“Oh shit, yes. He’s yours for the duration. Don’t fuck it up. We need that book back to satisfy the client. Period.”
“But—”
“Yes or no? Because I can always give the case to Keegan and James. I’m sure they could pull this off.”
And then everyone would know he’d failed, that he couldn’t handle it, no matter that Gavin had messed up. It had been Aidan’s case to begin with. Hell, the team already looked at him with caution because of his telepathy. He didn’t want to add scorn to the mix. Look at how he viewed Gavin, that perennial screwup.
And speaking of the naive, sexy little nerd, “But he’s—”
“Yours to get up to speed. He’s smaller than you, and he wears innocence like a second skin. Get him all starry-eyed and mission-ready, and you might be surprised at what he can do.”
“Surprise is something I don’t need in the field,” Aidan muttered.
“You taking the case or not? I have work to do.”
“Hell yeah, I’m taking the case,” he snapped. He stood, but before he could leave, Jack tossed him the file.
“Get started fast. You have five days before you need to be in California. In the meantime, we’ll put together a package for you and your new boy toy. And Aidan? This is important. I have a feeling a lot of our tomorrows rest on this case.”
Aidan didn’t like Jack’s sober warning. But he liked the thought of partnering up with Gavin Caldwell even less. Christ, Gavin’s submissive to Aidan’s dominant? Why not just shoot him in the head and be done with it? He swore to himself all the way home, wondering how the hell he’d make their pseudorelationship work in time for a dungeon party with a well-known crime lord.
JACK STARED AT his empty doorway and frowned. The phone rang, and he picked it up. “Yeah?”
Owen Stallbridge answered, “Testy today, Jack. So you think this lead is real?”
“I just said so, didn’t I?” he growled. When Owen said nothing, the creeping tension climbing Jack’s spine moved faster. “What’s going on?”
“I heard from someone today I hadn’t talked to in months.” Silence. “She needs information from that book. Something’s not right. And if I don’t get the answers she needs, I’m worried we’re going to have a real problem on our hands. And by our, I mean you and me.”
Jack liked Owen, and the bastard knew it. But this was the first time Owen had included Jack in his personal problems. “What do you need me to do?”
“Come over, and we’ll talk. I can’t wait on this any longer, no matter what she says.”
Burning with curiosity—because nothing had fazed Owen in the two years Jack had known him—Jack agreed and said good-bye. He set the phone back in its cradle and left the office.
He ran into Kitty upstairs. Their day manager and resident empath, Kitty kept the gym and the team running smoothly. He didn’t know what he’d do without her. “I have to go, but I’ll be back soon.”
“Roger that.” She gave him a mock salute and grinned, her green eyes bright with enthusiasm. She pulled a rare answering grin out of him, her good mood infectious. “Make sure you watch your back. And drink more water. You look dehydrated.”
“Yes, Mom,” he mocked.
Kitty frowned. “Don’t make me open up a can of whoop-ass, boss. I’m a redhead. We’re known for our tempers.” The woman could calm a raging storm and often did. Temper. Right.
He waved. “I have my cell if you need me. Oh, and have Nathan on standby. I might need him later.”
“Sure thing.” She turned to help a gym patron needing her assistance, and Jack slipped out the door.
Time to fix what was broken. He could only hope Aidan would continue his streak of successes and that Gavin could do what needed to be done. Because if he didn’t let Gavin fix his mistake, he had a feeling the younger man would leave for good. And that he couldn’t let happen.
Chapter Two
Gavin groaned and fell back on the couch. His small condo overlooking the Deschutes River had been pricey but worth it. During the warmer months, he left his patio door open and listened to the rushing water, enjoying the calm that nature brought. Today’s low temperature kept the river’s music muted through the wind-blocking doors, so he lay on his cushy sofa and stared at the ceiling. He did that a lot lately, assessing and reassessing his life.
The need for action pricked beneath the surface. His intuition screamed at him to do something. He just didn’t know what. He’d like to go back to the gym, head downstairs into the underground training area known only to the team, and beat the hell out of someone. Namely, Aidan. The smug bastard.
He clenched his fists as an image of the man intruded on his thoughts. That blond hair was too long, his brown eyes too dark, his physical presence too overpowering. Everything about Aidan was a little too much. Gavin swore. Someday, Aidan would screw up. Mr. Perfect couldn’t be 100 percent right all the time. Gavin just hoped he’d be there when the dickhead tripped over his own feet.
It was easy to pick on Gavin. Yeah, he’d screwed up the first time an enemy had fired real bullets at him. Sue him—he’d frozen. A logical reaction most normal people might have. After freezing up, he’d shot straight up into the air, his fight-or-flight instincts on overdrive. Problem was, bullets could travel up. The smart thing would have been to take cover. At the time, he’d been with his trainer. Caleb Dalton was as big a jerk as Aidan, and the man had torn him a new one after saving his ass.
Did Gavin deserve the reprimand? Probably. But to fix Gavin’s fear, Dalton should have thrown him right back into danger, so that he could get used to life-and-death situations. Instead, Dalton had grounded him and ordered that he put his math degree to work saving the government money, an attitude Admiral London had seconded.
That hurt. Gavin greatly respected the admiral, so he strove to please him by doing the best job he could, even behind a desk. His efforts to be noticed had backfired, though. He’d been too good at his job, and no one wanted to let him return to the field.
“Kind of like now,” he grumbled and blinked when he realized the ceiling looked closer than it had before.
With a muffled oath, he glanced down at the receding couch, now several feet below his body. What he wouldn’t give for a useful talent. Something like Keegan’s powerful telekinesis, or James’s awesome ability to control fire. Aidan, as annoying as he was, could read minds.
Maybe that wasn’t such a good talent to have, Gavin thought as he lowered himself to the sofa once more. The PowerUp! group were a friendly bunch, but even among fellow psychics, Aidan stood apart. Gavin remained distanced because he’d failed and couldn’t bear the disdain he imagined sat at the forefront of the others’ minds. But Aidan always got the job done. It was his mind-reading ability that freaked out the team. Hell, it freaked Gavin out. He hated Aidan picking on him. But he wasn’t a kid. He couldn’t claim the guy bullied him, or he’d look like more of a weakling than usual.
Nobody bullied Jack. Or Keegan, James, Nathan, Avery, Noah, Chloe… He groaned. Ian, the slightest member of their team and newest addition, didn’t take anyone’s shit. Mess with him, and he’d empty your bank accounts or forge documents to land you in jail. Gavin could only threaten to hover high above his opponents. Yeah, big threat.
He sighed, wondering if tomorrow morning would suck as much as he thought it might. There was no way Jack would give him a job in the field. Gavin’s time with Kitty in the morning would no doubt be an exercise in patience, while the pretty empath convinced him to relax. Kitty manipulated emotion, but she seemed to actually like him, unlike the rest of the team.