In the Grey by Claudia Hall Christian Read Free Book Online Page B

said that I never knew. I could meet a smart,
pretty woman who liked her own life and space just like I like my
own life and space. I wouldn’t want to regret it in the
future.”
    “ I wonder if she was
talking about me,” Samantha said.
    “ I’ve wondered that
myself,” Raz said. “What about getting married?”
    “ What about
it?”
    “ Do you want to be
married?” Raz asked.
    “ No, I think you’re
right,” Samantha said.
    “ About what?”
    “ You can’t give the kind
of love a wife needs. I don’t want to expect it,” Samantha said.
“Plus, I can’t really give the kind of love a husband needs either.
No, I like us exactly as we are. You have your carriage house; I
have my flat. We see each other when we want to, keep separate bank
accounts, and stuff like that.”
    “ And if you change your
mind?” Raz asked. “There’s a rumor floating around that Erin’s
changed her mind.”
    “ Is that a big surprise?”
Samantha asked.
    “ Not really,” Raz
smiled.
    “ I’ll tell you if I change
my mind,” Samantha said. “But I don’t think I will. I like that we
live really close, but not together. I like that I have my own
space . . .”
    “ And closets,” Raz
said.
    “ I’d hate to share
closets,” Samantha said. “But I’d like to have at least one
biological child.”
    Raz took a sip of his
wine.
    “ What do you think about
that?” Samantha bit her lip.
    “ We should practice,” he
smiled, and she laughed.
    “ No, really, what do you
think?”
    “ What’s it to me if you have a child?” Raz
shrugged.
    Shocked and hurt, Samantha
looked away from him. She was working on a biting reply when she
realized he was teasing. She grinned and he raised his glass to
her.
    “ We’ll share custody?” Raz
asked.
    “ Of course,” Samantha
said.
    “ You’ll work out the legal
stuff before we try?” Raz asked.
    “ Of course,” Samantha
said.
    “ You promise not to get
all crazy and use the baby to steal government secrets?”
    “ I signed a non-disclosure
agreement when we started dating,” Samantha said. “I can’t tell
anyone anything about you. Period.”
    “ So no ‘Who’s the baby
daddy’ talk shows? No WikiLeaks?”
    Samantha
laughed.
    “ I’m in,” Raz said. “We’ll
see the doctor . . .”
    “ Tomorrow?”
    “ How about when this
action settles down?” Raz asked. “I don’t have any idea where this
is going. I don’t want to disappoint you.”
    “ But you promise we’ll
go?”
    “ We’ll go when this
project is resolved,” Raz said.
    Samantha gave him a bright
smile.
    “ And tonight?” he
asked.
    “ We should practice,”
Samantha moved to sit on his lap.
    “ I am so glad you made
this room,” he said.
    “ Me too,” she
said.
    F

CHAPTER
FIVE
     
    Saturday, early
morning
    November 6 – 3:21 a.m.
MDT
    Denver,
Colorado
     
    Alex pushed her computer
screen and keyboard to the back of the armoire that served as her
desk. On the edge of the shelf, she set her brand new Magic 8 Ball
next to the shiny gold-colored card holder with a sunflower etched
on it. She took her old Fey Special Forces Team lighter, microSD
card, and plastic pieces of a black security token and set them in
a row next to the Magic 8 Ball. For good measure, she wrote “GOLD”
on one sticky note and “VAULT VIDEO” on another. She stuck them on
the other side of the gold-colored card holder. She leaned back in
her chair and thought for a moment before getting up.
    She took the antique world
map off the wall and set it next to the chair where Maggie was
sleeping beside the gas fireplace. Maggie opened her eyes to look
at Alex. She ruffled Maggie’s head for good luck before taking
Mike’s small journal, Charlie’s journal, and the two journal’s
she’d protected in the limestone vault when everyone was killed –
her small journal and the larger team journal – from the safe. She
set the journals in a stack next to the gold card holder. Standing
in front of the armoire,