you.”
“He’s not screwing up anything. We all have things we closeted. We don’t always get to decide when it falls out.” Addy pulled away from the contact. “I’m not blind. I see what Lavrov is, what he’s become. That doesn’t negate what he once was to me. Not yet.”
“That’s what we’re afraid of, Red,” Beast said. “You take risks for him.”
“I take risks anytime I’m on a mission. That’s what we all do.”
“You know it’s more than that with him,” Shep said. He tightened when his gaze moved up.
Addy tensed as Kristof appeared in her line of vision.
“Whatever this shit is, you’re done.” He glared down at the men around her.
“You don’t get to decide that,” Cracker said as he rose.
“Enough,” Addy said as she glanced up at Kristof. “This is a team meeting. We’ll be there to start the debrief in a few minutes.”
Kristof clenched his fists and continued glaring at the five men who now stood near her. He’d somehow put himself between her and the team. “Whatever you want to know, you come to me. Not her. She’s done with whatever this is.”
She stood and let the anger fuel her movements as she got between Kristof and her team. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“Doesn’t it?” His eyebrows rose. “Not sure anything else except me could make everyone in this room tense. Didn’t take much to put two and two together and figure out. Don’t defend me. I’m not worth the effort. I never was.”
He was. The argument lodged in her throat as he turned around and headed back to where Nolan, Marshall, and Gage stood. Zoey’s wide, expressive gaze latched on to Addy from across the room.
Talk about a mess.
She ran her hand down her face and expended a weary breath. The only thing she wanted was a soft bed and ten hours of solid sleep, but she wouldn’t get either anytime soon. There were missiles to locate and assholes to take down.
Assuming they had a clue who they were up against.
“He’s right,” Shep said as he stood. “We shouldn’t have cornered you with this. Not now.” The man drew her into his arms and hugged her tight. “Glad you’re safe.”
“I’m okay. I swear I’m okay.”
“I know. I just hope to hell we can keep you that way until we get home,” the man commented. “Come on. Let’s get the debrief started before you go comatose.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve realized they were going to do this,” Mary said in the com. “I got so wrapped up in the intel we were gathering that I didn’t stop long enough to think about the fallout on the ground. That’s usually Vi’s department.”
“I’m okay,” she said as the team headed into the living room. “Thank you for helping with all this. Though, just saying. You should be with baby Jessie and Dylan right now.”
“I am. She’s asleep in the new Operations nursery with Ariana,” the woman said, her voice bright and strong. “Dylan’s here watching them sleep.”
Love. Addy often wondered if it was truly the magic elixir to cure anything. From what she’d seen with Mary after her ordeal, it was.
“I’m here. Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m here. We all are.” The woman paused. “No judgment.”
“Thank you.” She wouldn’t ever take Mary up on that offer. The woman had suffered enough because of Peter. Addy had failed to protect her from that psychopath. She wasn’t about to share any of the hell he’d unleashed on his own sister.
No one deserved to hear that shit.
“We didn’t get a chance to chat about this before the auction, but we’re taking your coms down at night for a minimum of eight hours,” Mary said. “We should’ve realized prolonged use would lead to headaches. Any other symptoms we should know about?”
“It wasn’t worth mentioning.” Yet another concern Kristof had addressed that’d made the people around Addy worry. Damn him for interfering and noticing details no one else did. Her body heated at the realization as she watched him from across the room.
“Don’t hide anything like that from us. I know you don’t want us to worry, but we’d rather address those problems now than discover them down the road if another operative is deep cover for an extended period.”
Like Marcus.
He’d been entrenched within a Mexican drug cartel for months now. Other than check-ins once a week, he and his team were on their own. Addy couldn’t help but worry about him and wonder how it was going.
“I’ll type something up for you,” Addy offered.
“There’s