Keeping Briar in his life was worth every bit of patience he had.
“You’ll show me the ropes?” she whispered.
Matt buried his lips in her hair. “Every single one I know, honey. And the rest we’ll learn together.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The peal of the doorbell woke Matt the next morning from a deep, dreamless sleep.
“I’ll get it,” Briar mumbled, already sitting up.
He struggled up on his right elbow as Briar rolled out of the bed, dragged on the clothes she’d worn last night and rushed from the room, tucking her pistol into the back of her waistband. He sat up and blinked to clear his vision. The clock on the nightstand read a few minutes after nine.
Groaning, his wounded shoulder sore as fuck, he managed to yank his shirt and pants on before hurrying after her. Familiar voices reached him from near the front door. He started down the stairs. Rycroft, Celida, Tuck and Bauer were all in the foyer, talking to Briar. They all looked up at him as he descended.
“You look like shit,” Bauer told him.
“Morning to you too,” he muttered.
Tuck lifted a tray full of coffee cups. “We come bearing gifts.”
“And good news,” Rycroft added.
Matt dragged a hand down his face, still trying to clear the last of the fog from his brain. “Go ahead and sit down,” he said, waving them toward the kitchen/family room. He sat on the couch next to Briar, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “So, what’s the news?” he asked, nodding his thanks as Tuck passed both of them a coffee. The moment the first sip hit his tongue his brain perked up.
“Bauer and I wanted to check on you,” Tuck said.
Celida snorted at her fiancé. “He means they’re both nosy as hell and wanted to hear this before anyone else does.”
Rycroft lowered his cup, looking at Briar. “You’ve got some meetings and debriefings scheduled at Langley in a couple hours, but to save you the suspense, the CIA is dropping the charges against you. You’re name’s being cleared.”
She sighed in relief and relaxed against Matt with a smile. “That is good news.”
Rycroft nodded. “The Director and Deputy Director are both going to meet with you personally this morning. You’ll likely be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement to keep this from going public.”
“I’m fine with that. I’m the last person to want publicity, let alone for all this.”
His gray eyes studied her shrewdly. “Think you’ll stay on there?”
“No. I’m done with The Company. I’ll make that clear today.”
Now Rycroft grinned. A pleased, shrewd grin. “Thought you might say that. I’d love to have you work for me. Let’s set up a meeting to talk things over.”
Briar sat up straighter, seeming intrigued. “Work for you in what capacity?” She’d told Matt she was burned out on doing hits, but he didn’t think the NSA did that sort of thing anyhow.
Rycroft shrugged. “We’ll work something out. And you could work from the Fort Meade office. If you were thinking about moving into the area,” he added, glancing between her and Matt.
Matt set his coffee aside and hugged her close. They hadn’t talked about the details yet but he absolutely wanted her to move down here. Hopefully into his place when she was ready. He wanted to learn all her habits, good and bad. Find out more of her quirks, her interests, likes and dislikes. Fall asleep beside her and wake up to her face every single morning they were both home together.
“I appreciate the offer. I’ll think about it,” was all she said, though Matt could tell she was secretly excited about the idea. It was getting easier to read her.
“And now for the good stuff,” Celida said, placing her coffee cup on the table. “Balducci’s still in the hospital. They operated on his leg and arm last night. Your shot busted his femur and he needed plenty of plates and screws to put his bones back together,” she told Briar, dark eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “So far he’s been denying everything but we’ve got more than enough evidence to show he’s lying and of course everything he says is being recorded.
“He and his lawyers know he’s in deep shit, so it’s just a matter of time before he confesses to avoid the death penalty. All his accounts and assets have been frozen and half of Washington already knows what he’s done, even though it hasn’t hit mainstream media yet. There won’t be any deal to reduce his sentence. He’s done and will be put away for the rest of his life.”
“Good.” A wealth of emotion filled Briar’s voice, her eyes blazing when Matt looked down at her. “What about his wife?”