I nod, but I don’t reply.
“Nix.” She waits at the doorway. “I love you too.”
Just as I’m about to respond, she closes the door.
She just needs someone to believe in her. She’s never done anything to break my trust and has gone out of her way to please me since I saved her from a life no one should ever live, especially a kid. Getting her further involved in my business doesn’t sit well with me, but it is better that she learn a trade instead of going back to a life of stealing money from innocent people trying to survive, themselves.
Coco doesn’t know it, but if I do die, everything will transfer into her name immediately. She’ll be wealthier than she ever dreamed. She’s the only person I’ve been able to rely on and has been there for me as much as I’ve been there for her.
I watch on the surveillance camera in the hallway as she locks the door to the penthouse. She’s grown into a beautiful woman and doesn’t seem to be scarred from her childhood. Her face and body have filled out nicely; she’s no longer the scrawny kid I found covered in filth and tattered clothes. She’s short, but spending most of her life without enough food can do that to a person. I need to remember she’s an adult now and should be treated as such.
As much as her joining my world scares me, I can’t shelter her forever.
5
Kennedy
Thomas Dancey has been fantasizingabout being balls deep in me all evening. His gaze is loaded with lust, and he keeps pulling at the collar of his dress shirt because he’s sweating.
“Another drink, Sally?” he asks me, arching a brow.
I knew early on in my research about Tom that my “Sally” persona would be the perfect one to bait him. I’m wearing a dark pencil skirt, brown reading glasses, and a pale pink cardigan. I took out my lip ring and fixed my hair in a high, loose bun. Beneath my cardigan, I’m wearing a tight cami that shows off my breasts. Men lose their shit for Sally’s slutty librarian look.
“I really shouldn’t,” I say, biting my lip demurely. “I don’t want to be too tipsy to see your office.”
“You’ll be fine.” He puts up a finger to signal the bartender for another drink.
Tom’s wife left him seven months ago, and I get the impression he hasn’t had a woman since. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, but awkward in a computer-nerd kind of way. The comb-over and yellow teeth don’t help matters.
“I still can’t believe you asked me out,” I say, looking up at him through my lashes. “Usually, powerful men like you don’t notice someone like me.”
His mouth drops open in shock. “I can’t believe that, Sally. You’re so beautiful. I can’t believe you said yes when I asked.”
I laugh lightly. “Well, you were such a gentleman, helping me when I spilled my paperwork all over the ground like a klutz.”
“It was my pleasure, really.”
The bartender sets our drinks down. Tom ordered club soda for himself, probably because he wants to be running on all eight cylinders when he tries to get in my pants later. I fucking hate men who ply women with alcohol to loosen them up for sex.
“So it sounds like your work is very…dangerous,” I say, reaching out to touch his hand. “You must be very brave.”
He shrugs and smiles, giving me a full view of his seriously stained teeth. “Anyone working in intelligence has to be a little bolder than average.”
I draw in a breath and widen my eyes. “And you’re bold, I can tell. I wish I were.”
“Well, you can be.”
“You think so?”
He nods and sips his drink. “Absolutely. Stick with me, kid.”
It’s fitting he refers to me that way. Tom is forty-nine fucking years old, and Icouldbe his kid. I know his age because I pulled his birth certificate during my research. He told me he’s forty-one—ha. I better not inquire about the size of his dick.
“So you really handle top secret information?” I lean closer to Tom as I speak.
He looks from side to side. “Shh. I’m not really supposed to talk about it. But yeah, I encrypt intelligence.”
“Wow.” I put my hand on his thigh, but I quickly drop it away. “I’m sorry. I just got a little…excited.”
