The sound of the chirping birds on my balcony told me that it was time to wake up before my alarm did. The sun shined brightly through my window with its bright, warm rays bouncing off of my white sheets, illuminating the room with a bright, lively glow. I yawned and stretched, immediately feeling emptiness on the spot next to me.

Jaden?

I felt around the area beside me then quickly sat up not seeing him in my room anymore.

He'd better not have left me.

I yawned again, resting my head back on the headboard and pulled the sheets up to my chest to keep my naked body warm. I sat there for a moment, listening to my peaceful surroundings but then I noticed the faint sound of music coming from downstairs then Jaden's voice talking with Jerry's.

I let out a relieved sigh.

Good, he stayed.

I then got out of bed and went to my closet to find a robe and threw that on as I made my way towards the balcony but the sudden sight of Jaden's cell phone sitting on the drawer, next to our bed suddenly caught my attention.

I tapped my cheek and inched closer to it curiously. Last night, Jaden told me that he wanted to earn all my trust, that I shouldn't worry about the other girls because I was the only one he wanted.

I figured that he'd let me look through his phone if he truly believes that we should trust each other.

I went ahead and grabbed the phone, slipping it into my robe pocket before going out on the balcony for a few minutes of fresh air.

The sun was wide awake and the soft breeze felt amazing against my skin as it brought in the fresh scent of the sea salt and palm trees into my nostrils. That was all nice and pleasing but as soon as I took a seat, a sudden, and unwelcoming feeling in between my legs disturbed that, making me wince.

"Ah, dammit, Jaden..." I huffed, rubbing my lower belly for a moment. Rough Jaden is all fun and games until you feel the aftermath of it...

A sudden tingle to my cheeks made me blush at the thought of last night.

Can't believe we actually did that... And... I liked it.

I bit my lip as I played with my nails, the images hard to shake from my mind. The feeling of it all, hard to forget. It was like the moment our bodies made contact, I could feel my head spin and the world around us no longer existed... It was just us. No one else.

I let out a small huff to myself as I reached for the phone in my pocket.

It will always be just us...

I turned the phone on and, surprisingly enough, it required a 3 letter code to gain access...

Of course...

The only thing the phone let me see were the amounts of notifications he gets and I figured that it was enough to give me a clue of what he has going on.

23 new messages, 14 missed calls, 5 voicemails...

6 gallery messages!

Oh hell no... I began guessing his password, eager to see those messages. I knew that he hadn't been cutting off those other whores like he said he did... I knew he wasn't going to let them go that easily.

A-B-C was my first guess but the phone denied it.

J-D-N I tried to spell his name in shorthand but that didn't work either.

I paused for a moment, trying to think like Jaden. What would he set as a password? Let's see... This jackass is obsessed with women so maybe this would work...

A-S-S I typed and that was wrong also. This time, the phone warned me that it would lock me out for a whole hour if I inserted another wrong answer.

I groaned in frustration and decided to get back up and make my way back into my room.

I tossed the phone onto the bed and headed straight to the bathroom to get ready for the day. I couldn't do much about the soreness but to just walk it off and tough it out and my concerns about Jaden's messages would have to wait until I could find a way to get that password out of him.

I doubt that'll be easy...

After getting ready and dressed in my army green pants, a black t-shirt, and a camouflage cap to match, finishing it off with my black combat boots, knowing that I would be doing a lot of moving around today, I took my gym bag and headed downstairs where the music was still playing.

I spotted Jaden sitting comfortably on the floor, resting his back against the foot of the couch as he messed around with a gun in his hands, bobbing his head along to the music. He was dressed in some burgundy joggers, a white shirt with a burgundy cap, and a pair of Timbs on his feet. I noticed that he always had a hat and a wristband to match every one of his outfits. He probably owns a collection somewhere in his home.

