[UNKOWN]

chapter one

With a suffocating kiss that threatened to send all my new-found determination down the drain, James called out a taxi for me and stayed behind to wait for another for himself.

I'd been shitting my pants for this moment since we left Brazil.

As I was driven away from him and JFK airport, I replayed the plan I'd made while holding James' hand on the plane. He was asleep almost the entire time, so I had plenty of time to think.

See, my plan was very simple. This thing we created, whatever it was, would be kept short and physical and as infrequent as I could stand it.

As much as I'd like to pretend we could ever be more than what we were, we couldn't. Any kind of involvement we could have would end just like all others: in screaming matches, or crying fits, or simple won't-even-look-each-other-in-the-eye awkwardness.

None of those I could bring into my life or my team, so I simply decided I wouldn't.

Easy, right?

The city was engulfed in grey, as expected. The leaves on every tree were painted in burnt orange and red, a stark contrast to the green palm trees I had woken up to the day before.

Weirdly, seeing the impossibly tall buildings scratch the clouds made me feel better. It was a heartening feeling. That towering building with glass doors had a familiarity to it that was calming and reassuring, and it's possible I'd missed it.

As soon as the elevator ding on the kitchen floor, I heard the excited voices of my friends and was suddenly dreading them.

Well, not them, her. Iryna 'Nina' Makarova, former bounty-hunter and current Initiative agent. The best friend I wasn't sure was still my best friend, due to the fact of me stabbing her sister I didn't know was her sister.

My jaw released when I saw only Colt, Benny, Esme and Seven sitting at the white table.

"Hey, my girl's back!" Colt shouted, opening his arms.

"Miss me?" I smirked at the group as I join them

"Terribly." Seven answered first. "It was so quiet here, I could almost hear myself think again." They exaggerated a shiver. "Terrible experience."

Esme giggled happily, leaning into her future spouse. She eyed me up and down with a large grin. "Look at you! How did you get so tanned in one week? I'm so jealous!"

I instinctively looked down on my arms like I was just noticing the subtle change in my skin's complexion.

My smile spread as I noticed three finger-shaped bruises by my forearm tattoo, under the thin fabric.

I gestured a hand. "Quarter-Italians still tan fast. Besides, you're way tanner than me on my best day. You got those Puerto Rican genes"

Esme scoffed. "If only I'd gotten the nice-skin genes."

I rolled my eyes, almost endearing. Her skin was perfect. Lightly bronzed to show the rosy blush she always seemed to have above her cheekbones and on the tip of her nose.

"Hold up." Benny caught my attention with his eyebrows raised. "Something doesn't seem right."

"Oh, yeah... I see what you mean." Colt joined him in the intense stare.

"Do I have something on my face?" I lifted a hand to my cheek theatrically.

The two men eyed each other meaningfully. Nodded slowly. Both sets of eyes squinted at me. Golden-brown and chocolate-brown.

"You look really good." Colt finally stated matter-of-factly.

I flipped my caramel hair back with a smile. "Aw, thank you, Colt!"