I dragged a hand down my face. What was wrong with me? Natasha didn’t want me. She wanted Lachlan. After the kiss, she told me she was in love with him.
And yet—shehad kissedme.
She’d chosen me.
Those lips had been mine once. And they would be again.
I shoved the thought deep and turned inland, leaving the blue horizon for the grime of the inner city of Los Angeles. My truck rattled to a stop outside a cracked stucco apartment building, once a motel. Still smelled like one.
A frail staircase flanked each exit. I mounted the one toward the left, bounding upward toward the second floor.
Rain answered the door before I touched the knob, leaning against the frame in a yellow bikini strung around her bones. “We could’ve had so much fun on Venice Beach.” She pouted.
I brushed past her without a glance. Same skinny shape as the girls who’d cussed me out. Nothing to hold onto. Nothing like Natasha.
“Is my alias complete?”
“Meet any prized UFC fighters?” Rain threw a punch, eyes sparkling. She’d hacked jihadi servers and infiltrated networks most men wouldn’t dare touch. Yet, she fought the air in a cheesy attempt to force my smile.
Stop. Now.“Is my alias complete,Rainita?”
Her smile faltered. She was figuring out that the sudden inclusion of any variation of her name was dangerous. She perched at the edge of a small table with wires, a laptop, my alarm clock, and last night’s takeout cartons. “Yeah. You meet him? Resnov?”
The question rankled. I repeated, sharp, “I asked if my alias is complete!”
Rain sighed, tapping the keyboard. “Would love a chair,” she muttered. The laptop lit up, green code running. “Forget about the girl. You hate Vassili, snipe him from a mile away. Done deal.”
Patience thinned. My finger rubbed a circle over my thumb. Bad habit. A sign the rage was close. But I needed her. As she typed and pulled up another screen, my eyes bugged out. “What’s this,Corporal Rainita Howard?”
She lifted a shoulder and snorted. “Eloy got an infraction for driving twenty-five miles over the speed limit aweekback. Get it. It’s a paper trail?”
I blinked. Even she didn’t know our friend was vulture chow. She had cried when he went missing.
“Enzo, don’t look so emotionless. I know it hurt you and Jamie the worst when Eloy AWOL’d. I still can’t believe he’d leave.” She took a deep breath, shaking off her discomfort. “Anyway, you’ve gotten a ticket. Here’s an inside view of the Killeen PD’s system. Heh.” Rain laughed in my face. “Don’t worry, it’s showing as paid if Vassili digs deeper.”
Before she smirked again, my hand lashed out. Squeezed her throat. I hissed. “You think this is a joke?”
She writhed, almost slipping free. I let her breathe just enough. Rain hiked her hand, trying to place it between my forearms.
“Vassili wants Eloy to be perfect,” I growled, tightening again. “Between taking crappy mercenary assignments, I’m watching his daughter. Are you trying to interfere?”
“N-no. Enzo, please listen.”
“Too late for apologies.” I leaned close, lips brushing her ear. “I wanted Natasha first. I want her curves, her laugh, her mouth. Then … I’ll go after her father.”
Rain’s body sagged. Submission. Exactly why I’d picked her. A woman with the skills to serve me and low self-worth. She’d never leave.
I shoved her backward across the table. She spilled into a heap, coughing. Didn’t look cute in a bikini now.
Seconds passed. I glimpsed a small fire in her eyes. Ah, she understood her place. Beneath me. A spark that faded under my glare. Her voice cracked when she said, “A squeaky clean record might tip him off.”
Was she lying? My eyes flicked over her for a tell. Satisfied, I gestured for her to continue.
Rain massaged at her throat, the creamy skin tinged red. “My training indicates that a clean facade will spook the most powerful. Resnov will be suspicious if Eloy seems flawless.”
I studied her. She might be right. Paranoid men spotted perfection like blood in the water.
“Fine,” I muttered. “This better go the way I expect.”
