Steele's hand moved to my back and rubbed soothing circles. "We'll work it out, Hellcat. You're not in this alone, remember? We'll take care of the assassins and Kruger in a little over a week. Then we can deal with the stalker. I give it a month and we'll be free to start over on a tropical island somewhere."
I gave a bitter laugh. "I hate beaches; sand gets everywhere. Can we get some sexy mountain cabin near a lake or waterfall or something?"
Archer shot me a grin across the table. "Somewhere with awesome lightning storms?"
I moaned and nodded enthusiastically. "And snow. I freaking love the snow."
"Sold," Kody announced as he slapped the table. "I'll get my real estate agent onto it. In the meantime, Archer, you're late for training. If you don't win your fight in two weeks, MK isn't gonna give us that four-way you've been dreaming about."
Archer choked on the mouthful of juice he'd just taken, spluttering as he scowled at Kody. "What the—"
"Don't act innocent," Kody teased. "It's all over your face. You got a taste of group sex, and now you're a goddamn addict. You know you talk in your sleep?"
A faint blush crept up Archer's neck, barely noticeable under his tattoos, but he glared at Kody anyway and shook his head. "You're a dick," he muttered as he finished his juice and pushed back his chair. "You coming, Princess? I can help work on your grappling game again."
I let out a low laugh. "Nice try," I replied. "I'm going back to bed. Kody was nice enough to move my session to this afternoon." I shot my trainer a sly grin, and he winked back at me. Yeah, we’d had a late night.
"I hate you all," Archer mumbled, stalking out of the kitchen.
"Hey!" Steele shouted. "What'd I do?"
Archer just flipped him off and disappeared in the general direction of the gym. Kody helped Steele and I collect up all the breakfast plates, then dropped a quick kiss on my lips.
"Actually sleep, babe," he told me in a murmur, "and make Steele sleep too. He looks like shit warmed up."
"Harsh, bro," Steele muttered as he rinsed off the sticky plates so we wouldn't attract ants. Despite the fact that we had household staff, the boys were surprisingly thoughtful in small tasks like that. I'd even caught Archer emptying the dishwasher several days ago.
Kody snickered a laugh and clapped him on the shoulder. "I call it how I see it. Now, I'm gonna go make Archer wish he'd never met me." His evil chuckle lingered behind as he left the kitchen, and I couldn't help smiling.
I fucking loved that idiot, and I was well past due to tell him that.
"So." Steele looped his arms around my waist from behind and kissed my neck. "I'm pretty sure Kody just told you to sleep with me, Hellcat."
I chuckled and leaned back into his embrace. "He did. Sleep. Come on; you need a shower first." Linking my hand with his, I gave him a suggestive brow waggle and tugged him out of the kitchen with me.
He took no coaxing whatsoever. Especially when I generously offered to scrub his back for him in the shower. After all, Kody's order had only been about sleeping, not showering, and it was a proven fact that sleep was better after sex.
26
Later in the day I was in the gym with Kody, punching his pads with gloved hands as he barked commands at me. He was all business for our training session, and I wasn't arguing. Our stalker mail always seemed to refocus on the stakes at hand.
The intercom near the door buzzed, and I paused my punches to raise a brow in question.
"I've got it," Archer muttered, getting up from his seat against the wall where he'd been watching and offering critiques. He moved over to the wall-mounted intercom and pressed the button to answer the call. "Yeah?"
"Sir," the man on the other end said, "there's someone here at the gate asking to speak with Miss Danvers. Says his name is Barker?"
I frowned and swiped sweat off my face with the towel Kody passed me. Why the fuck would Bark be here? Chasing more alien theories?
"Sorry," the guard amended, "Professor Barker."
Even stranger still. Archer met my gaze, silently asking what I wanted to do, and I shrugged. "I'm curious. Aren't you?"
Kody snorted a laugh. "When are you not curious, babe?"
"Shut up." I socked a gloved punch at his hard abs. He let out an ooph, even though I doubted it'd hurt him even in the slightest. My ego liked it, though.
Archer just shrugged and pressed the intercom button again. "Let him up," he told the gate guard.
Steele groaned and sat up from the weight bench, where he seemed to have been napping for the past half hour. "I'll grab some guns," he announced with a yawn, "never can be too careful."
Holding my hands out for Kody to unstrap my gloves, I agreed with a sigh. "True that,"
He tugged them off my hands, then smacked a kiss on my cheek. "Go get changed, if you want. We can make the good professor wait."
I gave a short laugh but took him up on that offer. I still remembered the leering way Professor Barker had offered me extra credit when my grades had started slipping. So I really had no desire to chat with him while coated in sweat and wearing just a sports bra and shorts.
When I returned back downstairs some fifteen minutes later, freshly showered and dressed in jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt, I found the boys sitting with Professor Barker in the formal dining room. Or, as I was starting to think of it, the interrogation room.
They weren't even trying to be subtle, either. Archer sat opposite Professor Barker with his gun on the table in front of him. Steele leaned on the wall behind Archer, and Kody slouched causally at the head of the table.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," I commented with a tight smile, not meaning a damn word of my apology. "I'm a bit surprised to see you here, Professor Barker."
"Please, call me Roy," he told me with a brittle smile. He'd told me that once before, and just like then, I pretended I hadn't heard him.
"So, what can we do for you, professor? I withdrew from your class weeks ago." I sat down in the chair that Archer pushed out for me beside him.
Professor Barker cleared his throat, his eyes flickering uncomfortably to the gun in front of Archer, then back to me. "Well, I got the feeling our last meeting might have left you the wrong impression of me, Madison Kate."
"It's Miss Danvers," Archer corrected him. "You're not on a first-name basis."
Professor Barker flashed a tight smile. "Or is it Mrs. D'Ath?"
Archer stilled beside me, and I gently placed a hand on his knee under the table. I wanted to hear what the fuck the creepy professor was here for before his brains decorated the ugly wallpaper.
The professor puffed up a bit like he had regained a bit of his confidence. "See, I noticed your engagement announcement in the Gazette and thought it was a bit odd... After all, I could have sworn I saw your filed marriage certificate at the courthouse more than a year ago."
I heaved a sigh. "That's a shame."
His smile faltered. "What is?"
"You," I replied with a shrug. "We're probably going to have to kill you now. But I guess if you came here with some important information for us...?" I left the question open, quietly hoping he had nothing. I didn't like him; he gave me the damn creeps. Apparently I'd already become jaded because I had zero qualms about leaving Bark without a dad.