We hold each other, my legs and arms wrapped around him, his massive body collapsed over mine, our breathing heavy and rapid. I don’t want to let him go, but he heaves and falls to his side, pulling me against him. I clutch the edge of the comforter and pull it around us.

“Damn, Alex. I think I love you.”

CHAPTER 25

Alex

“I about flipped out when I read your billionaire friend offered one hundred million dollars in ransom,” Sabrina says. “I wish I’d known something. Anything. That’s like lottery money, right there.” We’re in line at Common Grounds, our favorite coffee shop.

“He didn’t offer the money in ransom.” The person standing in line in front of us glances over her shoulder. I offer her a small smile, then notice the white earbuds in her ear. She turns her attention back to the menu board. “The kidnappers refused to provide proof of life. They refused to negotiate. We didn’t have any reason to believe they’d turn her over, but we did know there was more than one person involved. We bet that if we offered twice the ransom in the form of a reward for information that led to her recovery, and we made her recovery a requirement for the reward being paid, there would be dissension.”

“Huh,” she says as we take a step forward. “You bet that honor among thieves would break down with enough financial incentive.”

“We bet greed would win out, yeah.”

She cocks her head to the side and zeroes in on me. She brings her index finger up to her cheek, and her thumb goes below her chin. It’s her version of the Hillary-Clinton-I’m-gonna-figure-you-out pose.

“There was no we. That was your idea.”

I roll my eyes and look away from her, but I can feel my smile erupting.

“Look at you.” She taps my arm. “How cool is that?”

I scrunch my nose and agree, “It is pretty rad.”

“So, will you be working with the FBI from now on?” she asks, her excitement clear in her smile and the bounce on her heels.

“I doubt it. I could potentially apply for a position. They also hire outside resources. But…” My preference would be to stay here in Santa Barbara and continue helping Arrow when and how I can. But, given I’m sleeping with the founder, I pretty much squandered that option. My dad’s disappointed expression comes out of nowhere, wordlessly telling me he told me so.

“I don’t want you to leave. Would you have to move to, like, Virginia or somewhere?” She’s thinking of Quantico, the infamous FBI training ground.

“Don’t worry. It’s not going to happen.”

It’s our turn to order, effectively ending that line of conversation. Coffee in hand, we find a tall round table and place our items on it.

“How are things with you and that SEAL?”

I side-eye my friend. She’s not paying attention to me, though, as she’s busy attempting to smoothly spread cream cheese onto half of her muffin. In the helicopter ride the other day, I dished a lot. I needed to get things off my chest.