The Laughing Assassin [Assassin's Diary] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Jennifer Willows Page B

he could get enough information on the virus so he could reverse-engineer the codes into something viable.
    When he arrived back at the Sweet Tooth Bakery, he only felt relief even though Jaden had an attitude. But he just knew her lip was because she missed him. She proved it when she fed him again, even though his service was without a smile. Jonah wanted to eat with her, and he just looked at his meal then back at her.
    But when she went into the bathroom, he decided to serve her something to eat for once instead of being served.
    He walked back into the kitchen, and the room was a mass of organized chaos. There were pans and pots of all sizes, scales, and a mass of tables along with convection ovens covering one wall. He saw a heel of bread on the counter, and he knew it had to be the end cap from the loaf that made his sandwich. The small five-inch bread butt was already split, and he stuffed it with turkey, along with a few other things he saw in the crisping drawer, hoping that Jaden wouldn’t find fault with his choices.
    Jonah put some homemade potato chips on the plate, along with a pickle and one of the pretty cupcakes covered in pearls beside the food he just made her. He put the plate beside his and waited for her to come back.
    When she did, her face was priceless. She appeared shocked that there was another meal, enough so that she did a double take before she sauntered back to the table.
    Jaden cleared her throat awkwardly and looked away before she acknowledged his gesture. “Thank you.”
    “It was the least I could do. But I think we should both eat now then talk.”
    “That sounds like a plan to me.”
    They said a quick mutual prayer in thanks for the food and ate quickly without fanfare or delicacy. The best part of the meal was the silence. It was quiet, and they were alone. It was all that he could have asked for tonight. When both of them finished, it was almost simultaneous, and he smiled at the lack of so much as a crumb on either of their plates.
    The only thing that remained to eat was their respective cupcakes, and he peeled the wrapper of his and used a fork to take a huge chunk out of the side. He held the fork her way and offered the fluffy sample to her first.
    “Have some.” Jaden opened her mouth and accepted the too-large morsel from his utensil before she chewed and took a drink of a canned soda.
    The conversation was leisurely paced, and he gave her the basics as he saw them. Jaden was one tough cookie, and she was proficient at reading between the lines. By the time the cupcakes were eaten, he had shared most of his with her and stolen a bit of hers back as well.
    “Go home and pack. We need to get to the compound tomorrow. Anything you need can be supplied when we get there, so pack as light as possible.”
    She quirked an eyebrow upward in a counterpoint to her lips, which tilted downward. “Oh…so you think that because I’m a woman I can’t pack light?”
    “That wasn’t what I meant.”
    Of course she would use his statement to take a stand for women’s lib. And Jonah was far from a sexist, so the unnecessary ire was more than he wanted to deal with in the moment.
    She grinned and pointed a slim, closely trimmed fingernail at his chest. “Let’s make a bet. How many days did you pack for?”
    “Just a week. Why?”
    “I’ll bet that I can pack for a solid month and use the same amount of space or less than you did for this week.”
    “What about weapons?”
    “Those, too.”
    “Okay I’ll take that. What are we playing for?”
    “Winner’s choice.”
    “Well, we will see in the morning then.”
    “Sure will.”
    Jonah left her and went back to his room. Oddly, he felt a childlike excitement about their departure the next day. That night he didn’t sleep, and he wondered if he was about to lose his mind.
    When he left his hotel room at checkout, he was unable to stop smiling. He hadn’t smiled this much in years. He knew his career took something out of