Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(11)

Actually that sounded delicious, but he knew if he went there wouldn’t just be food. There would be bonding and family stuff. “Thanks but I have a lot of work to do, Grace.”

“I’ll work on him.” His sister, Phoebe Murdoch, threaded an arm around his waist.

He couldn’t hold back with her. Phoebe was the one person on earth who sort of belonged to him. Not really, because she was married now, but she was the only one who remembered Jamie the way he was when they were young—when it was just him and Jamie and Phoebe. God, he missed his brother.

His grief felt as sharp today as it had the day he’d found Jamie’s body.

“How’s accounting, sis?” He didn’t need to bring Phoebe into his misery. She’d finally moved on. She was happy with Jesse and they were talking about babies. She teased him about being Uncle Ten.

He couldn’t tell her that he would be long gone by then. If this mission didn’t kill him, then he would disappear. He didn’t belong in anyone’s white picket fence happily ever after.

“It’s good. I enjoy it, though I have been keeping up with your endeavor. You know I think I should be in on this.”

No way. He’d already had a brother-to-husband talk with Jesse about this very thing. “You know you’re no longer a field agent.”

She walked with him toward his office, her easy affection one of the few comforts he could accept. “I know that. The crazy thing is I don’t really miss it. I actually am perfectly happy with accounting and payroll. But that doesn’t mean I’m not watching out for you. I want you to be careful.”

“I always am.” He was careful to get the job done. He wasn’t always so careful with his life. The job was more important.

He started down the hall that led to the tiny thing Big Tag called an office. It was insulting, but then he wasn’t here for long.

“I’m serious,” Phoebe insisted. “McDonald is dangerous. Look, I get that everything is perfectly safe as long as you’re at Sanctum, but once you hit the islands, you’re on his terms. I would feel better if I went in with you instead of Erin.”

“No.” He didn’t feel the need for any more explanation than that. “No” so perfectly summed up how he felt.

They stopped outside his office door. Phoebe gave him a frown that could freeze the balls off a man. “No? I think some form of debate is called for.”

Fine. He could give it to her. “Are you and Jesse going to stop having unprotected sex any time soon?”

She sighed. “If it means making sure you’re safe, then yes, Ten.”

He stopped. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

She turned and faced him. His sister never backed down, and he should have remembered that. “I don’t care what you like the sound of. You need to understand that I know what you’re doing and I won’t have it.”

“What am I doing?”

“You’re planning on doing anything you have to do to avenge Jamie, and I’m worried that if that includes sacrificing yourself, you’ll do it. I can’t let that happen. I owe to it our dad and to Jamie to make sure you’re safe.”

This was the last thing he wanted to talk about, but he couldn’t fight Phoebe. He could ignore everyone in the whole damn world with the singular exception of her. The petite woman in front of him was his lone remaining link to the world. Sometimes—and he wasn’t exactly proud of this fact—but sometimes he resented her for keeping him here. “I’ll be careful, Phoebe. I promise. I’m going to be okay. Once I deal with McDonald, I’ll handle my own situation. I’ll find a way to make it right.”

Meaning he would find a way to make it safe for him to live his life again. He was sure Phoebe thought after he handled this that there would be some way for him to come back and live in a world of backyard barbecues and football watching parties. A world where he was Uncle Ten and he went into some semi-safe job every day and got old and fat and happy.

Phoebe went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “See that you do. I’ll be back to pick at you until you agree to come to dinner.”

She turned on her kitten heels and strode away. She’d made it halfway down the hall when a door came open and a muscular arm shot out, dragging her in. Ten could hear Jesse Murdoch’s low laugh and knew that his sister was about to be taken care of.

The door to the conference room next to him opened. One of the daycare workers smiled as she walked out, a baby on her hip.

Yeah that never happened at the Agency either.

He ran into his office and closed the door behind him. He wasn’t about to get attached to any of those kids no matter how cute they were. He wasn’t getting involved with them any more than he wanted to get cozy with the women.

He wouldn’t be here in a few months. It was best he left as little of himself behind here as possible. He’d learned early on to keep his suitcase packed because he never knew when he was going to be leaving. This time he did, and he wasn’t going to hurt anyone when he went.

He sat down at his desk and the photo of Faith McDonald slipped from his grip and onto the tabletop.

Well, maybe one person. He’d hurt her, but there wasn’t any help for it.

With a long sigh, he turned on his laptop and started writing an introductory letter to his first—and only—submissive.