Page 86 of License to Kill

I expected that as soon as I ate, I’d ruin all of his plans, as I had a tendency to pass out after eating. Within a few minutes, he returned, and he joined me in the tub.

Somehow, life had gone from bad to worse to pleasant. “Do your plans involve me sleeping at some point?”

“Surprisingly, yes. After I feed you, I’m going to tuck you into bed, where we will read books until you fall asleep, and I will wake you up in time for you to have breakfast and go to the spa. As you wanted me to talk dirty to you, I will do so while you’re eating.”

“I really thought you would have been against this. Going rogue, I mean.”

“We’re technically only going a little rogue. While yes, we’re technically rogue in the eyes of FBI purists, we’re going rogue in a way that ultimately benefits the FBI. We’re cleaning house, and in a roundabout way, we’re cleaning house in a sanctioned way. Also, I have all of the account information for your payments for your work. Apparently, if I get my head out of my ass and get you back to functional, I’ll get a paycheck.”

“I hope it’s a good paycheck, because I’m a mess.”

“It’s substantially more than my current yearly salary,” Jake complained. “Really, I’m disgusted. I even asked if they were sure, as what they wanted to do was already on my list of things to do. I did tell them it was unlikely I’d be able to get you back into competition shape without at least a year or two of therapy and hard work. You just don’t gain weight well, and you never have. I mentioned I suspected a severe metabolism issue, because your activities at your work in New York were audited, and you were eating enough sufficient for normal human women, yet you were losing weight at a rather alarming rate.”

I took that as a hint to get to eating, and my first piece of steak melted in my mouth. “I’ll try to do better.”

“That’s all I could ever ask of you. I want you to be healthy and happy. They gave me some recommendations, and it’ll involve drinking annoying protein shakes to go along with every meal. In good news, they come in chocolate. In bad news, you’re going to be sick of them after having at least three of them every day. I’ve been told I should probably do the same, as my body fat is approximately zero, and I’m supposed to have a little body fat. Apparently, I am borderline on cannibalizing my own muscle mass.”

“So, you’re saying we’re both a mess.”

“Basically.”

“Mellisa is good at fixing broken people. I bet she can fix us with enough time.”

“That is part of why my father contacted her. Amelia is coming along for the ride because you like her. I also like her, but not in the way I like you. However, if you’d like to posture and be jealous, I will enjoy it immensely.”

“I will tell Amelia I have to display jealousy to appease your ego.”

“I appreciate that.”

“My ma was supposed to tell me about my birth family,” I announced. “She claimed the paperwork, but I guess she destroyed the documentation.”

“Well, that will be our first stop, then. We’ll go through all of the evidence claimed and look for that paperwork and see if she kept it. There are people I can contact about that. If you want to look into that, I’m game.”

“The black market is already looking into it for me. I asked them to take the money for it out of my pay. I didn’t even ask how much I’m being paid. I didn’t care. I just wanted something that was mine,” I confessed.

“You didn’t ask how much you were being paid?”

“I didn’t care, Jake.”

“Okay. Well, so far, you have been paid a little over half a million dollars over the accounts I was given access to.”

I sucked in a breath. “That much?”

“I have the paperwork, although I’d have to access a safe deposit box to get them out. I didn’t want to leave that sort of documentation at home where anyone could find it. I’ll grab everything I have while you’re at the spa tomorrow. I have bank cards, checks, and everything else you need to access your funds.”

“I have how much?”

“A little over half a million dollars. The government had bounties issued for some of the targets, which you and Amelia split, plus your pay from the black market. I’ll have to ask if they took the fees out for the work you wanted, but I would assume they have. I’m to ask you if you would like to share accounts with me, if you’d like to have additional accounts, and how many US-based accounts you want. I informed them my preference was to share accounts with you.”

“I’m good with sharing. I’m bad at sharing, but I will share with you, especially if you feed me this steak. My arms are tired.” I only lied a little, too.

Jake chuckled. “My poor, tired little vixen. Did I wear you out?”

“Yes. Feed me, Jake. I’m hungry, and it’s just too much work.”

“I suppose, if I must,” he teased.

Jake fed me so much I dropped into an exhausted stupor, and he gave me a light breakfast so I’d be somewhat coherent for my adventure in the spa. I had no idea what to expect in the spa, but I got side-swiped by the all-day event where I was fussed over from head to toe, complete with my hair being done, my nails being painted, and everything else between getting its fair share of attention. Apparently, Jake had fed them a sob story about the ‘accident’ we’d been in coupled with an unexpected metabolism problem to explain my current condition, and they joined him in treating me with tidbits of chocolate every time I turned around.