Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“Hey, remember you tried teaching me about hugs?” I said, shooting him a pathetic smile. “Think you can show me how they work again?”
The relieved look on his face was all I needed. And when he came into my arms and tucked his nose in my neck, I remembered why the Paxis Council did what it did.
To protect people. To make sure their loved ones came home at night.
To preserve moments like this.
25
JETT
Something was definitely wrong. The tension in Locke’s body was palpable. His muscles were coiled as if waiting for an attack. But it wasn’t until my nose brushed the pulse in his neck that I realized how rapidly his heart was beating.
“Talk to me,” I said softly. “Please.”
Locke didn’t move or speak, only held me tighter and inhaled me.
I moved my hands up and down his back before trying to massage the tightness at the top of his shoulders. “Mm, that feels amazing,” he said.
“Why do you play Paxis with a drug lord?” I asked, pulling away and meeting his eye.
He didn’t shy away from eye contact, but he didn’t answer me either. So I continued.
“Because there’s no fucking way all these important people are here for a friendly game of chess. I don’t care how fancy the boards are.”
His jaw flexed, the one reliable indicator that he was anxious. Locke’s hands came up to hold my face, his thumbs moving over my cheekbones. “I don’t know what you’re implying. When have you heard me do anything other than Maris work or game play?” he asked. “You’ve seen my email and slept in my bed.”
He was right, of course. And when he said it like that, it sounded ridiculous. But so had this unlikely collection of supposed chess players, when Rocky had reminded me of it.
The instincts I’d developed as an agent were leading me in one direction. My instincts about Locke, the complete opposite.
Which was I supposed to follow?
“If I challenged anyone here to a game of Paxis…” I began, thinking of how dumbed down their play had seemed.
“They’d all kick your ass in an embarrassingly short number of moves,” he finished, sounding very sure of himself.
“In case you forgot, I’m pretty good at games, John Locke Maris,” I teased.
Locke smiled and ran his thumb over my lower lip, following the movement with his eyes. “You figured out what J stood for?”
I’d always known, of course. He was in the goddamned ESP database now. But it had been fun pretending to guess.
“It explains a lot. John Locke, like the philosopher. ‘What worries you, masters you,’” I quoted, running a finger along the ever-present divot between Locke’s eyebrows. “Which of your parents had a love of philosophy?”
He shook his head, blushing slightly. “Neither. My mother met a famous hockey player at a fundraiser when she was pregnant with me. He was charming and successful, and his name was Locke Bennett. The John is from the original Maris who founded the shipping line. My mother was convinced I needed to be named after him to safeguard my legacy as the family heir. As if being the only son of an only son wasn’t enough.”
“If you wanted to play more Paxis right now, I could have played with you,” I offered, remembering how stung I’d felt when he wanted to play more Paxis instead of spending time in bed with me.
His fingers continued moving gently over my face as if memorizing it. And his eyes were filled with unexpected affection. “I appreciate that. It’s not quite the same.” He took in a breath and held it before letting it out. “After? Will you play with me later tonight?”
Locke’s lips tightened into a thin line, and he dropped his hands to my hips. “Before you answer that, I should probably warn you that my session with the others might go long. And I don’t want a repeat of other nights, where I say I’m going to be there and then don’t show.”
It was probably pretty sad that this basic courtesy made my heart leap and my stomach swoosh. But it was the first time I’d felt that, even while stressed, I still ranked among Locke’s priorities.
I leaned forward and kissed his chin, then jaw. “I’ll wait for you in your bed. If you feel like more Paxis when you get here, great. If not, we’ll play another time, okay?”
His face warmed with satisfaction in a way that made me second-guess my suspicions. It wasn’t until he’d left me to take a quick shower and shave that I remembered he’d never answered my question about Alvarado.
Curiosity hummed under my skin. I’d been distracted. Locke’s pendulum was a dizzying ride, but it was time to focus.
Locke was right that I hadn’t seen anything suspicious. I’d been in that room and watched some of the game play. No one spoke, or they spoke minimally. In and out of that room were serving staff, spouses, administrative helpers. The boards, while intricately adorned, were regular chessboards, and the pieces the same. They weren’t electronic, at least as far as I could tell. Locke had brought his set back to the suite tonight before taking it again, and he’d set it right back in the same place it had been, nowhere near a charging cable of any kind.