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Arriving at the compound, I see Noah has his turn on the gate. Construction will be a pair of hands short today then. It also means I might catch Mateo free. Leaving my hog out front rather than running her around the back and out of sight, I leave my helmet on the mirror and head inside.

Walking into the rec room, a knife whistles past my nose and sticks into the head of a wooden target. Stopping dead in my tracks, I look to see what’s going on.

“I thought I told you to lock that door?” Vortex asks Mateo, with not a kindly look in his eye.

“I did lock it. You know I did. Pres went to go out earlier, and you were here when he tried the door and then went out through the kitchen.” Mateo defends himself with enough conviction that even though I wasn’t here, I believe him.

Vortex gives a ‘humph’ as though he’s not sure and then walks over and locks the door behind me.

“So Pres isn’t in then?” I ask no one in particular.

“No, he hasn’t come back yet,” Mateo says, twiddling with the knife in his hand, which he is obviously itching to throw, but I’m in his way.

“He’s back. He came back about ten minutes ago.” Vortex gives Mateo a smug look because he knew something that Mateo didn’t.

“You fucker! You let him in while I was getting us coffee, and you didn’t lock the door again!” Mateo lifts his arm as if to throw the knife, and Vortex holds his hands up in mock surrender.

“I may have overlooked that fact about the door, but as a prospect you will always shoulder any blame. You know, one of my old officers had a saying, my mistake, your fault.” Vortex tips his head and winks. I don’t know where everyone has got this winking thing from lately.

Just then, a woman appears from the hallway to the stairs. At one time I’d say she was a stunner, but the years haven’t been kind to her, or she had the longest paper round in history. I see Vortex straighten up at her presence, and I have a little smirk. I’ve never known him to show any kind of serious interest in a woman before. Interesting.

Mateo, on the other hand, has a different reaction to her. He turns his attention to me and says, “Fury, I don’t think you’ve met Bri’s older sister, Clodagh. Vortex and I helped her move here, as a favor to Saddle and Bri.” I may be imagining it, but I thought Mateo put a little emphasis on the ‘older’.

“Ah. The mysterious three-day mission that you two went on.” Turning from Mateo to Clodagh, I say, “Hello Clodagh, pleasure to meet you.”

“It could have been a greater pleasure if we’d met before your wedding, honey.” She bats her eyes at me and I swear I hear Vortex growl a little.

“You wouldn’t want anything to do with me. I’m definitely not your type.” If Vortex is interested in her, I don’t want any part of any flirting or game playing on her part.

“Mateo, can you come with me to see Pres, please?” I think leaving Vortex and Clodagh alone for a while might be a good thing.

“Oh, well. I’ll just go back to my room for a nap if nothing interesting is happening.” She gives a look to Vortex that I think was supposed to be either a come-on or dismissive. I couldn’t tell which.

Mateo excuses himself from Vortex and follows me towards Pres’s office. Knocking and entering when Pres calls out, I slip into a comfy chair and look at Pres.

“What do you want, Fury? I’m busy.” Pres sits back and waits for me to say my piece.

“I want a job.”

Pres and Mateo look at me as though I have grown a second head or something.

“I want a job,” I repeat as Pres hasn’t said anything. “Okay, I need a job.”

“What do you think I am? A fucking recruitment agency? Get the fuck out of my office and find yourself something productive to do. If you expect me to find you a job, I guarantee you won’t fucking like it. Now, get out.” He stands up as though he’s about to throw us out so I follow Mateo and we damn near scuttle out with our tails between our legs.

As soon as the door closes behind us, Mateo turns on me. “What the fuck, Fury? You drag me in there and throw me under the bus with Pres! He’s going to have eyes on me twenty-four-seven now, because he’ll think I had something to do with that shit. What the everlovin’ fuck!”

Before I open my mouth, the office door opens and Pres stands there. “Get your asses back in here!” Turning, he goes back to his desk but parks his butt on one corner rather than taking his seat. I swear I hear a gulp from Mateo behind me.

Not knowing what’s coming, I decide to stand at ease. Legs to shoulder width and hands clasped behind my back. Mateo follows my lead as he must think it’s some sort of requirement.

“Don’t push any more of my buttons, you fuckwits. Drop the fucking soldier shit and sit the fuck down.”

“I wish I’d hit you with that fucking knife when you walked in now, then I wouldn’t be in this fucking mess,” Mateo vehemently whispers to me.

“Care to share that with the rest of the class, Mateo? You want to behave like kids and whisper, I can treat you like kids.”

“No, Pres. Sorry, Pres.” Mateo keeps his eyes on the wall behind Pres’s desk, and I feel sorry for getting him into this. Though I can’t say how I even got myself into this, never mind him.