“Know what? Lie might just be too strong of a word. How about…I misled you. Misled. I began our relationship by misleading you. Technically, I’ve told zero lies to you.” A thoughtful hesitation. “Yet. Maybe. Honestly, I can’t remember every single word I said to you…so…”
Enough of this bullshit. She wasn’t going to spin her way into his life, throw him off guard, charm him, alarm him, and get him twisted into a million knots. He finished stalking toward the bed. Stopped when he was inches away from her.
He would not think of how easy it would be to wreck the bed. With Agnes. “How about you vow to always tell me zero lies from here on out?”
Her pretty lips pursed. “I don’t like to make promises I might not be able to keep.”
What? His hands went to his hips as he glowered at her. “Agnes.”
“You’re really sexy when you say my name. Full disclosure, I always hated my name. Makes me sound like a maidenly aunt, and FYI, I actually did get the name from my maiden aunt. Though, if you listen to the stories, she was quite the partier back in the day.”
His temples were throbbing. It had been a helluva night, and he’d just discovered that Agnes lacked the ability to answer a question simply. “The idea of spanking you holds definite appeal.”
“Glad we’re both into that.”
A muscle flexed along his jaw.
“Sorry.” Quiet. “That defense mechanism thing again.” She huffed out a breath. “I deliberately sought you out.”
Apparently, she’d also deliberately and secretly stalked him.
Her hands pressed against the bedding near her. “Once I made the connection between the leader of the Night Strikers being secretly related to my boss, I knew…I knew there had to be a lot more to you than met the eye. Sure, you seemed to be the big, bad guy.”
“I am the big, bad guy.” He gave nightmares to most of the world. There was no pretending on that point. He’d been born for the Night Striker MC. And, eventually, he’d taken leadership a bloody battle that had left a man dead.
Two men, actually.
She frowned at him. “You’re working undercover. You need to be honest with me. I’m being honest with you.”
He leaned toward her. Put one hand on either side of the bed. The old, sagging mattress dipped even more. “You think I’m some true-blue hero pretending to be MC? You think I’m playing by the rules and rolling over to deliver dirt to the Feds?”
Her gaze searched his. “Yes.”
He laughed. In her face. Sorry. That was probably rude. His mother would have been horrified. Then again, his mother had been dead for a long time. “I thought you were way better at profiling.”
“Tell me how I’m wrong.”
He’d rather kiss her. Maybe spank her. Definitely fuck her. But…no. Not happening. Because he’d fucked her before, then a jackass had tried to kill her.
And…when Cass had fucked her before…
I let my guard slip. I wanted her too much. “Tell me why you’re using me.” Anger rumbled in the words. He didn’t like being used. Not even when the user came in such a tempting package.
“I was using you.” A blunt admission. “I’m sorry.”
Well, damn. “Why?”
She bit her lower lip. His right hand flew up, and he lightly pressed on that lower lip. “Don’t.” Because when she bit, she made him want to bite, too.
She stopped biting her lower lip. Her tongue snaked out. Lightly touched the tip of his finger. Her eyes widened in horror. “I did not mean to do that.” Her breath blew over his finger.
His eager dick was glad she had licked him. But his dick needed to calm the hell down. His hand moved to curl under her jaw. “Why were you using me?” He would get a straight answer from her.
“Because I need you to help me kill a man.” A thoughtful pause. “At least one man, but maybe two.”
Chapter Ten
The bed was uncomfortable. Lumpy. Saggy. It smelled faintly of old cigarettes. No bedbugs, though. Agnes was very happy that her fast and frantic search for bedbugs had yielded no results.
