“How was that?” I ask, kissing him gently as I stroke my thumbs over his cheekbones.
“You are theworst,” he grumbles, but I’m pretty sure hedoesn’t mean that. “You made me feel like a junkie, strung out on your touch, begging for more.”
I stare into his eyes, loving that he begs for more. “It’s not my fault you beg so pretty.”
“You are going to be the death of me.” I go quiet, and he nudges me. “Did I say the wrong thing?”
I shake my head. “It’s just… I don’t want to be the death of you. The opposite, in fact.” I kiss him, raw and needy. “I keep waking up next to you, and it keepsnotfreaking me out.”
“Do you want to be freaked out?”
“No,” I say, the admission weakening my knees in the best way possible.
“That reminds me,” he says, deliciously smug. “Your willingness to go after Whitaker, even though it would have fucked you up, isn’t very one-and-done of you.”
I dip my chin. “You noticed that, huh?”
Rami cups my jaw and gives me a sweet kiss. “Yeah, well, stalking you wasn’t very one-and-done of me either.”
33
RAMI
Hedy sitsacross the table from me, smiling broadly. I feel like she’s just put my head in the spin cycle, so I smile back and try not to throw up on her.
She chuckles as she pats my hand. “I know it’s a lot.”
“I thought it was a lot when Truett gave me his Disneyland version of things,” I say, wrinkling my nose. “This iswaymore involved than all of that.”
Wimberley is…wow.
“I’ve given you more than I’ve given him, and for a very specific reason.”
I raise my brows. “Why would you wanna give me more information than you gave him?”
“We had initially pegged him as an operator. But we quickly realized he isn’t comfortable taking lives.”
“Doesn’t everyone have an issue with taking lives? At least, theoretically?”
She play-grimaces. “Are you sure you’re related to Anders Bash?”
“Pretty damn sure,” I say, shaking my head. “So you’re giving me more information because I’m related?”
“Yes, kind of. Also, you showed real skill in the field.”
“So did Truett,” I say, both out of loyalty and because it’s the truth. “I mean, sure, he didn’t want to take those lives, but he also didn’t hesitate when it was absolutely necessary. I think that would be an excellent quality in an operator.”
“Accurate.” She bites her lower lip. “But knowing what you know now, how often do you think taking a lifewouldn’tbe necessary?”
That’s a good point. Killing bad guys who have their boots on people’s necks is pretty much their bread and butter. Truett would hate it.
Hedy’s look is assessing. I up-nod her, a nonverbalWhat gives?
“According to your dads, you’ve never been interested in the military, or in guns beyond their utility.”
I lift a shoulder. “I enjoy doing the charity work.”
“Yet, in none of our follow-up calls have you mentioned feeling any ill effects from killing in self-defense. Even when asked directly about nightmares, appetite, anxiety, you come up blank, seemingly unaware of how a violent encounter impacts most people.”
