Page 68 of Beyond the Rules
“Nina, wait.” Zar’s tone froze me inplace.
I turned around and met his iridescent bluegaze. “Yes?”
“We…” His Adam’s apple bounced on his muscular neck. “We want youtostay.”
My heart somersaulted against myribs. “Stay?”
“Yes,” he said. “Stay. For thehuddle?”
“Oh.”
This was good news, right? And yet my stomach dropped a little and I had to fight a nagging sense of disappointment. Why was I sodisappointed?
Because for an instant I’d believed that he had asked me to stay, here, in this house, with them, beyondthehunt.
What was wrong with me? And since when had I decided I wanted to stay in this house? Somehow, fantasy and reality had merged in my mind.Don’t overthink this. So they weren’t asking me to stay. They were asking me to stick around for their team huddle.Hack the happy, girl. Today was allwehad.
Aiden stood up and offered me a stool. I sat down nexttohim.
“We’re having trouble pinning down Calamity,” Tanner said. “You know his social media patterns better than anybody. We think it’s time you go out hunting. I mean, if youwantto.”
“You want me cruising the net?” My pulsed quickened. “No more restricted offline duty? Are you guys sureaboutthis?”
“A hundred percent,” Zar said. “Wetrustyou.”
Thrill coursed through my spine and got my blood pumping. Hunting Calamity was exactly what I’d done before, what I’d wanted to do. I might have laughed, but as it was, all I could do was hold back my tears of joy as my gaze shifted from Tanner’s mossy green eyes, to Aiden’s caramel irises, to Zar’s sparkling blue eyes. Theytrustedme?
“Oh, shit, she’s gonna cry.” Aiden’s arm came around my shoulder, face scrunched with alarm. “Don’t cry, baby. I can’t take it whenyoucry.”
I couldn’t stomach it when I cried, either. I usually had better control than this, at least in public. But lately, I was a mess. So many changes in my life. So many powerful emotions. I took a deep breath and considered the SEALs who’d become the center of my life. They were formidable warriors, brainy, brawny, steely fighters who’d defied physical and emotional pain every day of their lives to do their duty. And now they were anguishing over a few tears.Mytears.
“I’m fine.” I forced a smile to my face. “I’m happy right now, about the trust thing. I’m like, the happiest hacker in the cyberworld.”
“Damn.” Aiden let out a relieved breath. “I’ve got to learn thedifference.”
“No kidding.” Zar didn’t look any less relieved thanAiden.
“Expressing emotion is not a bad thing,” Tanner said, threading his fingers through mine. “For the life mission, we’ve got to train some moreonthat.”
Train on expressing emotion. It was a uniquely SEAL mindset and it had me reeling inside, because I didn’t know anyone else who approached life as a mission and trainedforit.
“From now on, you’ll work the Calamity angle,” Zar said. “Aiden has prepared a number of decoy identities under which you can work safely. You will not take any risks. You will not go off and do your own thing. Is thatclear?”
I angled my hand against my forehead in a mock salute. “Clear asmud,sir.”
“I’m not joking, Nina. This isserious.”
“I know.” But my fingers were gunning for the keyboard and, despite all his warnings, I was really excited about resuming Calamity’s hunt. I was going to be good, real good. Well, except for one little side hack that I was already planning in my mind. But nobody had to knowaboutthat.
Zar pushed a printout across the kitchen island. “This is a detailed report of the payments we’ve made on your behalf. Everything’s gone out—rent, reparation, Mr. Ho, Susie Mae, and the Little Sisters of Charity. It’s all inthere.”
“Yeah, wow, you’reright.”
“This is for you.” Tanner slid a brand new, pink-encased cell toward me. “We want you to have communication capabilities with us. We’ve all programmed our numbers so you can call, text, and WhatsApp us. But for safety, we don’t want you to contact anyone from youroldlife.”
My old life. It was such a strange term and yet it felt true to my heart, as if I’d left something behind and started anew. I fingered the cell in my hand.Delusion alert. Keyword: Temporary. Once the cyber hunt was over, this wasover,too.
“Anything else?” Zar asked, picking up his papers and tapping them on the counter until they were perfectlyaligned.