Blindsided (33 page)

“Not really.” Garret flicked his wrists, successfully flipping the eggs without cracking the yolks. “He was already planning on canning me.”

Teigan carefully closed the cold unit, turning to face his brother. “Can I ask why?”

Garret had been a loyal employee at SanTech for eight years. What would’ve brought that on?
Shit, did I really screw up that badly the other night?
 

“Seems there’s been a lot of media speculation regarding Viadal and his government programs as of recently. Given I was hired based on my recommendations from Whitesman and a few other prominent military personnel…” Garret shrugged, slid the eggs onto three separate plates and tossed the hot pan back on the range.

Fuck. “He added two and two together.”

“And came up with four. Guess he’s pretty sharp at math.” Garret grabbed up the plates and moved to the table, setting one at each spot. He glanced toward the hall. Teigan followed his gaze to see Aria making her way toward them, wearing a pair of rolled up sweat pants and a t-shirt with sleeves that came down past her elbows. Her hand rested against the wall. She looked uncertain, but whether that was because she was uncertain of her reception or because she didn’t know the house well, he wasn’t sure.
 

“I hope one egg is okay.” Garret offered a hand and led her to the table. “Teigan’s being a hog and claimed two of the last three.”

“That’s not—”

“One’s fine, thanks,” she cut Teigan’s objection off as she settled into her place and picked up her fork. “What’s this about math?”

“Nothing,” Garret answered. “Boss gave me my walking papers when I called in last night.”

“Why?”

Garret didn’t answer, but slid down into his own chair and started chowing down.

Teigan folded his arms, waiting. Eventually Garret cleared his throat and told her. “The Grand Poobah doesn’t think having a Viadal on staff will sit well with the clients.”

“But that’s not fair!” Aria burst out, her face reflecting the twisted mass of torment that was lodged into Teigan’s own throat.

Garret chugged some OV8, wiped the corner of his lip with a knuckle. “It’s nothing to worry about. Just because SanTech’s clientele may be uncomfortable having a possible ex-V-10 guarding their accounts, doesn’t mean there aren’t other places that would jump at the chance to hire me on.”

Teigan didn’t dare move or speak for fear of doing or saying something irreparable. Garret was too controlled, too cool about this whole thing. His brother was sharp, smarter than he liked to let on. They both knew what type of
jobs
would be offered to an ex-V-10, and there were not the types of jobs Garret wanted to do.
 

Bad enough to have to pull the trigger when it was for home and country; it was totally different when it was for greed.

“I’ll talk to him,” Teigan said when he’d gained enough composure to speak evenly and not betray the riot of guilt and anger that lay under the surface. Is this how Garret went through life? With a tightly sealed lid holding back the very emotions that made you human, the mix of both wonderful and frightening feelings that made a black and white life otherwise colorful?

Garret jerked up out of his seat, bringing his dishes to the sanitizer and tossing them in with a clatter. “Don’t bother. He’s not the type to change his mind.”

“So I’m just supposed to ignore the fact that it’s my fault you lost your job? My fault that you’re going to be put in the position of either running tail tucked between legs back to Whitesman begging to be put back in the V-10’s ranks or taking on hit jobs for tyrants and terrorists alike?”

“Teigan!” Aria’s shocked tone snapped him back out of his righteous fury. He looked at Garret, really looked at Garret. The skin around his nose was pinched, that was it, but that tell-tale sign showed just how furious he really was.
 

And I just suggested he was a coward or a traitor.

Fuck. Idiot. He racked his hands through his hair, the short stubble of the buzz reminding him perhaps he was doing
one
thing as a brother right. Risking his neck had to be worth something. But even that he was screwing up, thinking more with his dick than his brain as of late.
 

He glanced at Aria. Her brow was scrunched, her teeth worrying her bottom lip as she waited for the tension to either explode or him to come up with a way to dissipate it.
Don’t count on it, babe, I’m not any good at this relationship shit.
Which frankly, should be more than apparent. He was fucking up with her, too. He’d wanted to show her the attraction between them was real, but he hadn’t meant to follow through on it until after this entire mess was over. If Garret hadn’t announced his presence this morning, he was willing to bet they’d still be in the bedroom right now, him showing her all kinds of interesting things a man and woman could do when they slept in.

He had to stay focused. He couldn’t afford anymore screw ups. He’d almost lost both her and Garret yesterday. If they’d been in the Odyssey instead of the Lincoln “tank”…shit. He didn’t even want to think about it.

“I was out of line. I apologize.” He turned his face to Aria. “I promise it won’t happen again.”
 

Without a backward glance, he spun on his heels and stomped off down the hall. He needed a shower. A nice cold one.

***

Garret watched his brother storm down the hall, the black cloud of guilt expanding and coiling around him so that it licked all it touched, leaving trails of self-inflicted misery in Teigan’s wake.

As always, Teigan had gotten it wrong again. It wasn’t that Garret was pissed at Teigan for stating the obvious. What his brother had so astutely pointed out was true. He could suck down humble pie and beg to rejoin his brothers on the team or he could lend his talents out to anyone who would hire him, which, given the fear most people had of the unusual, was not too many people.

No, what had him mad was that Teigan was pulling the big brother crap again. Garret didn’t want Teigan to take care of him, he didn’t want his brother to feel responsible for his wellbeing and he certainly didn’t want him blaming himself if little brother’s life wasn’t peachy keen perfect.

Fuck that! That’s not what real brothers did. Real brothers supported each other, yes, but they didn’t smooth the world of all bumps and bruises and still ride behind them with kid gloves on, ready to catch.

“Garret, sit, you’re making me nervous.”