I smiled at how handsome he appeared to me as I made my way over to him. Next to some of the tools he was using, he had a fruit bowl by his side, as he always did every morning, and I heard him mumble the lyrics to the song he was listening to, chewing his fruit at the same time.

I chuckled and knelt down beside him, making him jump a little when he just realized me, "Oh! Hey mami... You look sexy." he said with his mouth full.

I gave him his phone and a quick kiss, tasting green apples from his lips. "What are you doing?" I asked about the gun.

"Nothing much... Just taking a trip back to my childhood. Your old man has some sick throwback heat in that CD shelf of his, I didn't know he had good taste in music." he said with his eyes lighting up adorably, bouncing his head to the next song that played as he picked up the screwdriver lying next to him.

I chuckled shaking my head, "No. What are you doing with that?" I pointed at the gun in his hands.

He smiled, screwing a small screw down, "Oh, this? I'm fixing our baby... See, I had to straighten the dented barrel, replace the hammer, and the trigger guard snapped so I gave it a better one."

I reached out and briefly took a look at it, quite impressed by his unneeded dedication to fix this thing, "Interesting... But we could've just gotten a brand new one."

He gaped his mouth open at me, "What? No! This is our baby. That would make me an irresponsible parent if I just abandoned it."

"What are you talking about...?"

Oohh!

"Wait. Is that the same Mk-18 I gave you before the last mission?" I started to realize.

He laughed, "Yeah! How did you already forget?"

"Well, for one, it looks different. Two, I thought you lost it back at the circus... You know, in the rehearsal room."

He shrugged, "I did... But investigators took it in for evidence, thinking it was for Freak Show but it wasn't so I asked for it back and here it is... It was busted up pretty bad though, I'm going to test it at headquarters after it's fixed. Just to make sure it's still accurate."

I stood up straight, taking a mango from his bowl, "Speaking of which, we have to head there now. I have a lot of work and organizing to do."

He used the couch to lift himself up, then set the bowl and gun on the couch, "I'll help you organize everyone, that's a lot of work for just one person to do."

I helped myself to a pineapple from the bowl saying, "You're right. You can take roll... Make sure there are 1,200 spies, 1,350 agents, 800 hawkeyes, oh and don't forget about the 500 Chinese members that were temporarily relocated here. Also, make sure that-"

"Wait, hold on!" he raised his hands, "You really expect me to memorize this?"

I laughed, "No, Jaden. I was just messing with ya... There's a list. You can take roll of who we're meeting with electronically in Simon's office, I'll show you when we get there. Come." I gestured him over as I walked around him but he stopped me by wrapping an arm around my waist and turning me back around.

"Wait, wait, wait... We're going now? With all this time we have?" he asked, pulling me close and kissing my cheek.

I looked at my watch over the other side of his shoulder, "We don't have a lot of time."

"Of course, we do..." he said, reaching for a pineapple then feeding it to me.

I chuckled after taking a bite then trying to free myself from his arms while not trying to spit the pineapple in his face from laughing, "Get off of me." I chuckled.

He ignored my request, "You know what would make that outfit even better...?" he asked, kissing my jaw when I turned my face away from him so he'd miss my lips.

"Jaden, I'm serious." I sternly said as I tried to pry his hands off.

He went ahead and answered his own question with a mocking smirk on his face, "If none of it was on."

I glared at him and my cheeks blushed with an intense shade of red I could actually feel. I gritted my teeth, beginning to feel annoyed by him. A little amused but, mostly, annoyed, "I said fuck off, Jackass!" I yanked his arms off of me but he quickly grabbed me again and threw me onto his shoulder with a hand slapping my ass. The amused side of me slipped out and a chuckle came out of me before the annoyance could fight against him.

I couldn't help but laugh as I tried to push him off, "You're such an asshole!" I told him. "At least wait until we- Ah! What the hell?!"

He only grinned after biting one my cheeks, "Keep moving like that and I'll take you on the living room table in three seconds."

