Page 10 of The Entire Team

“Family.” He leaned forward to start when she followed with, “Is your wife gonna get jealous you’re here.”

He sat back. “What did you say? I’m not married. Who told you that? I’ll kill ‘em.”

“You’re gonna kill a lot of people. Do you have an anger problem we should discuss?” She set a macaroon down in front of him.

He covered her hand, his fingers long enough to reach her wrist; grabbing the macaroon in the other hand he tossed it in his mouth quickly. “If you like these, I promise to leave the cook alive.” He winked at her.

Jeezuz.She blinked slowly to regather. This could not happen. She could not handle falling for him and have him walk away during all this shit too.

“Now eat,” he directed. “I have an older brother and sister and a younger sister and brother. My mom is a teacher, and my dad is a plumber. Boring and normal.”

“What about kids? in-laws?” She paused with a full spoon.

“I see what you’re doing,” he grinned at her. “My older siblings are married. I have some nieces and nephews spread across them.” Gauging how much time he needed to kill for Sylvie to finish her food he continued. “My older sister is a stay-at-home mom; her husband is a lawyer. My older brother and his husband are both teachers. My younger sister is a flight attendant, has probably been to more places than I have. And my younger brother is still in school, pretty sure his major changes every week. I don’t know maybe they don’t even need those anymore.”

Two Security guards approached the table. “Excuse me, Ma’am?” The one closest to the table interrupted. Sylvie craned her neck to look at him. Sylvie and Rave both looked from the partner to the guard who spoke.

“How can we help you?” Rave answered, making direct eye contact and stilling with no expression.

“Sir, I was asking her,” he motioned to Sylvie. “Ma’am, is everything ok?” He turned his gaze on her.

“Sure. I was just getting out of my room?—”

Rave took in the dining room, finally reading it, turned back to Sylvie. “Babe, someone thinks I beat you.”

“Is that what this is about?” She looked from Rave back up to the guard. Rave felt goose bumps under his fingers and watched them spread across her arm. “Where were you a week ago?” she rhetorically asked.

“I’m gonna ask that you come with me, ma’am. Sir, I need you to stay here.” Rave’s hand flattened Sylvie’s under his, a power play the guard didn’t miss. “Sir?—”

“No, please, he didn’t do this. Both of you wouldn’t be able to stop him, even if he did,” Sylvie pleaded with the guard. “The truth is he was out on mission when…this happened. Which is why he’s so over the top right now.” The guard looked skeptical, but Sylvie hoped she’d dropped enough military lingo for him to understand who was sitting across from her.

The guard had not totally backed down, the whole room was focused on them and seeing Sylvie trying to hold everything in check; Rave knew he had to get them out of there. “We were just getting ready to leave. How about we follow you out,” he directed at the guard, “and we can talk somewhere else?” The guard barely nodded, also recognizing Sylvie was at the end of her rope, which regardless of how she blew would cause an even bigger scene. Rave slowly stood, motioned he needed the guard to back up so he could get to Sylvie. He helped her out of her chair, grabbed the tray from behind her as she started past the guards toward the exit. Sylvie didn’t wait for Rave to drop the tray; she went straight out the door and the first guard followed her.

Sylvie stopped facing the wall. “Ma’am, are you sure you’re ok with him?”

Sylvie turned toward the elevators they had come down, giving the guard a profile view of her left side. She turned her face to look him in the eye after a few beats, “I’d be dead if he’d done this to me. I’m safe with him.”

The guard nodded as Rave came out of the door, the second guard on his heels. Sylvie looked like she was suffering from hypothermia. The guard stepped out of his way as he went to her. “I’m sorry?—”

“You were just doing your job. She could’ve used the same attention to detail a couple weeks ago. I hope the rest of your shift is quiet.” Meaning to start toward the elevators, Rave put his hand around her ribs, her arm touching his as he tried to pull her into him. “Jeezuz, woman! You’re freezing!” He couldn’t tell if she nodded or just stared at him. He grabbed her up and headed down the hall. All he could think was her bed would have blankets. She whimpered and shifted in his grip trying to decrease the rib pain.

12

RAVE

He walked in and saw a push-out chair had been moved in. He sat her down on the side of the bed. Pulled the chair apart, kicked off his shoes off. Motioned for her to follow him to the reclining position he had on the chair. She came toward him, and he yanked the blankets off the bed behind her. He settled into the chair with her in his arms, tucking the blanket around her. Eventually he felt her stop shivering and relax. He texted his team to bring some dinner and clothes for Sylvie, so she’d be warmer.

Two hours later she jerked out of a dream, waking Rave underneath her. When she got oriented, she was surprised she had rolled onto her cracked ribs in her sleep, but not wanting to leave the warmth she settled back into him. Rave started shifting, “go to the bathroom and then come back in here,” he ordered, lifting the blankets. “We got time.”

Sylvie slowly followed his direction; she did have to pee. As she stepped out of the bathroom, shadowed by the light in the hallway, she stopped. He was watching her. “What?”

“Probably should get some ice on your eye.”

“Stop bossing me around,” Sylvie retorted. She stepped forward, took the edge of the blankets and started pulling them off Rave, heading toward the bed.

“The hell you say,” Rave answered as he reached up and pulled her toward him.

“Just cause that was the first sleep I had without drugs and you are so warm and smell so good.” Rave smiled a cocky grin at her. “Doesn’t mean you get to boss me around. I’ll sleep on this stupid bed and you can leave.”

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