Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7) by Kaylie Hunter (great books for teens txt) 📗

“She’s too smart to get caught holding the money,” Donovan said. “She knows her way around the system. If she was involved—and I’m not convinced yet—she’d have Santiago fund a foreign bank account under a false ID.”

“Why do you think she’s innocent?” I asked Donovan.

“I don’t, but that doesn’t make her guilty either. You want her to be guilty. I get that, but as Maggie said, Sebrina’s competitive. Just because she wasn’t assigned the Remirez case, doesn’t mean she’s not working it.”

“He’s right,” Bones agreed. “Taking the Remirez family down single handedly would be right up her alley. She likes to be in the spotlight and doesn’t play well with others.”

“Tell me more about her,” I said, watching them. “How is it that so many of you ended up sleeping with her?”

Maggie and Nightcrawler looked back and forth at Bones and Donovan.

Bones sighed, rubbing his jaw. “Really, Donovan? You felt the need to share that?”

“What?” Bridget asked, looking over her shoulder at Bones. “It’s not like either of us were virgins when we hooked up.”

“It’s different,” Bones said, shaking his head. “We were in the military still. Things were…”

“Less emotional and more physical?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Donovan said. “It was sex, not love.”

“Until Grady fell for her,” Bones said.

“What was everyone’s relationship like before Grady and Sebrina got serious?”

“Convenient,” Bones answered with a shrug. “If one of us—or two of us—landed in the same place as Sebrina with time available, we’d spend it between the sheets.”

“Or... in the back of a Humvee. Or… against a tree in the rainforest.” Donovan raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. “If any of this gets back to Lisa, there’ll be hell to pay.”

I waved off his concern. “Was it just sex for Sebrina?”

“She enjoyed sex, but it was more of a power trip for her,” Bones said.

“She liked being the center of attention,” Maggie said, nodding. “She was turned on by it. I can see that based on her profile.”

“Exactly,” Bones said. “None of us thought anything about sharing her because it was something she wanted, and we already respected her for the work she did with the army.”

“Why was Grady different?” I asked.

“At first he wasn’t,” Bones said.

“His first encounter with her was a group event,” Donovan said. “Bones and Grady spent time with Sebrina while Ryan watched.”

“What changed?”

“Grady changed,” Bones said. “It was after a mission that had gone bad. We all tried to help him shake off the mission, but we weren’t having any luck. We arranged to meet Sebrina in Germany for a long weekend.”

 “Grady didn’t participate. He just watched,” Donovan said, looking at me to see if I wanted him to continue.

I nodded.

“Sebrina had been watched plenty of times before, but that night, she couldn’t take her eyes off Grady. It was the same for him. It was like they suddenly saw each other.”

“The rest of the weekend, it was just the two of them,” Bones said. “Two weeks later, we were out on a mission when he finally admitted that they’d gotten hitched.”

“Just like that? They got married and reported back to work?” Katie asked.

“Sebrina was in the field a lot for counterintelligence missions. We ran into her every few weeks while we worked missions of our own,” Donovan explained.

“During the rare breaks between missions, everyone met up in Germany,” Bones said. “It wasn’t as far to travel as the U.S. so it became our off-duty destination. Sebrina included.”

“You could’ve traveled to Italy, Greece, or went to Paris,” Bridget said. “Why Germany?”

Bones laughed, rubbing her shoulder. “We weren’t looking for romantic getaways. We wanted to get drunk, get laid, and relax in a country where we were less likely to be shot.”

“Our stomping ground was also close to the Army hospital,” Donovan said. “It made it easier to visit each other anytime one of us got shot.” Donovan pointed to Bones.

“I was only shot twice. Grady spent more time at Landstuhl than I did.”

I shook my head at Bones and Donovan. They were having fun reminiscing. Lifting my glass, I took a slow sip of my cognac and closed my eyes.

“Where do I get one of those?” Maggie asked.

I opened my eyes and saw she was pointing at my drink. “My basement bar.”

Maggie hurried toward the tunnels.

“Bring a couple of glasses and the bottle,” Donovan called out. “I’m already in the doghouse with Lisa. I might as well enjoy the downtime.”

“Dangerous words, brother,” Bones said, grinning.

“What were Grady and Sebrina like after they married?” I asked.

“At first, nothing changed,” Donovan said. “Other than Sebrina was no longer part of our sexual experiences.”

“Eventually things got weird, though,” Bones said, shaking his head. “Sebrina enjoyed group sex, but Grady wasn’t having any part of it. Not as his wife. Being watched during sex was enough for Grady. He didn’t need anyone else in the bed with them.”

“This is way too much fucking information,” Nightcrawler said.

“Agreed,” Tyler said, still leaning against the wall while he watched out the window. “How’s this relevant?”

“It’s uncomfortable, I’ll admit,” I said, rubbing my neck. “But understanding what makes Sebrina tick will help us unravel her faster. I’m not willing to let this situation with the cartel drag on for the next six months. One way or another, that bitch has got to go.”

“Amen, sister,” Bridget said, reaching over to tap our brandy glasses.

Maggie returned with several glasses and the cognac. I helped her set the glasses down and then filled a few before topping off Bridget’s glass and mine.

“Damn. This is good,” Maggie said after taking a sip.

“It’s three thousand a bottle,” Donovan said.

“Must be nice to be rich,” Maggie said, taking another drink.

“It was a present from Mickey,” I said.

Maggie