My eyes widened before I turned my head to look at him... I didn't expect that to come out of his mouth but hearing that idea wasn't anything less than... Interesting.

What am I thinking, we've got work to do!

The sudden sound of someone clearing their throat made us stop and simultaneously turn our heads to the sound.

Jaden gave me a playful smile as he finally let me down and I shot him a look that said "You're an idiot." before I turned to Jerry, straightening myself up.

He eyed Jaden for a tense second before nodding me over. He seemed like he had something important to discuss.

"What's up?" I asked as I made my way over to him.

He gently pulled me aside, "I want to ask you something fairly important." he said in a low voice so only I could hear it.

"Go ahead." I waited, crossing my arms.

"I want to get your approval on letting me get on board with you on the mission."

I narrowed my eyes, "You want to join us on the mission..."

"Well, not necessarily only the mission... Just be at your side to keep an eye on ya. I'm no good here if I'm just sitting in your empty home with a 99 percent chance of nothing threatening happening. Besides, this place is loaded with security systems and cameras, it'll be fine. I work for you now, my goal is keeping you safe, not the house anymore."

I stared at him for a while, thinking.

He would be very useful for the mission and since I'm clearly in "danger" it would be necessary to have an extra pair of eyes on the lookout.

"Okay... I like the idea. I was going to ask you about that last night but I had to ponder on whether you had the right experience for this."

He lifted his shades up onto his bald head with a confident gleam in his eyes, "I am perfectly experienced. My goal is to ensure that you're life is protected and if you need me to be alongside you on that mission for me to provide that, then that is exactly what I'll do."

I smirked, "I could use the extra lookout but I'll have you know that I'm perfectly fine with protecting myself... You are coming with us but don't underestimate me, the last thing I need is someone holding my hand through the whole thing."

He nodded, "Yes ma'am. Believe me, I am fully aware of what you're capable of, Ms. Greene, but that doesn't mean I will let my guard down. People are always watching no matter where you are. I'm not going to risk anything, you're too important, to Simon, to me, to Mr. Brown and, most importantly, to the agency."

I looked at him for a moment, taking in his words and locking them in my heart for safekeeping before I tipped my cap to him, "I appreciate that, Jerry... It will be an honor to have your service on this mission." I took my car keys out of my pocket and waved Jaden over, "Let's roll."

As I headed for the door, Maria handed me a bag with some breakfast in it, telling me not to forget to eat it. I thanked her and headed out to my car, hopping in the driver's seat a little too quickly. I realized that when the soreness under me suddenly came back to me as I sat down, making me wince and punch the steering wheel with an irritated curse under my breath.

Hopefully, this goes away soon or I'm kicking this bastard in the balls to get even.

I looked in the rearview mirror, wondering what the hold up was. Jerry was talking to Jaden about something by the front door but I couldn't hear from here. All I knew is that Jaden had been seeming a hell of a lot more attractive to me now.

My cheeks heated suddenly when glimpses of last night's event with him unconsciously made their way back to my mind. I had done a death jump out of my comfort zone that night. Never had I imagined that I'd see myself in a position where I'd lose my purity to him, and enjoying it as much as I did too...

I rested my chin on my hand as I gazed at him from the rearview mirror, smiling a bit when he laughed at something Jerry said.

That smile... I adored that perfect, shining grin. The way his eyes light up when he did-

Ugh! What the hell am I doing were going to be late!

I opened my door and honked at them, "You boys done?"

They both glanced over at me then Jerry finished up his sentence with a pat to Jaden's shoulder before walking to his car as Jaden jogged over to mine and hopped into the passenger side.

He chuckled. "I need to hang out with that guy more."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his comment, "You're going to drive."

He raised an eyebrow, "Really? You usually always want to drive... Is something wrong?" he pouted.

I scoffed, "If something's wrong? Kind of... You remember last night?"

He smirked and bit his lip, "Of course..."

I gave him a look that said "Bingo" before I got down from the driver's seat and made my way around.

