we land, are you planning to tell me more or do you need to keep me in the dark?”
Kate looked up from her ebook reader. It was the first time Connor had spoken to her on the long flight. His silence had stopped bothering her hours ago. He’d asked her not to make idle chatter and she’d respected the request. If he was angry at how she’d gone about convincing him to help her, she could accept that. “I’ll tell you what you need to know as you need to know it.” If she told him everything, he would ditch her. Maybe ditch her with enough resources to get home, but maybe not.
Her answer came out sharper than she’d intended. To her surprise, Connor appeared amused. “That’s the unofficial motto of the company where you work. Don’t believe it. It’s always better to know more.”
Was it? Kate had been happier before she’d uncovered one of Sphere’s secrets: they’d knowingly left a man behind enemy lines with no intention of rescuing him. If her contact in the Tumaran government hadn’t secretly passed on a rumor he’d heard and a picture of what looked like Aiden, she would have believed Aiden was dead. If she wasn’t successful in finding and liberating him, Aiden would die alone in a dirty cage. Now that she knew what Sphere had done, she couldn’t forget it and she couldn’t walk away from the situation. “Knowledge is power, but knowledge can also destroy someone.”
Connor’s smile faded and his eyes turned darker. “The job you’ve chosen isn’t an easy one.”
“I never expected it to be.” Although when she had been recruited by Sphere, she had been an idealist, expecting the agency to have pure and noble intentions. She had never heard of Sphere prior to them approaching her. Most people outside the organization had never heard of them. It was how they preferred it. When she accepted the job, she had viewed the agency as a superheroes-slash-secret-spies organization. Their resources had seemed infinite and their power unending. When they talked about the conflicts they had resolved and the potential disasters they had avoided, she had thought of them as the good guys.
Since then, she had developed a different view of her job and a much different view of the organization.
Connor studied her face, and his gaze dropped down for a second and then back up to meet her eyes. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as working there,” Connor said.
A mixture of insult and annoyance streamed through her. Kate had worked against the assumptions people drew about her from the time she was a teenager. Her blond hair, slim—which she used to think of as scrawny—figure and long legs brought to mind a woman with little brain activity who was overly preoccupied with her looks. It wasn’t the case. Her intelligence was her greatest strength. Either that, or the way people underestimated her. Pride lifted her chin. “I am good at my job.”
“No doubt. You wouldn’t have been hired if you were anything less than exceptional.”
No trace of sarcasm touched his words and they stunned her. He thought more highly of her than she’d first believed. Whenever she made an assumption about him, she was wrong. He hadn’t been happy to hear about his brother; he had been on edge and anxious. He hadn’t believed her proof that Aiden was alive; he’d questioned her extensively. He hadn’t wanted her help in locating Aiden; he’d wanted to work alone.
She’d be smart to remember not to rush to judgment about Connor. He kept his thoughts private and concealed, and might have been trained on intentionally misleading people. “If you know I’m competent, then have a little faith in me and trust that I’m doing the right thing.”
“We both know it’s unlikely I’ll trust you. When it comes to my brother’s safety and well-being, I’d rather not put a stranger in charge.”
Harsh, but honest. Most undercover operatives for Sphere weren’t known for their social graces. Those who were gifted with a silver tongue were often sent on missions that used their ability to con a target to meet their objectives. “Then at least recognize I will be useful in this mission,” Kate said.
His eyes traced down her body again. “Having you along will cause more distractions for me. I’ll need to watch over you.”
Distractions had a heated overtone to it. Was he flirting with her in his own Connor-esque way? Acknowledging the basic human attraction between the two of them? He could have picked up on her crush on him. Despite his borderline rudeness, her interest in him hadn’t diminished. The strange attraction was textbook. Her father had been a firefighter. Kate had adored him. He was strong, smart and successful with an edge of danger. It was the type of man Kate chased, perhaps wanting to have the deep, exciting relationship her parents had. “I can watch over myself.”
“If we’re a team, we should watch out for each other.”
Which was it? They were a team or she was an impediment to him? He was impossible. “You want us to work together.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Regardless of what he said or how he tried to confuse her, she’d act like a team the best she knew how. “I’ll look out for you and me, okay?” It was how she operated on a mission even if she was behind a computer. She could take care of herself. She’d had training from Sphere, including weapons handling, hand-to-hand combat and survival techniques. If she couldn’t handle this mission, she wouldn’t have insisted on coming. She had limitations, but she would rise to the challenge. She always did.
Connor shrugged, though not dismissively. “Working at a desk won’t give you the skills you need out here. I’ll do whatever I can so when I find my brother, he won’t be pissed that I let his girlfriend get hurt.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” Kate said. Where had Connor gotten that idea?
Connor lifted a brow. “I don’t believe you.”
Kate sighed. His unwillingness to trust her was a problem. She had been forthcoming about the fact that she was withholding information about Aiden. Why couldn’t he accept she was telling the truth about her relationship with Aiden? “I’m getting accustomed to that response from you.”
Connor let the conversation lapse into silence. He liked doing things his way and he didn’t let anyone into his private thoughts. Fine. She could deal with that. She had enough on her mind. Her most pressing concerns were Aiden and ignoring the fact that she was in an airplane thousands of feet from the ground. Sitting on the aisle seat lessened her phobia of heights slightly.
Her e-reader was her diversion. She returned to her book. It didn’t hold her attention despite being the latest release by her favorite author. Kate’s thoughts switched to the captivating man in the seat next to her. Connor and Aiden looked very much alike. Both brothers were tall, broad and dark, though Aiden’s hair was a shade lighter. Connor had shaved his beard and cut his hair shorter, giving him an appearance more like his brother. The similarities ended there. Their personalities were acutely different. Aiden, though businesslike in the field, was warm in person. Ten seconds with him, and he had people eating out of his hand. He had never questioned her or Sphere. He did as he was told and he did it well.
Connor, on the other hand, was icy and distrusting. His distrust had cost them a full day. He had gone out of his way to organize transportation when she had made careful arrangements. He still thought she might be setting him up. Maybe he’d picked up on her nervousness and had assumed she was leading him into a trap, not suffering from guilt.
When the captain of the airplane announced they would be descending, Kate turned off her e-reader and closed her eyes,
