ANDA
Nine months ago…
Home of Anda Salamanca
Vollywood, Valleria
In the post-orgasm haze of their lovemaking, Anda curled into Ethan. His skin was slick with sweat, and so was hers. She didn’t care and neither did he.
They’d been playing this game for months while he’d been on leave. Clandestine meetings at her place or other secret spots between Brazenbourg and Valentia and Masillia when they’d both been able to sneak away. She’d had to rearrange her shooting schedule anyway after being injured—she couldn’t show up on a set with a leg wound—and the physical therapy that had followed, so she’d gladly taken some time off from acting to be near him.
It was the closest thing to a real relationship they’d had.
Yet, it still wasn’t enough.
Tonight could be their last chance to be together for a while, since he was set to ship out again for another six months in just a few days.
He cupped her face and tilted it up to meet his gaze. “I need to tell you something.”
Her lips curled up, hoping it was those three words she never got tired of hearing.
“I should have brought it up before our last night together, but my niece’s birth a couple of months ago made me realize that I needed to talk to you about—”
Her phone rang.
He glanced over her shoulder at it while she did the same. The screen lit up for a brief moment before the phone went silent and didn’t ring again. Though it could have been a wrong number, she knew it likely wasn’t.
It was a signal.
The warmth of him and the sheets and the love they’d made dissipated immediately as the cold reality of life filtered into their cocoon. She had to call back within ten minutes.
Protocol.
There was always lots of protocol when it came to being an agent.
She started to shift away but Ethan held her close. “What is it?”
“Duty calls. It was probably your brother, or someone else at the agency. I need to call them back.”
“A new mission.”
She nodded, using the movement to nuzzle him and his chest just a moment longer before she pulled away.
He looked as if he were about to say something, but his mouth closed and she took that as a sign to make her call.
She dialed the secure line, saying the right code phrases when the line picked up. She waited a few moments before Marcello came on the line.
“Agent.”
“What a lovely morning, don’t you agree?” It was a code phrase to let him know that she wasn’t alone. She could have lied and pretended she was, but the best lies were ones you never had to tell in the first place.
Marcello paused for a moment, then cleared his throat and continued. “Understood, Agent. You have a new mission. We’ve sent the details to your secure server, but here’s the gist. Something’s going on in Masillia at the docks or with the dockworkers. I need you to run down the names on a list, and maybe even do some surveillance. You’re recovered?”
She kept playing her part, saying everything that Marcello would expect her to say if she weren’t alone, and giving him the information he needed about her leg wound. “Oh, yes. I’m feeling much better. You’re so sweet to ask. It was just a trifling cold, but I lost my voice, can you believe it? Now, tell me more about this part.”
“We picked you for a reason, and that’s because you tend to get men talking. Head down to Masillia, to the pubs and bars near the docks, and see what info you can get.”
She could do it, had enough disguises to pull something off, but… “It sounds like a small part. I’m guessing lots of makeup or prosthetics though?”
