Page 114 of Jonas

I couldn’t read while the television was on, so she could blow off my compliment all she wanted but I was still damn impressed.

Jonas used his grip on my wrist to bring my palm up to his lips and press a hard kiss there before he smiled. I couldn’t see his mouth since my hand was covering it, but I saw the crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

“You’re sure⁠—”

“Baby, I’m positive.”

We’d agreed to no bullshit, no hiding, straight-up trust and honesty.

So I took him at his word and nodded.

That earned me a real kiss, with tongue.

This lasted until Kira muttered, “Incoming.”

And still, Jonas took his time ending the kiss.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Once again, the vibe in the basement was tense as we waited for Zane to bring Penny down. Shockingly, even Cash and Lore had curbed their banter.

Easton was standing behind a sitting Nebraska, doing nothing to hide the fact he had his sidearm strapped to his hip. The rest of us were strapped, too, just not in your face about it. But I did notice that Cash had adjusted his t-shirt for easier access to his Glock should the need arise.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, then seconds later, a stunning blonde woman came into view. She took in the room but stumbled to a stop when her eyes hit Cash.

Lore made an untamed noise from the back of her throat that sounded like something a lioness would make.

Derrika scooted closer to me, not because she felt threatened by Penny. That was an ‘I told you so’ bump.

Fucking hell, shit was about to get more complicated.

“Is there a problem?” Lore ground out.

“No. Um. Sorry. No,” Penny stammered and quickly looked away from Cash.

Thankfully, Cash had better sense than to give one of his smirks. Which would only antagonize Lore.

“It’s not even noon, and it’s already been a long-ass day. Let’s get to it,” Zane prompted. “We looked into Operation Freebird.”

“Good. Yeah. So you know that was a primary hideout for POTUS.”

Thank fuck Penny wasn’t going to draw this shit out with a game of pretense and hide the truth.

“Yes,” Kira answered. “And it was frighteningly easy to find. How did you find it?”

“May I sit?” Penny asked. Zane waved to an empty chair. Penny pulled it out woodenly and all but collapsed into it. “Sorry, my nerves are rattled and I might be more than a little paranoid at the moment.”

“It’s okay.” Nebraska took over. “Take your time and start at the beginning.”

Her soothing voice worked wonders, and Penny blew out a long exhale. It wasn’t until she glanced back at Cash did she stiffen and start to fidget.

What the fuck was that?

“I’ve worked at the NSA for fifteen years. I work with type 1 cryptographic systems. Basically, I test the algorithms.”

“Holy shit,” Kira whispered.

“English for the rest of us,” Easton requested.