Chapter 40

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Levi asked as he and Cora got ready for work together.

Their honeymoon had come to an end, but they felt that the honeymoon period would last for life. At PAPS, Cora had been a no-brainer as their newest hire. Not only was she a tech genius, but she had more than proven herself in the field.

After the two of them had recovered the Desolation Stone and destroyed the Motley factory, practically every investigation and law enforcement agency in the star system had clamored to hire her.

To Levi's great relief, she'd taken the job he'd offered her at PAPS. It meant they got to share their days together, which was something Cora wanted just as much as Levi. Separating work and play was a little harder, but even work was play while he was at her side.

"I thought we weren't going to talk shop at home," she replied one morning before work with a wry grin while she put up her hair in the mirror beside him.

Levi shook his head. "Right, sorry. I'm just so excited to share every day with you. Plus…" He came up behind her and wrapped his hands around her belly. "There's something really exciting about sleeping with the PAPS head of technology."

Cora laughed a lilting, playful laugh that sent a jolt of happiness through Levi's whole body.

"Well, in that case…" She turned to face him and leaned against the bathroom sink. "We definitely shouldn't talk shop at home. Otherwise, we'll never make it to the agency in time."

She planted a long, lingering, teasing kiss on his lips, and Levi felt himself getting hard almost immediately. But Cora pulled away, slipping out from under his arm and leaving the bathroom with a grin.

"Come on, or we're going to be late!" she called out over her shoulder with a hint of mischief in her voice.

Levi groaned, dropping his head for a second before he followed her out of the bathroom. He loved their morning banter. He loved their life together, and he loved that he got to go to work with her every day, knowing they'd do amazing things together—even if he sometimes had to calm himself before he could leave the house respectably.

The PAPS office was thrumming with activity when they arrived, and the other staff, including Dante and Tinsley, Zyair and Layla, and Trigg and Willow, all happened to be in the office that day.

"There they are!" Trigg called raucously. "Just the couple we were talking about!"

"All good things I hope," quipped Cora as they entered.

Trigg shot her a coy smile and Levi couldn't help but smile. He loved how well she got along with his family. Even his father had visited Noxxa to see his sons and seemed to be mending fences with Kozien, who had been exiled.

"So, what exactly were you saying about us?" Levi asked, stepping up to where Trigg and Cora were engaging in a little light banter.

"That you're the perfect pair for our next job," Trigg answered with a grin that told Levi it was probably a job no one wanted.

To his surprise, though, Trigg brought up a file on the holoscreen that actually piqued Levi's interest, and Cora's too from what he could tell.

"A fleet of pirates are selling counterfeit universal funds," Trigg explained. "They're incredibly convincing fakes, which is why the authorities haven't had any luck catching them. The only reason they even know these counterfeits exist is because of a whistleblower. A defector."

Levi scanned the file in front of him, taking in the information as quickly as possible, but Cora, it seemed, had already finished reading.

"It says here they're using patented technology to make the cards?" Cora asked, her face set into a thoughtful frown.

Levi's eyes lingered on her face, even though he should have been reading the rest of the brief. But he didn't turn away. Instead, he thought of how lucky he had been to have found such an amazing woman, and that he was even luckier she'd chosen to spend her life with him.

"That's right," Trigg was saying, pulling Levi out of his reverie for a moment. "Another reason the counterfeit funds might be so hard to find. They might not actually be counterfeit, though, which is a huge problem. Our client is the company that owns the patent on the cards. They need to find out if the rumor is true and, if it is, how these pirates got their hands on that hardware."

Cora nodded, still staring at the holoscreen. "We're on it," she replied, a smile slowly creeping across her face.

Levi grinned along with her. He loved her confidence and her skill, and he knew, no matter the danger, they'd get through anything together.

Trigg finished briefing them on the job, and as they sat down to get to work in their private office, Levi turned to Cora.

"You seem especially excited about this one," he said, seeing that Cora's smile hadn't faded.

"Of course I am!" she replied with gusto. "This combines all my favorite things—fighting bad guys, interesting tech, and being with you. What's not to like?"

Levi grinned although he got the feeling there was something else, too.

"That's very sweet," he said, "but that's literally your job description—all of the jobs that go to you are like that. What's so special about this one? You're like a kid in a candy store."

Cora's cheeks glowed pink, and Levi felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of her. No matter how long they were together, he knew he would never get tired of her flushed cheeks, which almost matched the color of her hair. It reminded him so much of their first days together.

"Okay," she admitted, a little sheepishly. "You know me too well. This is going to sound really nerdy. But the system we're talking about here, the A78 Universal Fundpress, is one of the systems we studied in college. I actually wanted to write my thesis on it, but of course so much of it was classified. And it'll be so cool to geek out on this tech."

"Well then," Levi said with a smile. "It looks like you're exactly the right person for the job."

"And this is exactly the right job for this person, too," she replied, reaching for his hand.

Levi looked down at her tiny hand squeezing his and grinned.

"Did I ever tell you how lucky I am to have you in my life?" he asked, squeezing back.

"Maybe?" Cora replied, playing coy. "You should tell me again just to be sure."

Levi leaned in, pulling his chair closer to hers.

"I am so, so, so lucky…" he said, inching closer with each word. "To have you in my life."

Now he was just inches from her face, so close he could feel her warm breath on his lips.

"I thought we were keeping work and play separate?" Cora asked, but her voice was low and full of desire.

"Where's the fun in that? Besides, I think that ship has sailed."

Before she could say anything else, he pulled her into a loving kiss, knowing this was how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.