Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 107096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
I didn’t understand: why him? I’d never had this kind of deep, instinctual reaction to any man. Not Russian politicians with their soft voices and power plays, not Bratva bosses with their expensive suits and dark violence. Why would I have it with him, a rough, unsophisticated American?
And that wasn’t even the most worrying part. I was staring stubbornly out of the window as if refusing to meet his eyes. But really I was looking at his reflection in the glass, watching him watching me. His gaze didn’t focus on my breasts long enough for it to be simple lust. He was staring at my profile, drinking me in as if fascinated. And however much I wanted to deny it, that made some silly, teenage part of me lift. I’d forgotten that part of me even existed.
No one likes spies. We’re hated, hunted, manipulated and, when we’re no longer useful, abandoned. But he’d risked his life to save me, up on the roof.
I pushed the thought away. Focus!
I turned to face front, ignoring him, ignoring everything.
And quietly, behind my back, I began lightly scraping at the inside of my left wrist with my thumbnail. There: I could feel the ridge on my skin. I kept scratching, and a rectangle of skin-colored latex began to peel loose. Beneath it was a lockpick.
I just had to bide my time and then, when they relaxed...I’d strike.
7
COLTON
I spent the journey staring at the sharp lines of her cheekbones, at the perfect silken softness of her lips. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful. She was smart and devious, an actress who could be scared and vulnerable one moment, fierce and vicious the next. Which of her faces were real? Were any of them?
I knew I should be watchful and cautious. I’d seen how dangerous she could be: fuck, thanks to me, she’d almost shot Gabriel. But instead, I was just...hypnotized.
The car slowed and I realized we were pulling up at the airfield. I shook myself, scowling. Snap out of it! I had a job to do and I’d already messed up twice. The second the car stopped, I hauled Tanya out and started walking her towards the waiting plane. It was only a short flight to West Virginia. Then we’d hand her over to the CIA and—
My steps slowed a little. And then I won’t see her again. My stomach twisted at the thought. Ever.
Then I scowled even harder and picked up the pace again. What the fuck’s wrong with me? She’s the enemy. She’s a spy. Hell, she killed a guy. She deserved everything that was coming to her.
Which is what, exactly? I hadn’t thought too much about what would happen to her. Interrogation, I guessed. And then jail. Or maybe they’d do one of those exchanges with Moscow, one of ours for one of theirs, wasn’t that how it worked, with spies? She’d go home to Russia...I guess they’d be mad at her for getting caught. She’d lose her job...
So? Since when did I care what happened to a prisoner? I just bring ‘em in, remember?
We reached the plane. Gina opened the door for us, giving Tanya a curious look as she passed. Then Gabriel climbed aboard with his bandaged ear, and then Danny with the red welt on his cheek. “What happened to you guys?” asked Gina, incredulous.
Gabriel looked darkly at Tanya and shook his head: don’t ask. Gina smirked.
The rest of the team took their seats. The plane was small and very, very basic, with only one row of seats on each side, so I sat Tanya directly across the aisle from me, her hands still cuffed behind her back. “What’s the in-flight movie?” she asked as I fastened her seatbelt.
“The Eternal Sunshine of sit quietly and do what the fuck you’re told,” I growled.
She rolled her eyes at me in a taunting, you’re no fun way that made my cock swell. God, what was it about this woman?
Gina taxied and we took off, then turned south. “Settle in, people,” she yelled over the drone of the engines. “It’s about two hours to West Virginia.”
The plane was too small to be pressurized so at this time in the morning it was cold, but we did our best to make ourselves comfortable. Danny and Gabriel demonstrated that military types can sleep anywhere by reclining their seats, closing their eyes and nodding off almost instantly. Cal —who we’d given the seat by the door because it had a little more leg room—started whittling a hunk of wood with his knife. Bradan put on headphones and started listening to something and JD started tapping out emails on his phone.
I probably should have done the same. I had plenty of music on my phone, or I could have finally given in and started one of the fantasy books that Erin and Danny kept badgering me to try or, hell, I could have scrolled through the numbers of some of the women I’d met in Koenig’s bar and see if any of them were up late.