“Yeah, well, ménage is our reality. A lot of women have the fantasy. They tend to run once real life sets in.” Jake stalked off toward Ian’s office.
“He’s not going down easy,” Eve said with a shake of her head. “How are his parents?”
Adam watched him go. “Still on the road, living like gypsies. The last time they came through town, he got the lecture on how killing people for a living brought shame to them all. His family is a wreck in the precise opposite way mine is. We run the whole spectrum.”
“If I could get that man on a shrink’s couch, I would.”
“It wouldn’t do any good. He’s not going to forgive himself. He jokes about Jennifer sometimes, but he still feels the shame of getting kicked out. And then his mom tries to shame him for joining up in the first place. But nothing quite compares with being discharged the way he was. I should know.” That single act had cost him his family.
“Adam, hundreds of soldiers have affairs every day. It’s ridiculous that they discharged you.”
“That’s what happens to the unconventional.” Maybe he should cut Jake a little slack. Maybe he should slow this whole thing down. Jake had his reasons to be wary.
“Adam?”
He turned and saw Serena standing next to him, gazing up with those green eyes that punched him in the gut every time he looked in them. Nope. He probably wasn’t going to slow down. It was his fatal flaw, but he had never learned to slow down. Every time he got kicked to the fucking curb, he just bounced back. Maybe he was the masochist. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Where should I wait?” She had a pen and small notebook in her hand. The minute she wasn’t directly engaged with someone, she would sink back into her writing. Her secret world.
That wasn’t happening right now.
Eve smiled. “You’re with me, Ms. Brooks. I’m Dr. Eve St. James. It is so nice to meet you.”
“I have to see a doctor?”
Adam felt a deep sense of satisfaction that she looked to him. The question hadn’t been directed at Eve. She’d instinctively looked to him for protection. Perfect.
He used his calmest tone on her, taking her hand in his. “Eve isn’t a medical doctor. She’s our profiler. She wants to ask you some questions that will help us figure out who this man is. We won’t know a name, but we will have a type.”
Her eyes lit up, and now she turned to Eve. “Seriously, you’re a profiler. A real profiler?”
Adam stifled a laugh. He knew how to get Serena’s motor running. All he had to do was introduce her to anyone who could answer a few questions.
“Absolutely. I used to work for the FBI, but Big Tag pays way better.” Eve had a smile on her face, but there was a hitch to her words. Tag might pay better, but that wasn’t the reason Eve had left the FBI. It wasn’t the reason Alex had brought her on the team, hoping and praying that work could fix his ex-wife.
“That is incredibly cool. I write romantic suspense. I have a lot of law enforcement characters.” Serena started to follow Eve down the hall toward her office. He’d been forgotten in the mad search for information.
“Adam!”
He rolled his eyes at Ian’s bark. The boss was in a shitty mood. He strode down the opposite hall and entered Ian’s domain. A stunning view of the Dallas skyline dominated the huge office. A heavenly smell permeated the air, reminding Adam that his only breakfast had been a granola bar. He was going to have to stock Serena’s fridge. A man needed meat.
“God, that smells good.” Adam eyed the container on Ian’s desk.
“Don’t you even fucking look at it.” Ian sank into his chair, pulling the bowl toward him like a prisoner who only got one meal a day and would shank anyone who threatened to take it. “It’s Sean’s mac and cheese. I don’t know what he does to it. It’s like the best thing I ever ate.”
“Sean is feeding you again?” Jake asked. As far as Adam and Jake knew, Sean still wasn’t talking to his brother with anything but rude hand gestures and four-letter words.
Ian’s face turned down. “No. Grace takes pity on me, though. If I have a relationship with my brother after this, it will be my sister-in-law’s doing. I know I disapproved of the relationship, but, damn, I love that woman. Sean couldn’t have done better. One day.”
Adam knew what that meant. One day Sean would forgive him for that terrible night when Ian had been forced to choose between Grace’s life and Sean’s. He’d chosen his brother, and Grace had nearly died. Of course, it was the same night Adam had nearly died, too.