Jaden crawled over to take my place and I sat on the passenger side before strapping in.

He pursed his lips as he drove on the road. I could see the humor in his expression when he said in realization, "Oh! Oh... I get it." he chuckled, "Am I supposed to apologize?"

I rolled my eyes at him as we came to a stop in front of a red light at an intersection, "You don't have to but don't be surprised if a nunchuck accidentally goes flying your way."

His eyes widened, "Damn, was it really that bad?" He chuckled.

I smiled a bit, leaving a moment of silence between us until I finally admitted, "I wouldn't necessarily say it was a bad thing..."

"Good." He smirked as he placed his finger on my chin to turn my face towards him and added, "Because I felt that it was a little special..."

I felt my cheeks get red but I only shrugged, "Of course it was..." I smiled at him now, "I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you."

He furrowed his brows a bit which made me snicker before telling him, "It was alright... I had fun."

He nodded with a cocky smirk, "I know... I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you." he teased, his grey-brown eyes gazing at my lips, suddenly making my face redden. Why does this always happen when he looks at me like that! I noticed the change in the traffic light and lightly slapped his chest to get his attention, "Greenlight." I pointed to the road for him to drive.

"Ah... Right." As soon as he pressed on the gas, turning his attention back to the road, I sighed to myself in relief. Being around him now, I was beginning to see how last night was quickly taking effect on me. It was hard to keep my heart from pounding and my face from flushing red whenever I was around Jaden. That night was pretty much a big deal for me and I'm glad we did what we did but now, it was difficult to look at Jaden and not get flashbacks of the way he looked at me, the veins on his arms when he gripped my legs, the way he kissed me... His... His...

Gah! How am I supposed to focus today?!

The car's engines growled lightly as he pressed the gas, making him smile. His voice thankfully interrupted my thoughts, "You know, I never knew you had a hummer. How many cars do you have?"

I shrugged, doing my best to seem unbothered by my thoughts, "I believe there's eight but I only drive three of them."

"Damn! I need to get like Simon."

I laughed as he pulled up into the headquarters ' parking lot with Jerry parking right beside us. I grabbed my breakfast and began to make my way to the lobby with Jaden following behind.

I gave him the key to Simon's office so he wouldn't have to put the code in, "We are officially in work mode. No flirting or acting like a moron, got that?"

He threw his head back, "I got you!"

I chuckled, shaking my head as we headed to the office. When we got there, I moved aside so that he could do the honors of opening the office with the key. Once it was opened, we headed inside and I got started on telling him what he was responsible for doing.

"Alright, listen up, Jaden." I went to the computer and opened the role. "All you have to do is mark everyone who hasn't already checked in through their electronic form as absent, easy?"

He nodded.

"Good. After that, you are to report to the courtyard, where I should be waiting around at that time. Before you leave the office, though, send a notification to the first 50 spies and agents on the role, saying to meet there as well, do I make myself clear?"

He nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

I smirked at him, trying not to get distracted by his attractive features. Trying not to think about the steamy things we did back home in our naughty playground we used to call a bedroom...

Trying not to think of the messages that taunted me through his phone this morning.

I'll bring that up after work is done...

I moved my slightly glaring eyes away from him and stood up straight, saying, "Nice, I'll tell you what you need to do from there... Let's go." I waved Jerry over as I rushed out of the office.

Jaden

I watched as Nicki and Jerry exited the room, the door closing softly by itself after they left, leaving it kind of quiet and putting a huge weight of responsibility on my shoulders.

I looked at the computer screen with all of the names and numbers on it with a blank look on my face.

Okay, let's see here...

I laughed to myself, "What the hell did she just say?"

I was too busy looking at her perfect body and, shit, the way she walked around me. The way she bent over slightly on the desk to show me what to do on the computer. Damn! I couldn't even keep one clean thought in my head when she's around me.

