earliest relationships ended when he admitted to being attracted to the person not the gender. The woman couldn’t imagine being with a man who could have sex with another man. Ace didn’t bother telling her he’d never had sex with anyone. No one alive knew that other than him.

After polishing off his beer, he set the bottle aside and raised the footrest. Ace linked his fingers on his stomach and closed his eyes. He’d spent the night before watching the house where Rayna was staying, plus his belly was full of gnocchi. He didn’t plan on sleeping, but his body had other ideas.

Rayna

When Asher begansnoring softly, Rayna eased off the sofa and padded down the hall to her bedroom. She opened the dresser and dug the burner from beneath her clothes, taking it into the bathroom and closing the door. Seth didn’t answer, and she didn’t want to leave a voice message in case someone intercepted his phone. A text came through almost immediately.

Seth:Can you pick up the kids from practice? I have to work late.

Va.nessa:Sure.

Seth was smart to set her ID as his wife. So that he didn’t confuse the two, he added the dot, but anyone who didn’t know would hopefully overlook it. His message was a code they’d agreed when he dropped her off at Delia’s. Since his kids didn’t play sports, it meant he couldn’t talk. She didn’t dare senda different response. Instead, she replaced the phone in the drawer and returned to the living room. Asher was where she left him, so Rayna settled in for another episode. She was sure Asher wasn’t into the show, but he didn’t seem to mind her watching it.

Instead of the screen, she studied the male a few feet away. If he were different, she would have flirted with him just to see if he was interested. Earlier, she had almost asked if he was into both males and females, but it wasn’t her business. And if he was? It didn’t matter. Rayna knew a few humans who were bisexual, and although they were looked down upon by some, Rayna felt there was nothing wrong with being drawn to both sexes. In her opinion, it would be nice to have a bigger ocean to fish from. She could appreciate when another female was attractive, but they didn’t interest her.

It mostly didn’t matter because again, he was only being nice by offering her a place to hide. He didn’t know he was her mate, and she wouldn’t tell him. She slumped down on the sofa, leaning her head against the arm, and focused on the TV. Her mind drifted to her boss and Spencer. Rayna wanted to help find the former GIA agent. He needed to be stopped for good this time. She worried about Rhiannon, and even though she’d never met the female, Rayna felt sorry for the young woman. She couldn’t imagine having a gift of healing, then being forced to use it without her knowledge. Rayna had no idea where to start. Where would an agent on the run go? For someone with his abilities, Spencer could be anywhere. He had over three months’ head start on them.

“It’s going to be okay,” Asher murmured. Rayna glanced over at the Gryphon, but his eyes were still closed.

Rayna wanted to believe him. Since she couldn’t focus on the program, Rayna turned the TV off, then stood and stretched. She headed to the back of the house and looked out the window. The backyard was spacious with a small shed in one cornerwhere Rayna assumed the lawnmower was stored since it hadn’t been in his garage. She spied lounge chairs on a covered patio, so she unlocked the door and stepped outside. Rayna dragged one of the chairs out into the sunshine and lay down. Her Cheetah begged to be let out so it could bask in the warmth, but that wasn’t possible. It was one thing she missed about her grandmother’s home where she was raised. The house had been secluded, and Rayna could shift whenever she felt like it. More than once, she asked Gran why the goddess had made them shifters who had to hide from humans. It wasn’t fair to give them some wonderful abilities only to have to keep them tamped down. At least Asher could fly in his Eagle form. Wolves were common enough they could also shift without causing too much chaos. And Gargoyles? What did they even look like? She couldn’t imagine it.

Rayna rolled her sleeves up to her shoulders to let her arms tan more evenly. She closed her eyes and attempted to let the heat ease her mind. She’d gone to Haven when the weather was just turning from cold to warmer, and she’d not been allowed to stay outside any length of time. Living in the confines of the compound had been some of the hardest days of her life. Rayna still didn’t understand why any woman would want to live under such oppression. They had no freedoms. Even the married women were supposed to be obedient to their husband. There was no partnership. No equality. Very little love that she’d seen. Glory’s sister and her husband were the one couple who had even smiled at one another. The older couples seemed miserable.

Asher had been correct that the FBI wanted to take down The Ministry and had ever since the cult brought the world to a halt almost forty years ago. They blamed it on Jonas Montague, the scientist who cloned the world’s first baby, stating he was playing God, but the man didn’t destroy cities. He didn’t killthousands of innocent people. He created life. Having lived among the cult members, Rayna couldn’t find one good thing about them. They raised young boys to be soldiers. Not so they could defend their country but to defend the compound and anyone who opposed their backward lifestyle.

Then why was her boss working with Spencer? Maybe it had nothing to do with The Ministry. Spencer had proven he could amass fortunes using his computer. Was that it? Was Hanson so greedy he would allow David back into the world where he was a threat to his daughter? Money was often a great corrupter of morals. Maybe Hanson had no morals in the first place. Rayna hated that Seth worked so closely with the man. He had Vanessa and the kids to think about. Instead of hiding, maybe she should return to the office where she would have her partner’s back.

No. Hanson had sent Rayna away for a reason. One she needed to figure out. But how was she supposed to do that from Asher’s house? A shadow fell over Rayna. She opened her eyes to find the biker standing there with a phone in his hand. Damn, he moved silently.

“It was ringing. I thought it might be important.” When Rayna took it, she realized it wasn’t the burner he’d given her but the one she’d hidden. He turned and walked back into the house on quiet feet. She sat up and unlocked the phone. There was one missed call notification and a text.

Seth:Where are you? I stopped by to visit.

Va.nessa:Staying with a friend. With Spencer’s whereabouts unknown, I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t track me down at Delia’s. When exactly was he released?

Rayna watched the dots bounce as Seth typed his response. The dots stopped, then started again.

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