sat up, blinked again. The door to the balcony was open, the smell of fresh coffee wafting in, and it didn’t take much to guess that Abe Royal was probably sitting out there, admiring the view, and thinking about today.
The day.
The day we were officially going after Bernard. And with the unofficial approval of the Deputy Director of the FBI.
There was a murmuring to my left—Delilah, talking in her sleep. She and Henry had fallen asleep on the bed next to ours while Freya and Sam had crashed out on the trundle bed and couch. The room had the appearance of the morning after a college party; people sprawled out, snoring, having only gone to bed a few hours earlier. Jacked up on adrenaline and slightly nervous after being chased by guards, the entire Codex team had crashed in our room after discussing plans and strategies for tonight’s big event. Running a hand through my snarled hair, I looked around at these four detectives who were already sneaking their way into my heart.
On the deck, Abe sat in a chair with a cup of coffee, staring at the view with a distracted, nervous look. The newly duplicitous organ in my chest slammed against my rib cage at the sight of him with sleep-tousled hair and a hint of stubble. After the rest of the team had fallen asleep, he had dragged me against his chest and cradled me there all night—nose against the crown of my head, arms wrapped tight. I had dropped immediately into a sweet, dreamless sleep.
I padded barefoot across the deck and gave him a silly smile. “Good morning, man-on-vacation.”
Abe swung me onto his lap and buried his face in my hair. “Good morning, Ms. Argento.”
His voice was scratchy with sleep, and exhaustion was etched around his eyes. “Let me guess,” I said. “You stayed awake and watched over everyone last night.”
“Leaders protect their team,” he said, nonchalant. There was nothing nonchalant about this man guarding the people he was afraid to fully love. “And you’re awake early.”
“Who can sleep on such a big day?” I said, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead.
He rested his chin on my shoulder and stared past me. We sat in silence for a minute, gently rocking back and forth. The chaos of our instant attraction was as multi-dimensional as a diamond, dazzling and sharp, electric and erotic. But then soft and muted, comfortable and safe. Abe held me tighter, and I nuzzled my lips against his temple.
“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.
“What if I made a mistake?” he asked. “My whole team flies here. We get all excited that we’re going to capture this mastermind who has evaded prosecution for years. The Deputy Director of the goddamn FBI puts his complete faith in me. And everything, all of it, could be for nothing.” Another pause, another gentle rock. “What kind of person does that? Keeps hunting a white whale that won’t be found?”
For a while, we watched pedestrians on their way to work, buses and cars, the opening of shops. All the normal things that occur on the morning before a busy Friday.
“I used to steal from my parents,” I said, gulping around my usual resistance to share. His body went taut, face turning toward mine. “There was a summer where we worked amusement parks for fast cash. There’s no real skill to that con, just taking advantage of people who are sun-drunk and happy and usually have lots of cash in their pockets.”
That summer I remembered watching those close-knit families, out for the day to simply have fun together, and not understanding how they existed. The more I saw them—the laughter, the teasing, chasing each other with ice cream cones—the more my brain went into freak-out mode. Something’s not right. Not about them. About me.
“My parents were running this photography scheme,” I said. “They took photos while copying people’s credit card and personal information to use for stealing identities. Later, they’d unleash me on people waiting in those long rollercoaster lines and watch me like a hawk as I pickpocketed loose cash. Working like that, working fast, you’re not grabbing a certain amount of cash, you’re grabbing whatever bill you can pinch between your fingers. So I’d slip out hundreds of dollars without the person knowing.” I paused, remembering how powerful I felt to finally control even the tiniest amount of my destiny. “I couldn’t give it all back. I needed my parents to believe I was earning my