Page 14 of Nora
“It’s a yes or no question.”
“Nora is not a child. I don’t send her anywhere. On occasion I might ask her to run to the store for ice cream or wine.”
“So you didn’t send her?”
“Oh my god, what is wrong with you??? No, I didn’t send Nora anywhere, dick. Besides, even if I wanted to send her somewhere, she’s on this three-week training course somewhere in the wilds of Western Massachusetts.”
It was possible his cousin was lying, but he didn’t think so. Which meant he might owe Nora an apology.
“Oh my god, you’re one of the trainers, aren’t you??”Violetta demanded. He should have known she’d put two and two together.
“I am.”
She sent an emoji that resembled someone snorting with laughter.“And you thought I sent Nora to what? Look after you? Good god, Luc, pull your shit together. The world revolves around me, not you, asshole.”
Lucian couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips. He’d always liked Violetta the best of all his cousins. Even if they’d drifted apart in the past few years.
“I’ll try to remember that.”
“And for the love of all that is holy, including Father Pete, if you pull any of your angsty bullshit on Nora and make her feel bad about anything, I will hunt you down and fill your days with Shakespearean insults.”
“Wow, Shakespeare and Father Pete in the same sentence.”He despised Shakespeare with a passion. And Father Pete had been the family priest when he and Violetta were young. He’d terrified them with his bushy eyebrows, wild hair, and habit of spitting when he spoke.
“That’s how you know I’m serious. I know you’re having a shit time right now and you are, of course, free to feel however you like. You are not, however, free to make other people feel the same shittiness you do. Especially not Nora.”
And that was his cousin in a nutshell. Go have your feelings, but don’t take them out on others. Easier said than done.
“I’ll be good from now on,”he promised. Although it would probably be best to stay away from Nora altogether. Violetta was right. He’d had a rough few years, and it was hard not to acknowledge that his family might have a reason for being concerned. Despite their best attempts, he’d been doing a good job of keeping everyone at bay. Something he accomplished by doing exactly what Violetta had ordered him not to…mostly by being a dick. So much so that it was almost habit by now. If he wanted to keep his promise to his cousin, it would be easiest if he just stayed away from her friend.
Nora’s phone dinged, and Lucian didn’t have to guess what that message was about. Nora picked up her device and read the text. Her eyes flickered up to him, but she said nothing. After typing in an answer, she went back to whatever she was doing on her computer. He had no idea what she must have said to Violetta, but his cousin didn’t reply.
His own phone dinged, and he looked down.“I don’t need to remind you that you are ten years out of training. Not only can I make you regret being an asshole to Nora, I also have a British Special Forces soldier—a well-decorated one—at my beck and call.DON’T BE A DICK.”
His cousin wasn’t joking. Her fierce loyalty to her friends was one of the things he admired most about her. That, and she didn’t tend to tiptoe around him like the rest of the family. At least with Violetta, he didn’t have to worry about getting annoyed by her fussing over him.
“She’d never tell you if I was,”he countered, enjoying an interaction with someone for the first time in a long time. He really should have kept in better touch with her.
“You are so mistaken if you think I need her to use words to tell me anything, cousin. I’m inclined to kick your ass anyway when we get back from the Caribbean. I can’t believe you’re less than three hours from Cos Cob and didn’t bother to tell me.”
“Maybe I’ll visit.”
“Maybe you won’t be welcome.”
Again, he didn’t doubt her. He was certain Nora wouldn’t report back on him to Violetta. But that didn’t mean his cousin would forgive him for traveling to Massachusetts without telling her.
A machine in the back of the portable beeped, and Nora rose from her seat. If the second set of samples was done, they could head back to the residence hall. And he could continue on keeping his distance from Nora. He just had to remember to stay out of it when Jurgen, Jonah, and Collin hit on her. She was a trained intelligence agent. She could take care of herself.
Nora walked back out of the room carrying a piece of paper. Without a word, she sat down and started typing in her computer. He opened a word game on his phone, but not ten minutes later, she shut her laptop.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Are you going to ignore me?” He shouldn’t have asked. He couldn’t seem to stop himself, though.
“As I’m sure Six reminded you, the world does not revolve around you, Lucian. I had intended to have these past few hours to myself to get a few things done. I was just getting them done.” With any other woman, he might have thought her comment passive-aggressive. But coming from Nora, it was so reasonable, he questioned his observation. Maybe she hadn’t been ignoring him. Maybe shewasjust working.
“How are the samples?” he asked as she gathered her things, then pulled on her coat.
