Home sweet home, but for how much longer? Kiera surveyed the tight confines of her apartment with chary eyes. Kellog and his uninvited interference, she grumbled. He had ruined any sense of security she had begun to feel here. She had begun liking this neighborhood, getting used to where things were. His intrusion and theft of the component from the time device had effectively undermined any of the peace of mind, relatively speaking, she felt.

Realistically, where could she go without this sort of thing happening again? He had successfully broken into here, her sanctuary. Of course she hadn't booby-trapped the place. She didn't have any right to do that to private property, no sanctions. What would stop Matthew from doing the same thing whenever he liked, wherever she went? The man was a bane to her existence along with being a benefit. The sort of relationship they had was stranger than strange.

He was paradoxical, all too ready to gain her confidence only to sell her out to the highest bidder. Kellog was all about making money. His critical knowledge about future financial climates served him well on this present worldwide commercial scene. It made Kiera less philosophical about the man's intentions overall. He made her uncomfortable, always insinuating that doing things for each other did not have to be solely on a business basis.

Kellog's idea of their getting together left Kiera cold. Favoring him with anything other than information that was mutually beneficial was out of the question. Even if she hadn't been a married woman, Matthew wasn't her type. True, he was charming, as vain a man as she had ever met, but he didn't appeal to her. His being a master at manipulation, his ability to talk a person into doing his bidding lent nothing to his attractiveness. His boundless charisma irked Kiera, pushing her away instead of drawing her to Kellog.

With each multi-faceted interaction, although advantageous for them both, she knew it was wise to be wary. Never allowing herself to be drawn into the schemer's silky web of amoral double-dealing. As she had mentioned to him, she was more than just a pretty face, but this pretty face was a smart cookie.

Of the three males she was out of necessity involved with, the two she trusted with her life were Alec and Carlos. The kid was as sweet as adolescents came, despite his brainy edge. The genius boy had her HUD up and running, which had been instrumental in exonerating her partner from Alicia's murder. Her visit to his family's farm caused her to see Alec in a different light. He breathed, ate and slept technology, but he was grounded with feet firmly planted in rich, dark soil. Though he saw himself as an outsider, from time to time, it didn't prevent him from lending a hand to whomever needed his help. Which led him to back Kiera up all he could.

Alec hadn't exaggerated about the horses. His family owned breathtaking creatures. Without exception, the livestock had not raised a fuss, not a hoof in protest. Any horse Kiera had wanted to mount had let her.

Inevitably, Kiera's thoughts turned to her partner on the force, how close he had come to being convicted of his lover's murder. How sincere she saw he had been about their making a pact about being truthful with each other here on out, how much she wished she could be. Abruptly, her phone was active.

She hastened to answer it, anticipating the basso register of Carlos' deep voice. "Hey. Yes. I'm home."

He wasn't through with getting what he wanted, that pact between them. He couldn't let their not having it rest. "Busy?"

Hearing the note of unspoken exigency in his voice, Kiera put her concerns on hold. He sounded uneasy, as though whatever he said could offend her. What had he really done, aside from using shoddy judgment, then acting on it? "No, not really. What's up?" Her usage of 2012 vernacular was becoming easier all the time, sounding more natural and acceptable to her own ears.

"Uh, Kiera, I've…uh…"

Hearing his voice trail off, she sighed. The sudden desire to cup his face within her hands rose up in her. If sheepish were a living, breathing person right now, it would be Carlos. There weren't words to do justice for how concerned she'd been for him, upset with him too. She hardly thought of him being a celibate, but she couldn't help but feel somewhat dismayed over his actions. Not for a moment had she believed he'd been guilty of the crime. What he'd been guilty of was having blurred the line between work and personal involvement. Something she knew was tricky all too well.

Softly, which wasn't atypical of her, she began speaking, more like cooing, actually. Her voice rose incrementally in response to whatever danger they were in. She had it lower than low now, wishing she hadn't been so short with him some hours before.

"Carlos…"

"Yeah."

"About that pact."

"What about it?"

"Can it be one that's mutually understood between us?" Kiera closed her eyes, mentally imaging the handsome, above board man give into his smile that was no longer waking. This was inevitable too; she meeting him halfway, conceding whenever possible. That's what solidified a partnership. "Words aren't necessary. What we have goes much deeper."

Carlos took her sentiment to his grasping heart, wrapping figurative arms around the mind and heart that had promulgated it.

"I need to believe that." As contrite as he sounded, he wasn't sure it would be enough.

"Believe it," Kiera urged with a note of finality.

There was no room for doubt. What they were agreeing to pushed

ambiguity and half-truths the rest of the way out, where they truly belonged. The Cameron/Fonnegra alliance was being granted permission to thrive.

"I'd like that."

His touch of gratitude coaxed her concessionary smile to blossom until it firmly established itself. When Kiera smiled it left no room for doubt. She liked the understanding they had reached too.