Cookie Guy
I’m sorry I hurt your leg
Eric lunged for her, but she’d snatched up the cane and was using it to ward him off like he was a lion and she the lion tamer. He lunged again, making her gasp-laugh and dance back. When he finally grabbed her and, once more, tossed her onto the bed, he didn’t grab her phone. As dangerous as her texting felt, he couldn’t fault her reasoning that maybe this would be muchsimpler if, instead of waiting for the Spaniard, they went straight to Gus.
Nikolett
You didn’t hurt my leg. Truly
Just a twinge and it surprised me
Gus Alias +44 Number
I should have been gentler. You had a cast on.
Nikolett
I should have warned you. I was in the moment and wasn’t thinking.
Gus Alias +44 Number
I’m glad I didn’t hurt you
Nikolett
Gus, if I did or said anything that upset you, I’m so sorry. Between the wine and, like you said, exhaustion, I wasn’t at my best
Gus Alias +44 Number
You have nothing to apologize for
He should stop there. He should be analyzing her messages, not just reading them with a stupid smile on his face.
Gus Alias +44 Number
You were perfect
He was a fucking moron.
Gus put his phone down and scrubbed his face before cupping the back of his neck and looking at the sky. He was such a fool. The instant she messaged, he’d dropped everything to respond.
Shaking his head, he looked at his phone again, this time trying to interpret tone and read between the lines. Consider the implications of every word.
She remembered something, but didn’t seem angry with him. That much was clear from her “If I did or said anything that upset you, I’m so sorry” message. Unless the tone was sarcastic, but Nikolett wasn’t really the sarcastic type.
Maybe she remembered his hands on her and was uneasy because she didn’t know exactly how far it had gone.
Maybe she remembered saying Eric’s name.
And now Eric was in Paris.
It wasn’t possible for Gus to monitor everything all the time, even if he subcontracted elements, and this operation he was handling himself, so he’d been taken by surprise when he saw Eric jog past this morning while he sat in a café doing final recon. He monitored what happened on the Isle of Man, and had been thrilled at the timing when Eric left several days ago. What he hadn’t questioned was where Eric had gone, since the man traveled frequently.
Eric looked at him this morning, not with suspicion but with a frown of almost confusion—as if he thought he recognized Gus.
Do I look familiar, Eric?
Gus was up and moving the instant Eric jogged out of sight.
