Fields of Clover - THE SPECTER SERIES [book two]

Chapter SEVEN

Patrick O'connor

I was up before the sun, my bed was made and my boots on before first light appeared over the horizon..

Not that I actually slept.. After reluctantly putting Yevie into her bed - because I could have watched her curled up next to me on the sofa all night - I had laid down for a couple hours just fantasising about her..

It was those god damned sexy little silk pyjamas she wore all evening.. I could barely look at her without my cock throbbing to life..
I tried a cold shower around one in the morning, thinking it might cool off my heated thoughts as well as my burning blood..
That didn't work..

I had all this crazy stupid energy and had needed a release..
So yeah, okay, I had jerked off in her bathroom. A guys got to do what a guys got to do sometimes..

But I wasn't expecting her to sneak down the hallway and watch.. I had heard her door click open and her soft tip toed steps down the hall.. I contemplated stopping.. But in reality I'm pretty fucking sick of trying to resist her.. Maybe I was even hoping she would join me.. But when I had groaned her name.. Half teasingly.. She had run away, back to her room.. I have no fucking clue what that means..

"You with me O'connor?" My boss, Archer West, snaps his fingers in front of my face..

"Ah.. Yep.." He frowns at me and I know that I've missed something...

Sitting in the living room of Archers loft style apartment, trying to focus on anything but what I have to do.. I have to tell my boss I've been working a job on the side and he's probably not going to like it..

"Yep? Yep, what?" He gives me his typical blank expression and I can't tell if he's fucking with me or not..

I know he knows I wasn't listening.. "Yep, boss.." I smirk at him as he scowls..

"You weren't even listening, were you? Shit O'connor, what the fuck is going on with you lately?"

Prepare for the verbal tirade in, three... Two... On--

"Archie? Leave Paddy alone.. He's not here to talk about work.. He's here to meet his new niece, aren't you?"
Saved by the southern belle! Just then, Honey appears from an open bedroom door, a tiny swathe of soft white blankets in the crook of her arms..

"Is that her?" I ask, looking between the two of them, and the boss man beams with pride.. A strange sight to me, because he's not the type to smile all that much.. It suits him..

Honey crosses over to the sofa and bundles the most tiny perfect human I've ever seen into my oversized arms.. I look up into Honey's clear sapphire blue eyes, then back down to the baby's, whose eyes are a striking mirror of her mothers.. "Hey beautiful girl.. Whats her name?"

Honey smiles sweetly, but it's West who answers me.. "Alex."
Archer watches me carefully, as though I might drop her any second..

"Alex Dahlia West.." Honey sighs the sweet name and I grin at her..

"A perfect name for a perfect baby girl.."

She plops tiredly to the lounge next to me.. "Isn't it though?" Baby Alex begins to stir in my arms and honey sighs exaggeratedly.. "Archie...Sweetie, it must be your turn to put her to bed.."

I hear the bossman chuckle and his chair creak as he comes to collect his perfect daughter.. "Of course.." He takes baby Alex and disappears through the door Honey had emerged from..

As soon as he's out of sight Honey leans over to me and whispers, her eyes never leaving the door.. "Are you going to tell him?" I just shrug at her.. "It's time, Patrick.." Her voice is hushed, but not hushed enough.. Only then do I realise, she wasn't watching the door to make sure West didn't over hear us.. She was watching it to make sure he did.

"It's time for what?" God damn that man is stealthy! West pops back out, looking between Honey and me suspiciously..

Honey laughs, like, really laughs.. "You better tell him P, otherwise he's going to make his own assumptions.." I look at her confused.. She laughs harder, barely getting out the words.. "And those assumptions will get your ass kicked.." I look back at Archer who is seething silently..

"Somebody better explain.." he growls angrily..

The gears in my brain suddenly click together and I see what she is getting at.. He's already knows Honey and I have a secret.. Shit, he's going to think I've been cutting his grass.. "Oh, brother nahh.." I shake my head..

His shoulders relax a little but not completely as he joins us in the sitting area.. "Then what the fuck is goin on?" He looks at Honey.. Honey looks at me..

So here goes nothing, I guess..

"I've been using Specter's resources to monitor Yevette Feilds and the situation with her ex-husband..." Nothing.. No reaction from him. So far so good.. Given that Specter is the private security firm all three of us work for, I was expecting him to at least pretend to be pissed off for the sake of the higher ups..

After all, the bossman's boss, Iris Santiago, is one hard-ass woman I don't want to be on the wrong side of if I can avoid it.. "The assault trial was concluded yesterday, Zachary Ryan has been acquitted. I think she is in danger, and I'm requesting permission to continue working on an angle to get him out of her life... Boss.."

He turns his steely gaze from me to Honey.. "You put him up to this, didn't you, woman?" It's kind of incredible to see how much he has loosened up since meeting Honey.. She balances him in the best ways, and he's been much easier to deal with too.. It's like he's got some newfound life philosophy that freed him from the regrets of his past.. To be truthful, I kind of envy him for that..

"Yes.." She replies simply with a sweet smile..

He runs a hand back through his short dark brown waves, groaning his protest, before he reaches over and pulls out his laptop. He opens it, taps away at a few keys then hands it to me.. "I accidentally left my laptop open while I was checking on the baby.. I have no idea what you found.. I have no idea what you're doing.. Got it?" He leans back in his seat, his amused eyes fixed on Honey while she bats her lashes at him innocently and pokes out her tongue..

Meanwhile, I get to work - searching through Specter's database, using West's Level 5 security clearance codes