Page 33 of No More Spies

Devi had hooked up with Zach a couple of weeks before. Ithad been fast and intense. She’d even shown up with him when they’d left forthe Montreal trip—something that wasn’t supposed to happen. Girlfriends andboyfriends weren’t supposed to know they were Agency, much less drop them offfor a super-secret op with a kiss and a couple of snacks. So that had told herZach had been serious.

Though Devi had a point. “She’s right about the Taggartthing. If they’d gotten super serious, Dad would have considered him morefamily than teammate.”

“That doesn’t mean he targeted Devi,” Kenzie argued.

“I’ve tried to tell her this. We’ve all tried.” DaisyO’Donnell was already prepped for the night. She was stunning and oh-sofeminine in her white corset and thong, long dark hair caressing her shoulders.She was with Brianna Dean-Miles. The three had grown up close, their agesensuring they were always thrown together. They’d formed a deep and abidingfriendship. Like hers with Lou.

“I saw them that night,” Brianna explained. “He was intoher.”

“Or he’s an excellent actor.” Devi took a deep breath andstared at herself in the mirror before pulling out her eye palate. “I was acomplete idiot around him.”

Kala shrugged. She felt for her cousin, though she didn’tunderstand the situation. She often worried she wasn’t hetero or gay oranything in between. She’d only ever wanted one man. She was Cooper-sexual, andit was a problem. “He’s attractive and nice. It’s okay to be attracted tosomeone. It wasn’t your fault, Devi.”

She wanted to say he didn’t seem like a massive asshole, butshe was trying to be sensitive to Devi’s obviously tender feelings. She wasgrowing.

Daisy looked between Kala and Kenzie before leaning over toBri, her voice a mere whisper. “This is one of those times. She said the wordnice.I kind of thought she was Kala because of all the black, but she sounds likeKenz.”

She didn’t sound like Kenz just because she was being nice.She was nice. Fuck, she was not nice. Kind. She could be kind from time totime, but nice wasn’t in her repertoire.

“Are they doing an op or something?” Bri asked. “The kindwhere one of them hides and they pretend they’re one person. Because Kalaalways gets testy when she’s the one hiding.”

It was good to know all she had to do to trick people intobelieving she was her twin was to be a little nice. “No op. We’re all sittingaround trying to figure out where the fuck Huisman and Zach are. I apparentlyget to have a shit ton of therapy and then either go to Sweden and escort afamily into hiding or hit the road looking for a nomadic auntie. All in all,not how I planned to spend the next couple of weeks. I planned to spend themwrapping Huisman in his own entrails.”

“Nope, definitely Kala,” Daisy announced. “Kenzie nevermentions entrails.”

Her twin sat back, one brow rising. “Oh, I might not mentionthem, but if I get the chance, I’d play in his. I’m not joking. I hate thatfucker and what he did to my sister.”

“We don’t have to go into it.” She didn’t want to thinkabout what happened in Canada because it forced her to think about whathappened here in Dallas all those years ago. Or up in the air. It could havehappened in the plane. It might not have happened at all. The doctor whoexamined her told her she didn’t think so, but she also didn’t have a hymen.That had been a great anatomy lesson for a fifteen-year-old. Dr. Gates hadexplained it didn’t mean she’d been raped. It could have torn from athletic pursuitsor using tampons. It didn’t matter because it played out in her head over andover again. And then when she slept, sometimes Julia showed up trying to passher crown on. “But we do have to talk about the fact that Huisman wanted Tashabecause he thought hurting her would get Zach to talk.”

He hadn’t gotten Tasha. He’d gotten Kala and Carys, andapparently he’d shot a dude in the head over the mistake. Not that Huismanhadn’t made the most of it.

Devi didn’t even stop doing her eyeliner. “I’ve alreadygotten the talk, and I have my very own bodyguard following me around when I’mnot with Dais and Nate. I’m excited about it since I’ve heard all ourbodyguards end up marrying their clients.”

Kenzie sat up, losing her I-want-to-murder-someone face andputting on her this-is-good-gossip one. “Who? Who did you get?”

“Landon Vail.” Devi’s lips curled up, but it was easy to seethe smile didn’t reach her eyes. “He’s adorable and my type. I think he’sexactly what I need to forget my troubles.”

Her cousin was deflecting. And not taking the riskseriously. “Well, you can forget the whole Zach thing but try to remember thelast person he had a thing for was the one Huisman wanted to torture instead ofme. So you could be next if he decides he wants to see if he can bring Zachin.”

“All Kala is trying to say is you need to do what Landontells you to and stay close to home when you can,” Kenzie said.

Devi sighed. “Sure. I got it. Ignore my career needs becausesome asshole wanted to get close to my family since he’s a counteragent.Thanks, spy kids.”

“Hey.” Kala could only be pushed so far. “I get it. You’resad and hurt and I look like I can take some damage. Cool. I can. You want toblame me, go for it, cousin. But he’s not a counteragent. Don’t try to simplifythis and make him the baddest of all bad guys. That man saved my life more thanonce, and honestly, if he shows up again, I’m going to beat on him a while andthen sit his ass down and figure this out. Because something is wrong. He’s nota good actor. He kind of sucks. He’s also a shitty bad guy since the last thinghe did was save Lou and Aidan and then text me that I should take care of ourteam. And I know he told Lou to tell you he was sorry. Such a bad-guy move.”

Devi turned her way, eyes narrowing. “He was in love withTasha. No one bothered to tell me. I had to overhear you guys talking about it.He loved Tasha and then she was unavailable, and so he started to look aroundfor the next best thing.”

Bri winced. “We’ve tried to talk to her about that, too.”

“I don’t think Zach was in love with Tash. He was in lovewith the idea of being part of a family.” Kenzie put a hand on the folder she’dbeen reading. “He was alone most of his life, with a mother in prison and anaunt who was barely able to hold it together. He was a lonely boy who foundhimself when he joined the military. Tash is… She’s Tash. She’s gorgeous andeasy to be around, and the daughter of the couple he wished had been his momand dad.”

“You are proving my point,” Devi replied.

“She’s fucking not.” Kala knew she wasn’t going to getthrough to her cousin. Not about Zach, but she had to make her point aboutsafety. “What she’s saying is Tasha is sweet and easy to love, and you turninto a raging bitch a lot. Don’t think I’m insulting you. It’s my favorite partof your personality. The point is you’re not Tasha, and if Zach wanted someonesweet and with connections to my father, he could have done way better thanyou. You are difficult, and everyone shrugs and says it’s because you’re anartist, but it’s because you’re Erin Taggart’s daughter and that shit ishardwired into your DNA. As you proved when you blamed me for all yourproblems.”

“I didn’t say your name,” Devi replied.

She loved her cousin, but her cousin didn’t understand herworld. Oh, she thought she did on an intellectual level. They all did. They hadno idea how bloody it could be. They did not understand she was a fucking wallbetween them and the bad shit. She finished off her last curl and put the irondown, turning to her cousin and looking her straight in the eyes. “I don’tcare. I don’t care if you hate me. You won’t be the only one. It’s surprisingbecause we’re so alike, but I get it. If there’s one thing I think I’ve figuredout, it’s that I can’t fix other people’s perceptions of me. So in essence onlyhow I feel about a person matters. I love you so I’m going to explain a bit ofthe world to you.”

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