Page 22 of Fatal Thrill
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Jaya fellasleep in Jon’scar.
She hadn’t mean to. The heater was blasting warm air, Jon was humming softly, not flooding her with more questions, and her body simply shut down. Lightsout.
When she woke, Jon was gently shaking her. “We’rehere.”
The sun was shining brightly, reflecting on the snow along the sidewalk of his apartment complex. The three-story building was familiar and welcoming, she just wished she were visiting again under bettercircumstances.
There never seemed to be a good time for the two of them. During her last visit in the fall, he’d been rehabbing his shoulder and going to physical therapy every day. Eventually, he’d gone back to light office duty, and now she understood so much more about his job than she hadthen.
Shadow Force International. Rock Star Security. How many other secrets was hekeeping?
Like she was one to talk. “Myvan…?”
“Colton’s bringing it by later.” He helped her out of the car and they started for thebuilding.
“Knowing Colton, he’ll change all my radio stations and leave a bunch of empty beer cans in theback.”
“Yeah, he likesyou.”
She snorted, trudging up the steps to the second floor, and rubbing her tired eyes. Funny way of showing it. “He’s like the annoying older brother I never had—orwanted.”
“He’s got your back, just likeShelby.”
Jon let her in, and she shrugged off her coat. The place smelled like Jon—earthy, woodsy, comfortable. Not much had changed in decor; he took a minimalist approach, using the furniture Colton had left behind when he and Shelby moved to a new place in the burbs and Colton had sublet this place toJon.
Jon hung up their coats on the single hook next to the door, his over hers. Somehow, that seemed almost romantic, as if it was protectinghers.
Jeez, she was turning into an emotionalwreck.
“Want some coffee? Breakfast?” heasked.
Breakfast, right. It was only 7:45. Jaya had been up for so long, and so much had happened in the past 24 hours, she’d totally lost track oftime.
Surprisingly, her stomach growled at the thought of food. Coffee sounded amazing as well. “Do you havedecaf?”
Jon gave her a questioning look as he headed for the kitchen. He set her new Beatrice-approved phone on the breakfast bar. “Since when do you drinkdecaf?”
Her stomach growled again. Loudly. “Um…” Maybe this was a good sign; she hadn’t felt queasy for the past forty minutes and now she was actually hungry. The nap had done her good.It’s a virus after all.Has tobe.
Yeah, right. “How about some tea and toast? Do you still have some of that organic greentea?”
He opened a cabinet and pulled out a box. “You’re the only one that drinks it, so there should beplenty.”
While he dug out the toaster, she filled the kettle. It was almost like before, comfortable and homey. They’d always worked well together in the small kitchen, and Jaya liked the closeness. It reminded her of the kitchen of her childhood home. That had been tiny too, but the meals she’d created with her mom were one of her fondestmemories.
Jon hummed as he heated a skillet and broke a couple of eggs into it. Soon Jaya had her tea and toast and Jon bellied up to the breakfast bar with a feast of eggs, sausages, and bacon. The man loved his meat, that was for sure. On top of it all, he added hot sauce. The scent of dark roast scented the air from the big mug that Jon had, steam rising from the cup into the air and making her think of herdad.
Sean O’Sullivan drank coffee all day, every day. It never bothered his stomach or kept him awake. Often it held a spike ofwhiskey.
Where was he right now? Why had he taken the cross and left herbrother?
Or had he ran into trouble himself and didn’t even know aboutFinn?
Her dadwastrouble with a capital T. If anything, he’d probably taken the cross—family heirloom or not—and ran off to sell it to the highest bidder. She’d long suspected the only reason he even cared about the thing was because it was worth a lot of money. Family didn’t seem to mean all that much tohim.
She knew Jon was dying to ask more questions about the cross and her dad, but he waited for her to broach the subject. Another thing she liked about him—he never tried to force her into talking about touchy subjects. He patiently waited for her to bring it up. Which she really didn’t want to do,but…
