Page 121 of Good Enough

She nodded and peeled herself from his body. Collecting her bag from the closet floor, she went into the bathroom and got into the shower. When she emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, she saw that he was no longer in the room, and she could hear water running down the hall.

She glanced at the mussed bed. He truly was out of sorts. He never left the bed without making it, a holdover from his military days, even if he intended to have her back in it within the hour. Sadly, she smiled and left it unmade. A last piece of her for him when she didn’t return because, despite his claims of the opposite, she didn’t honestly believe a future for them was possible.

Downstairs, she gathered up the few personal items she had and stowed them in her bag, just in time to hear Taj come down the steps heavy-footed and buckling his watch.

Another oddity. He always moves like a cat, with no sound.

He pulled her into his arms, saying nothing, and just held her tight. They stayed like that until his text alert went off. Arms around his waist, she gazed up into his face as he smoothed back those stray hairs from her ponytail that he loved to try and tame into submission. Standing on tiptoe, she brushed her lips to his, nuzzled him with the tip of her nose, and then backed away to grab her bag.

He stood, watching her inscrutably, then turned to disarm the security system and open the door. TB was leaning on the hood of his truck. “G’day, boys and girls. Ready?”

“Morning, TB,” Kai greeted him. “Ready.” With that, she walked out the door toward Nemo, who held the rear passenger side door open for her into the back seat of the Humvee. Waters entered from the other side, Nemo hopped up into the front passenger seat, and TB took over behind the wheel.

Demon and Steel were getting into Steel’s Avalanche and following behind.

Waters grabbed her hand, laced their fingers together, and placed it on his thigh.

No one said a word the entire drive to Tribe.

And what would anyone say anyway?

When they arrived in the underground parking garage of the office, TB and Nemo got out of the truck, closely followed into the elevator by Demon and Steel, but Waters made no move to get out. Kai looked at their fingers twined together, wishing she had something pithy to say, but nothing would come.

It was Waters who broke the silence. “He wants to see you.”

Kai frowned. “Who?”

“God.” His thumb stroked hers back and forth. “Yesterday, he said he wanted to see you first thing today when I brought you in.”

“Why?”

Waters shrugged. “He didn’t say.”

“Okay. He’s actually here? I thought he had a batcave somewhere or an Area 52.”

Huffing a dark laugh, Waters shook his head. “No, he lives in the penthouse of the building.”

“He’s here? Then why the whole Charlie’s Angels secrecy thing?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. We’ve learned not to ask questions.”

It was then that Waters projected himself out of the back seat and came around to her side of the vehicle. She could see he was grinding his teeth, forcing whatever emotion he was feeling back down his throat. When they got to the elevator and she stepped inside, Waters did not get in with her. “Just be yourself, Kai.” He lingeringly kissed her on the cheek, then stepped back and closed the elevator door on her.

The elevator moved almost immediately, smoothly, and quickly up toward the penthouse apartment. She placed a hand on her stomach, trying to quell her nerves.

As the car came to a stop, the voice coming from the speaker startled her. “No need to shake in your shoes, Kubrick. I don’t bite.”

Hand to her heart, she chided, “Please don’t tell me I’m going to stand in this elevator to have this conversation with you. It’s a bit like talking to the Wizard of Oz before Toto pulls back the curtain.”

The elevator door opened onto a living space that was done in browns and golds, heavy on leather seating and cherry woods. She stood just inside the car, her head poking past the threshold.

“Hello?”

“I’m on the patio, Kubrick!” God called impatiently.

Tentatively, she stepped out of the car, the doors closing immediately behind her. When she turned to look, it was like the elevator doors didn’t exist, they blended into the walls so seamlessly. Slowly, she walked through the living space, noticing that despite the dark furniture, the room appeared light. Parquet flooring and the gold accents on all the furniture reflected the sun pouring in through the large skylight over the living room. Continuing through the space, she approached an open sliding door that led out onto a large wooden patio framed in green plants. A hot tub was embedded in the far-left corner, which connected to another room in the penthouse. Framed by a pergola covered in ivy, the view to it was blocked to anyone who might be outside its walls.

Not that you could see anyone without being in a plane, anyway. Too freaking high for me!