I really love this girl and after last night, I don't think I'll be able to focus with her so deep in my mind. It doesn't even bother me much that she didn't believe me when I told her I loved her. I know that I truly felt that way and it was an undetachable feeling stitched deep into my soul. She means the world to me and I was addicted to her. What bothered me was the lack of trust she has for me. I wanted her to feel for me the way I felt for her but I can't have that without getting her to trust me first. She may be imperfect to society but she's perfect for me. From her looks to her insane personality...

Damn! She's so damn gorgeous and I want to see her again... Just one more kiss.

Boy, pay attention, dammit!

I turned the chair to the computer. Just take the damn role, that's all... But how though?

I slouched, "Maybe I should call her back in..." I quietly said to myself as I gazed at the office phone.

Yeah, I'll call her back in and I can see her again. Spend a few extra minutes with her in here.

I smirked at the thought. We don't even have to be doing anything, I just wanted to see her and hear her voice again...

Her voice...

The way she said my name last night, damn... She was a whole new person.

You son of a bitch, get some work done!

I facepalmed, "What the hell is my problem?"

There was a soft Ding... Ding that sounded in the room. I looked over at the glowing pad on the door that read: "awaiting approval" in small digital letters. I slouched and, after looking over at the screen that showed who was at the door, I pressed the green button on the pad on the wall behind me to let them in.

The door softly opened and Coach Jackson stood on the other side. His face had questions written all over it as he walked in, "Finding what you're looking for?"

I sighed, already irritated at myself, "Good morning to you too..."

He chuckled softly, "Sorry, Good morning... Uh, Kaden, is it?"

Ha-ha...

I sneered, "It's Jaden. You should know this by now, bro."

He took a seat on the opposite side of the desk, "Right, Jaden... We don't talk much, I'm still trying to keep up with everyone."

I sat up, letting out a soft huff, "I'm trying to keep up with this." I pointed back to the computer, "Do you know how to do this?"

He slightly raised himself from his seat to look then he just smiled, "Role? That's easy... All you literally do is mark everyone who hasn't checked in by clicking the box next to their name. You'll know they're absent by looking at the yellow icon next to their names,  There should be an option that lets the computer automatically read and check all the recorded presences but you know, it's always more accurate to do it manually... You're supposed to submit before 9:00. Anyone who is scheduled to be here around this time but shows up after it's submitted has to talk to Janet or any other one of the assistances."

I furrowed my brows, disappointed in myself, "Are you serious? That's it? Fuck me..." I mumbled, clicking the checkboxes.

"Didn't she tell you how to do it?" he asked with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah..." I groaned. "Yeah, she did but I wasn't really listening to her."

He shook his head, "You need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Not paying attention to anything," he said.

"Hey... Don't come at me about that, alright? That habit is long gone out of my system. I've been taking this job more seriously than ever, alright?"

He raised an eyebrow slightly, "But you just said-"

"What I meant was, I have a lot going on in my head... It's been hard to focus lately." I sighed, slouching again as I continued clicking boxes.

He leaned forward a bit with an arm resting on the desk, watching me, "Did something come up?"

I shrugged, "I mean... Maybe, I don't know. Just don't worry about it, go do... Whatever you came in here for." I said, waving him away. Nicki doesn't like having people in our business so I wasn't going to tell Coach any of that.

He only laughed softly, "I was sent in here to check up on you. Nick told me to make sure that you weren't fooling around."

I winced, "What? Why would she send you in here? It's barely been fifteen minutes..."

He shrugged, "Not my orders."

"What, she doesn't think I could handle a little computer work?"

He shrugged, leaning back in his chair, "Probably... Just make sure that the document is submitted on time."

I pulled out my phone and checked the time, "I still have under half an hour. That should be more than enough time." I raised an eyebrow at all of the notifications on my screen before I unlocked my phone and quickly cleared them out. Nicki may not think so but it was clear that she's the jealous type. She'd lose her mind if she found out any of my friends has been texting me this much. Well, I wouldn't call all these people friends, I knew about half of them by name.

