Twinkie?
Aiden looked at her, at me, and paused.
He fucking paused?
“How dangerous?” He looked all business now.
She tilted her head.
“Shit,” he muttered.
It was at that point that I lost it. “What are you two talking about?” My voice most likely reached all the way across the lake through the screen at the open sliding glass back door. When my lungs kicked in, they did so with gusto. I whirled on Aiden, slamming the door shut at the same time. “You’remarried?”
His way too blue eyes narrowed, and I could actually see him thinking it through. I recognized that look.
My temper beat him to the punch. “No. Absolutely not. Do not protect me for my own good. Do not keep secrets from me. Whatever you’re doing, stop it right now,” I bellowed.
Sasha winced. “This one is a little feisty.” With her cute southern accent, she made the insult seem classy.
I clenched my fingers into a fist. Unconsciously. Well, mostly unconsciously.
Aiden held up a hand. The one without a wrench. “Hold it a minute. I am not married.”
Yep. He knew the exact right thing to pause me in what would’ve been a spectacular moment of Irish/Italian temper. “Explain,” I grit out, my teeth actually hurting.
Sasha looked around the empty living room. “We need a sofa, darling.”
Aiden exhaled loudly. “Stop it.” He tossed the wrench back into the kitchen where it bounced loudly against the toolbox. “Anna Albertini, meet Sasha Duponte. Sasha, Anna.”
Sasha turned to me, all smiles. “Charmed.” She held out a hand.
I looked at her perfectly painted nails and reached out to clasp palms. Then I met her gaze evenly. “The pleasure is mine.”
Whatever she saw in my eyes had her smile sliding away and awareness finally filtering into her gaze. The shake was quick. “If you don’t mind, I need to speak with Aiden alone.”
“I do mind.” As my equilibrium returned, my feet settled, and I focused on her instead of the Irish hottie I wanted to kick in the knee.
“Aiden?” She turned back to him, and the way she said his name with her accent was…intimate.
He looked at me. Tall, broad, and possibly about to break my heart. “Nope. Anna can stay.”
Sasha sighed, and even that sound was feminine. “We need to speak alone. It’s dangerous.”
His bark of laugh was unexpected but eased something deep down inside me. “I’ve learned the hard way that when I try to protect Anna at arm’s length, I end up getting shot. Or she gets something blown up. Whatever is going on, she knows the full story. Period.”
Sasha glanced at me again, and there was surprise on her face this time. “I see.”
“That’s good,” I said evenly. “How about you start with your lie that you’re Aiden’s wife?” Now my voice was all sugar and sweetness.
Her smile was catlike. “Ah, good times. We need to reprise the role, Devlin.”
Aiden leaned back against the now dry primer we’d painted on the wall two days before. “Sasha is ATF, and we worked an undercover operation a few years back.”
“I already figured that out,” I said calmly. I would not panic. If this very sexy woman wanted to go undercover as Aiden’s wife again, I would not panic. Nope. Not a chance.
He eyed her. “How did you find me?”
“Official channels,” she admitted. “Finally caught wind of Saber and he gave me your brand new address.” She looked at the far screen with its several rips. “Are you already undercover?”