He turned his head to look at Aria. He was half surprised to find her sitting there. He thought she would either have run after Teigan—the man she’d been doing all but the horizontal tango with less than a half hour ago—or running out the door to get away from the crazy levels of testosterone stinking up the air.

“Goddamn it, if you don’t sit I’m going to throw this knife at you!” She waved the paring knife she’d been using to slice up a mango in his direction. “And don’t think that because I’m blind, that I can’t hit you. I will. It just might not be where you’d like to be injured.”

She kept her gaze level, which since she was sitting, would place her target in the general vicinity of his crotch. He sat.

“Thank you,” she resumed carving up her mango, “that’s better. Now, about the job thing. I have a proposition for you.”

He immediately knew where this was going and didn’t like it. “I don’t need or want a favor,” he told her, shaking his head for emphasis, not because she’d know but because he was vehemently opposed to the idea.

“Don’t.” She jiggled the knife at him again. “It wouldn’t be a hand out. You’re good at your job, and a good man to have in a pinch. Just the type of man Idyllis Records searches out to recruit for their security team.”

She went back to slicing, slipped a chunk of fruit between her lips. She moaned, juices running from the corner of her mouth were she quickly swiped it up with her tongue. Teigan was a lucky fucking bastard.

“Besides,” she plopped another hunk in her mouth.
 

He waited impatiently, carefully keeping his eyes averted, for her to finish and get on with it. He’d thank her, bow out, and go take that nap—in his own bed, damn it.

“I wouldn’t be in charge of hiring you. Willis would. And I can guarantee that if Willis hired you, it wouldn’t be as a favor.”

He chuckled to himself. She was right. He got the distinct impression Willis was only slightly less fond of him than he was of Teigan, and that was before Teigan had risked his job, and possibly life in prison, in his attempt to get Aria free. “All right. Maybe when this is all over and the old man is out of the hospital, I’ll stop on by and fill out an application.”

She cringed. “Don’t call him that. He’s only 62. And though he has some arthritis issues from old injuries, he can still hold his own in a fight.”

“He’s tough,” Garret agreed. “For an older dude.”

“You’re impossible.” She shook her head and bit down around her last slice of mango.

Garret watched this time, noting that although she was pretty, and yes, there was that slight tug that any healthy full blooded male would have for an attractive woman, it couldn’t compare to the overriding feeling he got when they were relaxed around each other: Kinship. Or perhaps friendship was more accurate. Aria got him, she understood. And that mattered a hell of a lot more than a pull of his loins. Besides, he liked the thought of her and Teigan together. There was fire there, but also something more. Something that brought pictures of cozy homes, laughter, and an easy contentment with life in general. And that was something that would never be a possibility for him.

She set the knife down, absently licking the remnants of the sticky fruit from her fingers and clasped her hands in her lap. The house was quiet around them, everyone else either catching up on sleep or playing security detail. More than an alarm, the silence was a jarring reminder of the seriousness of the situation. There would be no happy home if Aria’s brother wasn’t captured, and unless they did it soon, there was a good chance that even if there was, Garret wouldn’t be around to see it.

“So what do we do now?” she asked, her voice sounding soft and fragile in the stillness.

“Now?” He took the revolver from its holder, placed it on the table where he began to disassemble it. The last time he’d cleaned the gun had been over a week ago, and it sure beat twiddling his thumbs. “Now we wait.”

Chapter Twenty-three

August 10
^th
2104: 1128 EST

Waiting sucked.

Three days. Nothing. The only good news as far as Aria was concerned was that Willis was fully awake and seemed to be recovering at a remarkable rate, the bad was that Willis was fully awake and wanted to get the hell out of dodge. A blinding headache, a new shoulder that was still in the risky stage of acceptance or rejection, and a recently inflated lung were no match for her weathered guard-dog. It was only Garret’s tactless suggestion that he’d be a liability for Aria if Byron got close that’d made Willis cave. Was Garret trying to sabotage all hope of Willis hiring him on? She couldn’t be angry at him though. Willis had agreed to stay for an entire week of his two week suggested recovery time.

There was another bad thing about waiting. She couldn’t get away from Teigan. They were stuck in the same house, breathing the same air, his scent lingering in every room, which wouldn’t be bad except for the fact that he wouldn’t touch her.
 
The jerk slipped out of the room whenever she came near him, tagging Carthridge or Garret to babysit and begging off on some errand or other.

Her embarrassment knew no bounds. She couldn’t believe she’d thrown herself at him like that. Yes he was attracted, but that didn’t mean he was interested in anything more lasting than this mission and right now it didn’t seem like he was even interested in that. If she didn’t succeed in getting some objectivity knocked into her soon, she was going to come out of this with a broken heart.
 

Who are you kidding, Aria?
 
It’s already too late for that.

Which begged the question: When in the hell had she fallen in love with him? Because she had. There was no other explaining the horrible roller coaster ride of emotions she’d been experiencing by his on again, off again interest. Lust didn’t cut it. Her mother had once tried to explain the difference to her. She’d said lust would leave you frustrated and angry if you denied it. But love, love could make you feel like you were on top of the world one moment and in the depths of hell the next. Well right now she figured she was just one rung above the basement floor.

Love, lust or whatever the hell it was aside, Teigan was going to have to deal with her now. She was sick and tired of sitting around twiddling her thumbs hour after hour, day after day. Time was running out. Garret’s birthday was in two short days.
 

With her hacking program useless, a detriment to them even, public appearances took on a whole other level of danger. So they were holed up here, waiting to see if Byron would make the mistake of climbing into their web. No go. Looked like Byron wasn’t that stupid, not even with the added incentive of her all but living here. Something had to be done. Something proactive. She had a sinking feeling in her gut that if Byron wasn’t given a better opportunity for a face-to-face chance at his prey, he’d start using more inventive measures—rocket launcher came to mind.