I really got to do something about that.

Coach narrowed his eyes, stopping me from putting my phone away by saying, "Hey... What's on your screen?" he asked, pointing at it.

I looked at my phone then gave him a stupid look for his stupid question, "Chill. It's just a crack."

He sucked his teeth, "No... No, not that, the picture."

"Oh!" I smiled, "That's just Nicki." It was a picture I took of her at the shooting rank. She was showing me how to use the Sniper when she caught me pointing the camera at her. She winked at me with the cutest smirk on her face, giving me the perfect wallpaper photo.

Coach leaned back with his eyebrow raised, "Why is that on your phone?"

I scoffed and put the phone back in my pocket, "Because she's hot." was all I said but, on the inside, I wanted to go on and on about everything that made her perfect. I wanted to brag to him about how I could be the one to say that the most untouchable woman at headquarters was all mine. Being able to be so close to her now was worth all the trouble leading up to this point and I couldn't deny that she was right. She really is the best thing to happen to me.

He crossed his arms and I snapped out of daydream land to look at him as he asked, "And you think that's okay?"

I turned back to the computer to finish the roll, "Yeah... She doesn't care."

"She doesn't care..." he repeated silently to himself. "That doesn't sound like her. She hates cameras and people who get off task during her lessons."

I smiled, spotting her name on the computer screen, "Well, you don't know her as I do. I know just about everything about her."

He chuckled but his tone didn't sound humorous, "You must have some special feelings for her..."

I laughed softly, "I guess... But who wouldn't, bro. She's sexy, a badass... I mean, she can handle just about any machinery you set in front of her and she even has this hardcore tattoo on the surface of her entire back. Just everything about her, man... She's so damn fascinating and perfect and... Nevermind, let me just finish this..." I stopped myself before saying too much.

He kept his eyes on me for a moment, concern showing on his judgemental grey eyes, soon speaking to ask, "You've... Seen her tattoo?"

I turned my eyes away from the computer to look at him, "Yeah... You know about it?" I turned my chair to face him, "Like, why she got it?" I asked, almost eagerly.

He crossed his arms at me, his expression remaining as solemn as the moment he walked in, "I do..." He said then soon let out a sigh and a slight shake of his head, "I do but I don't have the right to tell you nor do you have the right to know. That's something only she can discuss with anyone, should she decided to."

I shrugged, not understanding the big deal. He's probably just avoiding to tell me because he clearly already hates my guts. "Alright, I'll just ask her myself then," I said as I turned back to the roll.

"I suggest you not do that." He replied immediately in a stern tone that almost startled me. I slightly widened my eyes as he told me in a calmer tone, "Just... Leave her alone, alright? Stop trying to attach yourself to her..."

I raised an eyebrow at him. Why would he care? I get that he doesn't favor me being here but why does he feel the need to treat me like an enemy?

He noticed my expression then went on to explain to me, "She's just your partner, Jaden. She's also my friend and I don't want you feeling like you can get too close to her. She'll break you before you could break her heart so I suggest not trying to sleep around with her like you did those other women."

I glared now, irked with that assumption he has of me, "You're right... She is my partner and I'll never do that to her." I told him.

I knew I would never hurt Nicki. Why would I? She's not the same as those other girls and I would do anything to keep her with me. "And don't act like I'm some horny jackass who just 'sleeps around' with random girls," I added.

I could see him looking at me with slight annoyance in the corner of my eye as he said, "Right..." and stood up, pushed his chair in before heading for the door, "I'll let her know your making progress, see you later, Brown."

I nodded as he left and continued working with a bad feeling Coach disliked me more than he did before. Fuck him. He can suck my left nut for all I care. I don't know how he got this impression of me being a bad guy. I know I'm not a bad guy and I know that I'm the right guy for Nicole. I could care less what he thinks.