Next, a woman in a business suit, all energy and efficiency. She marched up to Bradan. “We’ve got everything planned for the party, when you come home,” she told him, adjusting his jacket. “Bethany’s cooking, Emily’s decorating, I’m getting the booze, Olivia’s baking flapjacks—”

I saw Colton’s head jerk up at the mention of cookies.

“So…” The woman adjusted his jacket again. She was breathing fast, like she was trying not to cry. “So just…don’t be late, okay?”

Bradan smoothly captured her hands and held them in his. “Okay,” he said softly.

Another woman quietly entered, accompanied by a couple of guys in dark suits who took up positions by the door. Emily Matthews! The President’s daughter. She hugged the other women in turn and then went over to Kian and squeezed his hand.

“I wish I was going with them,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

Emily glanced up at him and then looked around at the other women. I could see the conflict on her face: relief that he was staying here but guilt, too, that she’d be the only woman not worried sick for the next twenty-four hours. She squeezed his hand again.

I looked at the clock. JD had said the team was heading out at noon and it was ten to, but there was no sign of Danny. And no women had shown up to say goodbye to him. What about the two from the bar the night before? There should be a whole crowd of women waving him off.

Unless…he hadn’t told any of those women he was going. If he really did keep it just sex, never getting attached… He’d have no one to say goodbye to, no one to worry about him while he was away. That’s so lonely!

A woman strolled in from the kitchen in torn jeans and a hoodie snacking on a bag of chocolate-covered raisins. “Can’t believe you’re flying commercial,” she said. “I could have flown you, you know.”

“This is Gina, our helicopter pilot,” Gabriel told me. “I didn’t know you could fly fixed-wing.”

Gina gave him a look. “I can fly anything. Don’t come crying to me when some kid drops ice cream down your neck and they run out of peanuts.”

As she moved away, Gabriel took me to one side. He gave me a wolfish smile and I flushed a little. JD had told me about his background and, looking into those hazel eyes, glittering with intelligence, I could absolutely imagine him masterminding some daring heist. He reminded me of a highwayman: not evil or violent, more romantic scoundrel. Supposedly he was reformed, now, but there was still something about him that was seductively wicked. “You grew up with JD, right?” he asked.

I nodded.

“So you must know what his real name is,” said Gabriel, grinning. “I’ve got a book going.”