Page 45 of Exposing Adonis

“Did you miss me, babe?” I nearly jumped out of my skin and decked him in the face. Brett-fucking-Bradley. The harbinger of irritation. His hands clasped in front of him, and he leaned forward with his usual shit-eating grin.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I groaned.

“Calling in my favor.”He raised one careless shoulder. “You owe me, remember?” He did a finger-gun pointing thing. “I took care of your little dead body problem, outside a particular solar farm …” He winked, then pursed his lips with a smirk. “Sounds very Star Wars, by the way. Solar Farm, like Uncle Owen’s moisture farm on Tatooine.” He let out an admiring sigh. “George Lucas was truly ahead of his time.”

“What in the name of God are you talking about?” I asked, unable to follow his ping-ponging train of conversation.

“You’ve met my friend, Joe?” He perked up, and Joe Amadol sheepishly approached, his hands in his pockets. He was wearing scrubs, and looked like a doctor. He even had a stethoscope around his neck.

“Hey, Lea.” He sat down beside Brett. “Glad you’re okay.”

“What’s happening?” I looked between the two of them, confused at the recent turn of events.

That should be normal by now. Where Brett went, confusion followed. The man was slicker than a Texas oil liner.

“I hear you went into Kemet.” Brett smirked at me. His dark stubble couldn’t hide the indent in his cheek. It would be charming on anyone else. Literally, anyone else.

“And, you heard because,” I turned my eyes to Joe, “Hetold you?“ I looked at his white lab coat and shook my head. “And when did you get your M.D.?”

“I’m … one of you guys.” Joe said with a slight, sheepish wave. “Not all of us have to be as legitimate in our covers as you. I used to work for your uncle, actually.”

I blinked. That did not compute. As far as I knew, my uncle worked alone. Right? I couldn’t remember.

“What’s your cover for? It can’t just be because you needed to talk to me.”

The two men looked at each other, then back at me. A silent, and apparently intense, conversation had just occurred between them.

“Intel gathering,” Joe said, but Brett cut him off.

“I need to know what you saw in Kemet,” Brett leaned on his elbows on the table.

“Desert. Lots of desert. Abandoned buildings. People with guns … one VBIED. Exactly what you’d expect.” I said out the acronym from VBIED, Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device.Vee-bid.

“I’m more interested in what was unusual. Was there anything odd, out of place? That’s where I want to start.” Brett ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath before trying another line of questioning. “How did Baas know where your boyfriend was?”

“He says he tracked them through the watch.” Callum’s Rolex dug into my arm again.

“It couldn’t be through Chloe’s watch.” Brett said with a slight, disbelieving scoff. “My hacker accessed those transmissions. Her watch hasn’t transmitted a signal in over two years.”

There was a note of pride in his voice. Not in the information, but in hishacker.That was obviously a special relationship.

“Probably MacLachlan’s watch.” Joe shrugged as if it was the obvious answer. But I knew better.

“No,” I said, rolling up my sleeve to show Callum’s watch on my arm. “I have it.”

“Hmm.” Brett said, regarding the watch, then me. There was something turning around in his head. That hamster was working really hard. “He gave you his watch?”

“Lent it, more like,” I corrected. “He told me to hold it while he was gone.”

“Interesting.” Brett smirked, with that slight nod and wink as if he knew something I didn’t know.

“Why?” I asked slowly with a profound upward inflection.

“Because he didn’t even take off that watch on deployment.” His eyes narrowed. “I saw it on him in Kandahar. He’s never without it.”

“Why were you observing him in Kandahar?” I didn’t think Brett was military. He didn’t act like it. Maybe a government civilian?

“Because I seeall, little grasshopper.“ He gave me a small, sagacious bow of his head. “And just so I know, he hasn’t forced anything onto you, has he? He’s been good? You’ve been safe? Consenting?”

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