Page 13 of Garrison's Creed

“You didn’t give us a chance. I’m your brother, for fuck’s sake. You should’ve talked to me.”

“I didn’t have time. The FBI gave me thirty seconds to decide. They showed me crime photos and asked if I’d help them with the financial paper trail. All I could think was I’d been tracking accounts payable and receivable for murders. A lot of them. I wanted to keep you safe.”

“Protecting these guys? Shit.” Rocco tipped back on the back legs of his chair. “How ironic.”

Nicola flashed him a glare. “Ironic? You want to tell me how?”

“Ah, nah. These fuckers can fill you in later. Why don’t you tell us about tonight?”

“Can’t.”

“We’ve already done this song and dance, so let’s cut to it so we can all finish getting drunk and go pass out.” Rocco apparently wasn’t taking any shit.

“My turn.” She eyed each of them. “Who do you work for? Who sent you?”

Rocco bounced back down onto all four chair legs. “All right. Fair is fair. A company called The Titan Group.”

“You work for Titan? All three of you?” The military, hell, the CIA, turned to Titan for jobs they didn’t want on their books. How had Cash and Roman ended up on that payroll?

She shook her head out of the question cloud, and saw all three bright-eyed and interested as to how she knew Titan Group existed.Damn it. She was off her game. Little mistakes could be her undoing. She needed to tread with serious care.

Cash answered. “Yeah, all three of us. Roman and I joined the Army after college. We’re a good team. We’re still a team. We’ve been a team since day one. Grade school. High school. Sniper school. But you wouldn’t know anything about that kind of loyalty, would you, Nic?”

“Lay off, Cash.” Roman’s defense wasn’t that strong, but she appreciated it.

“What the fuck ever.” Cash punctuated his words with another shot of whiskey.

“Christ, almighty. What is it with you two?” Roman glared from her to Cash. “You two used to be friends. Do you remember that? Shit.”

Nicola traced the rim of her shot glass with a manicured nail. “You don’t have to lay off. I can take it. I’m just one of the guys.”

Roman rolled his eyes, but Cash pinned her with his stare. “Now it’s your turn again. Why were you hanging off Antilla Smooth’s nuts?”

She deserved that. They were with Titan, and they were her family, once upon a time before she walked away. She could trust them to a point. “I was on the job. Undercover.”

Roman and Cash might have stopped breathing. They were frozen in shock, ready for a slight breeze to knock them away from the table. Rocco, perked up, more interested in that than the family drama. “No joke? Nice. Whose payroll you on?”

“Not going there.” She shrugged.

“How long you been under?”

“Months. Since the start of spring—”

“So youweresleeping with him?” Cash interrupted.

He was going to out himself to Roman if he wasn’t careful. Then the three of them would have that discussion to deal with.

Then again, Roman looked shell-shocked. He wasn’t registering Cash’s attitude.

“No. I wasn’t.” She smirked at him. “I was seducing him. Ignoring his advances made his interest in me grow. A manipulative game of cat and mouse. So no, Cash, I didn’t fuck him.”

Rocco laughed. “Cash doesn’t know anything about women not fucking him. You might have to explain seduction to the man because they just throw themselves at him. He doesn’t have to lay groundwork.”

Roman laughed too. It was her turn for a flash-bang of jealousy. Cash glared at Rocco, who apparently took to heart the just-one-of-the-guys line she’d thrown down.

Cash was handsome, more so than when they were younger. His blond hair could use a haircut, but he was missing his trademark life-is-good attitude. She missed his smile, focusing instead on the width of his chest. All three men had muscles, but Cash was something to appreciate. Even his face looked strong with a hard jaw line that flexed when he tried to contain any number of emotions he had to be feeling.

Nicola continued. “My op was blown when you took out your target. I called in for an extraction plan. There was another team there. Not sure what happened or why, but they went after me. I did what I needed to.”

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