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assignment?”
    The aroma of hot food hit my nostrils, and a moment later a plate was brought in and set before me. The plate was still warm and my stomach jumped to attention, the meal taking precedence over any other thought. I had half the chicken and most of the pasta stuffed down my throat by the time I brought my face up from the plate.
    “I’ve seen soldiers in the field eat with less gusto,” Raif said, picking at his own food with fastidious precision. “Hungry much?”
    “I guess I haven’t been taking care of myself,” I said, pausing only long enough to take another bite.
    “I’d say that’s pretty obvious. And just so you know, bourbon is not one of the four food groups.”
    I grimaced. Clearly my antics had crossed over into the careless idiot category and Raif had seen it firsthand. I was ashamed of my behavior, holed up in my apartment, tangled in my bedsheets for three months straight with just enough food to keep me alive and more than enough booze to kill a horse. Maturity, thy name is Darian.
    “She’ll never go for this, you know,” I said, steering the conversation back to work. “When she finds out what Xander has planned, she’ll blow a gasket.”
    “Anya doesn’t have a choice.”
    “That’s what he said.”
    Raif gave me a strange look, and I really wanted to know what the hell he was thinking. But another wave of gut-cramping hunger hit me and rather than dig into my friend’s psyche, I turned my attention to my plate.
    “You’re moving in?” Raif asked, interrupting the sound of me inhaling the rest of my meal.
    I nodded, mouth too full to answer politely.
    “For what it’s worth, I think it’s a good idea.”
    Again, a nod.
    “But not for the reason you think.”
    I looked up from my plate.
Damn
. Guess I’d have to talk about this. “Why do you think I’m moving in?”
    “Xander suggested you stay so you’d be close to Anya and whatever team we form to work under your direction. But he—
we
—thought you needed to be away from your apartment for a while.”
    Of course,
they
did. But I didn’t blame them for suggesting it. It had been my motivation for accepting Xander’s invitation so quickly. I needed to be away from anything that reminded me of Tyler until I could get my head on straight. “Well, you got your wish. Here I am. Now we can be one big, happy family.”
    Raif rolled a piece of pasta around his plate with his fork. “He’s arrogant, I know. And an ass more times than not. He’s stubborn, opinionated, and spoiled. Demanding to a fault. Which is why you need to be very careful. He is nothing if not opportunistic.”
    He
being Xander. I
so
did not want to have this conversation. “I don’t care what
he
thinks or feels. Tyler’s coming home.”
    “I know he told you that. But what if—”
    “I love him. He loves me. He’s coming back. End of discussion.”
    Raif did the smart thing and kept the rest of his opinions to himself. If I was going to stay here—and I was—the subject of Tyler was not open for discussion. He was coming back. He’d promised. And Tyler never disappoints.
    * * *
     
    Once Raif and Xander managed to get me out of my apartment, they made it their mission to ensure that I
stayed
out. Someone packed up most of my clothes and a few other personal items and had it Sms they all unpacked and organized in one of Xander’s guest suites before I’d even finished lunch (and a second helping).
    “I’m going to have to go back eventually,” I remarked as I stuck my head into the doorway of the suite I’d be occupying until Xander was assured of Anya’s safety.
    “Eventually,” Raif said. “Not now.”
    “My place is wide open. No security. I’ll have to check on it every once in a while.”
    Raif smiled in a very self-satisfied way. “I’ve already taken care of that. I’m having a security system installed that we can monitor from right here. So you have nothing to worry about.”
    Jesus, he’d thought of