Kick Back - Susi Hawke Page 0,35

You couldn't pay me to spend a few days with your brood, let alone weeks. Especially after I've heard my nephew go on about those freakishly big and totally pink bunny balls. Let's just say that you guys made an impression on the kid."

Gil sat a little taller, his chest puffing out as he preened. "Damn straight we have big balls. You need them to pull off the shit we do. Don't be jealous, honey. I might have the balls, but you’re the one with a true mate." He grinned and flashed Nathaniel a wink. "Hey, big guy. Nice to see you again. Speaking of you… that's what brings me here."

I was hoping that was why he came. I couldn't think of any other reason. Except maybe to taunt my brothers if he had nothing better to do. "What's going on, Gil? Tell me everything you know."

He looked around the room before answering. "I have it on good authority that Adrienne will be addressing the SPTA at a secret meeting in Brussels this weekend. I thought about maybe taking a trip over there and handling the situation for you but my conscience wouldn't let me. It's your mate in danger so you're the one who deserves the fun. I will be coming along, though. Don't try to talk me out of it."

Clay growled as he walked closer. "And just why would we allow you to be involved? We're grateful that you helped Dear and Nate get back last month but that was a tit-for-tat type of thing after we turned over Peter's mate. Don't you have better things to do than poke your whiskers into my family’s affairs?"

Gil turned my way with a sad smile. "Your brothers are so hostile. Here I am sticking my neck out to help you and this is the thanks I get."

I shot Clay a dirty look. "He's not wrong, you know. Gil has gone out of his way for us on this one. I'm not going to lie and say that we could have done this on our own because we both know we couldn’t. None of our sources had anything to say about this meeting in Brussels."

Clay pouted for a second before holding up a hand. "At the risk of offending your friend, allow me to play devil's advocate. How do we know he's telling the truth?"

Gil sputtered indignantly. "Why would I lie to a friend, you silly-assed dimwitted alpha? And why would I have insisted that I go along—at my own expense, mind you—if I were lying? Now hush and let the reasonable people talk." He turned back to me. "I have to go because my plan depends on my brood being involved. They can play lookout and handle any interference, not to mention create as many distractions as necessary while we get the job done."

Nathaniel set his book aside. "I just have one question—when do we leave?"

I shook my head and spoke bluntly. This was not a time for sugarcoating. "What's this we shit? I understand why you want to help but this is way above your pay grade, babe. No offense, but for something like this we need to keep it completely professional. In this type of situation we need to have the people around who are trained and have the experience to back it up. And by that I mean those of us who have the skills to get in, get the job done and get back out without being caught."

Nathaniel worked his jaw from side to side as he watched me. It figured that this was the first time I'd seen a sign of irritation from him. And I got how my statement had probably made him feel but I couldn't back down. Not on this. I wasn't willing to risk his life to save his feelings.

After several long moments, Nathaniel held up a hand. "Dearest, I understand that you don't want me to be in danger. I also know that you don't want me to watch you do what you feel needs to be done. But I want you to understand this—never doubt the truth that I am okay with what you plan to do. Your chosen profession is obviously okay with God or he wouldn't have put us together. But, Dearest? When your job is done, I want to be there to hold you because I know you'll bear the burden heavily. You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

I wanted to melt. Nobody had ever so