“Good,” I said, “because I know what to do, in my own way, and style.”
“You don’t like my style?”
I loved his style, going into a place all guns blazing was fun to watch from afar, but my way wasn’t the same—even if he was my mentor—Master—and dominator. With all those good things came limits, and I was going to show him I could do things he thought I was too submissive and weak to do.
“Finley is going to be on the comms,” I told him. I loved Jinksy, but he was Donovan’s go-to guy. Finley had been in my ear before, and told me how to escape what might’ve been certain death.”
“Ok, that’s fine. What else?”
“No shooting, unless I shoot first,” I told him. “I’m being serious about that.”
He pulled out a paper from the file, there was a man’s face attached to the top of it with a paperclip. “Ok, and he’s the target?”
“Yup, he’s the head of the imports operation,” I said, the words sour in my mouth. This wasn’t importing in the traditional sense, this was pulling people away from their families, forcing them into slave servitude, and putting them on the market for sale. Bile rose in my throat which I gulped back to the burning sensation aching in my chest. “He’s the target. We kill him, we free the shipment, and we destroy their base. I’ve got plans for an electrical fire.”
Donovan smiled at me. “You’ve thought a lot about this,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m trying to make a good impression,” I told him. “I’m trying to show them I don’t need any more of their stupid tests. You know, like asking me if I would rather be in the computer lab. Or becoming one of thefairies—assistants.”
He laughed, then bulled me in again around the waist. “I’m proud of you, actually. And for what it’s worth, they pull that shit to everyone who comes in needing training.”
“And you didn’t?”
“With my background, no. I’d worked for other agencies before that, a hired gun, or mercenary. I came to them after working a job with someone else. It wasn’t something I’d ever planned on doing, but they didn’t test me.” He shrugged a little. “They did, actually, but only before realizing I wasn’t someone who was worth being tested.”
I snorted. “Don’t inflate your ego.”
“Hey,” he growled in my ear, his hand slipping up my waist and chest to grip my neck. “You gotta give me respect. Remember who you belong to, baby.”
“Sorry, Daddy,” I said, rolling my chin around to his hand on my neck. I liked the way it was placed, so soft, he wasn’t trying to do anything with it, other than touch me. “But you’ve got to listen to me on this one. I’m the Daddy.” I giggled, saying the words aloud were just funny. I’d let him stick to being incontrol in our personal lives, but in this work, I might’ve liked the occasional switch—it was definitely in line with me trying to take charge with my bratty behavior.
After thirty minutes of giving Donovan the rundown, he seemed more confident in me—and then took the credit himself, since I’d learned directly from him.
“When does this take place?” he asked.
“Shipment of people come in two days, the plan is to get them then,” I said.
“Ok, and I didn’t see anything about getting their data,” he said.
I scoffed, going through all the papers on the bed, spread out. “Obviously, there’s something in there,” I said with a huff. “You were probably kissing my neck when I was telling you.”
“You can’t blame me,” he said. “Your neck smells so good. Is it my cologne?”
“No, it’s mine,” I said, collecting the paper. “Finley is going to provide a thumb drive, we insert it into their computer, it scrapes the data, and then we can begin the fire.”
He was kissing my neck once again, almost like he wasn’t listening—again. Another elbow was swiftly avoided. “You keep doing that and I’ll have to restrain you,” he said. “So, why don’t we hit these guys right now?”
“Because we want to make sure whoever they’ve got are safe and not diverted somewhere else,” I told him. It was a part truth. The other part of the truth laid in who else was going to be there when we hit it. I didn’t know how much everyone else knew, but I assumed I was working under the guise that the information wasn’t known.
“Makes sense,” he said. “And it’s just the two of us.”
“Well, me, but you’re tagging along and I can’t say no,” I giggled.
“Obviously, you can say no,” he said. During all our time together, he’d been so clear and sure to let me know about boundaries, mostly for the dynamic. “If you really think going into this place without backup is ok, then I support you, but I think it’s best if you had someone.”
I knew that was true, and I knew he would be coming with me, but being playful about it was something I couldn’t’ help. “Until then, I guess we get to plan on what we’re going to spend all your money on,” I said turning around in his arms. “I’m thinking, we could buy an island.”
“Ok, and what would do on this island?”
