“I don’t give a shit what you think you can and can’t do. As long as you’re here, you’ll contribute as a full member of the JTT. Keeping the occupants of this house safe is priority one. Everything else is secondary. We clear?”
“Crystal,” Jamie replied, his hands balling into fists under the table. Did he agree with his orders? Fuck no. Putting him on rotation to make a point was a huge risk. The potential ramifications astronomical. There were too many ways for this situation to implode, but one thing was for damn sure. “I’m gonna need my guns back.”
* * *
The morning briefing concluded,the boardroom emptied of bodies, and Jay sat back in his chair, fingers linked behind his head as he watched Jamie approach. He leaned heavily on his cane. Each step looking more painful than the last.
They hadn’t spoken since Managua. And even then, he’d let his fist do all the talking. Aside from the broken knuckles, no regrets there. Jamie had needed a reminder. He was still alive. Still a member of the JTT. Still had responsibilities he couldn’t shirk for the sake of revenge.
Besides, the CIA wanted Johnson alive and left in play.
Jay did too.
“You got a minute?” Jamie asked, leaning his butt and his cane against the table. Arms and ankles crossed, he assumed his standard at-rest pose, but his expression did little to hide his discomfort.
“Yeah, what’s up?” He rolled his neck, vertebrae popping and cracking in every direction. If sitting was the new smoking, he’d be dying of a stroke, cancer, or inertia real soon. Christ, he needed up and out of this chair before he petrified with his fingers on the keyboard.
“Neck still bothering you?” Jamie hitched his chin in Jay’s direction.
“Yeah.”
“You should make an appointment with Eve.”
He snorted, and dropping his arms, he pointed an accusing finger at Jamie’s fucked up knee. “You’re one to talk.”
“Way ahead of you.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m meeting her for a physical therapy session in about an hour.”
“Good. Hope physio hurts like a motherfucker, asshole. How’s your face?”
“Still got all my teeth.” He grinned, distorting the purplish bruise decorating the right side of his jaw. “You’re losing your touch.”
“And you’re going soft.”
“So does this mean we’re hitting the iron later?”
“Hundred percent.” It’d been a while since Jay took a break long enough to work out, but now that he had his gym partner back, they needed to establish a routine, or they’d both end up decrepit old men complaining about their constant aches and pains.
“About Managua—”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jay said, digging in his pocket for Jamie’s wedding ring while his own guilt over Kosamina’s death threatened to choke him. “Johnson’s put you through fucking hell. I get it. He’s more than earned his bullet to the head. But we have to do this the right way.”
He put the ring on the desk, the lie turning sour on his tongue.
There was no right or wrong way. Only his way. And until he figured out how the woman he still loved was involved in this mess, his way meant Johnson got to play a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Jamie picked up the gold band, brushed his thumb over the round edge, then transferred it to his pocket before gazing out the window. The day overcast, the forecast calling for a dusting of snow, nobody would be venturing too far from the lodge.
Meant Eve would probably organize a game night. Get everyone together in the great room. A way of celebrating Jamie’s return without making things awkward for him. “Not sure how long I can wait, Jay. He took everything from me, and every second he’s alive kills me a little more.”
“Not everything,” he said. “Halia is—”
“Not mine,” Jamie huffed, his focus landing back on the Smartboard. “And even if she were, I wouldn’t want her here. It’s too dangerous.”
“She has your last name, fucknut. Thatmakesher your responsibility. Besides, she was already on Johnson’s radar, and she had nowhere else to go. We both know there’s no safer place for her to be than with the JTT, but if you’re so worried about her security, step up and do the right thing.”
“And what about the nanny? Who the fuck protects her ass if Johnson discovers our location and shit goes south?”
“Summer?” Jay’s brows popped to his hairline at the gruffness in Jamie’s voice. “She’s family. We take care of her the same way we do everyone else around here.”
