Page 67 of Too Guarded to Love

You’re family too.

Hours later, those three little words played in Nic’s head on repeat as he ducked to the left and avoided Linc’s punch. Spinning, he embraced the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he landed a roundhouse kick to Linc’s gut.

Linc smiled, his teeth too perfect for a guy who grew up fighting and wound an uppercut to Nic’s solar plexus.

Nic dropped and rolled. Wiping sweat from his brow, he sprung to his feet. “Stop holding back.”

“I’m giving you a chance to talk about your feelings before I kick your ass.”

“Fuck you, flyboy.”

Linc landed a punch to Nic’s cheek.

Pain flared in his face despite the protective headgear. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

“Then spit it out so we can focus on the fight.”

Dammit, Linc was right. Tearing off the gloves and headgear, Nic strode off the mat and sat on the edge of a weight bench. They’d uncovered a lot of shit in the war room earlier, and he hadn’t processed it yet. “I’m not sure where to start.”

“How about with Natalie the psycho avenger?”

He dropped his head in his hands. “This is so fucked up.”

Linc sat on the floor and wiped a towel over his sweaty face. “You know what’s even more fucked up. A smart chick with a vendetta. It’s pretty ballsy of her to make appearances after each hit. I mean, I admire ballsy, but…”

Chris and Kane jogged over from the treadmills.

“I just heard from Scarlett.” Chris pulled up the edge of his T-shirt and wiped sweat from his chin. “Seems Henry Richardson and his new bride are hoping for a wedding present. Guess what intel suggests they want?”

Nic unwrapped the tape from his hand. “Matching engraved handcuffs?”

“Good answer, but they want something a little bigger they can wear.”

“They found out about the wearable weaponry and want the schematics, don’t they?”

“They don’t just want them. They want to regift them to the Middle Eastern faction Richardson stiffed when he didn’t deliver Scarlett. Since they didn’t get the genius, they at least want her ideas.”

Nic didn’t need to ask how they knew about the wearables. A traitor inside VIPER had compromised their secrets when all the shit had gone down with Scarlett. But despite the screwed-up situation, Nic smiled.

The wearable weaponry, made from the same steel as their limbs but compressed into a thin, pliable material, gave the wearer the ability to employ V-Strike technology. Scarlett’s first prototype was an arm sleeve. Once on the body, the sleeve synced with sensors embedded under the skin and networked with the brain. He’d been looking forward to seeing jaws drop at the demonstration they were giving the Pentagon brass at the president’s birthday party.

Linc rocked back on his tailbone and sprang to his feet. “No way in fucking hell is Richardson, or the Diablos, getting their hands on the wearables. Those babies are mine. If the V-Strike sleeves do what Scarlett promises, I’ll have four super limbs.”

Hudson sauntered over, sweat pouring down his bare chest. “Are you talking about Scarlett’s wearables? Gage and I get them first. We don’t have any steel.” He picked up a weight and curled it. “Edgar brought me up to speed on everything that’s developed in the last twenty-four hours. Any idea how Jonathan Garrity fits into all this? It can’t be a coincidence that Kane’s sister was dating a man with ties to our arch nemesis.”

Kane and Nic looked at each other. Neither of them thought anything that had happened since Olivia had come to DC had been a coincidence.

Olivia swiped sparkly lilac nail polish she’d borrowed from Beth on Gran’s pinkie.

Gran held her hand up and examined her nails. “Now that’s how to make a girl feel alive.” She patted Olivia’s arm. “We haven’t had a chance to talk alone since I woke up.”

“No, you’re like the Level Black queen and everyone wants an audience with you.”

And Gran didn’t seem to mind that the mere act of knowing the loyal subjects she loved like family had almost gotten her killed.

“Gran? About your soulmate sense…do you happen to, uh, feel anything about me and Nic?”

Gran closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she slowly opened them. “I’m sorry, Livvie. Even though all my tests said my brain is working just fine, everything in my head is still fuzzy. I don’t quite know what I’m feeling.”