He’s the only man on earth who could pull off being serious with a goddamn towel on his head. But he looks fucking sexy as hell with strands of his hair falling over his forehead. The tightblack shirt doesn’t leave much to the imagination either—not that I’d need one after seeing his bare chest last night.
“We are the ones they send when the job is too dirty for the officials to handle. We are the violent leftovers of society, recycled into weapons for the secret underground forces no one dares utter a word about. We’re crafted for one thing and one thing only: to kill whoever the fuck we’re ordered to and clean up messes the uniform-wearing forces can’t be tied to.” Roman’s face is a display of unconcerned truth.
My breaths become shallow, and I hold on to the mug a little tighter. Taylor sets his hand on my knee and gives me a sympathetic smile like he feels bad that they have to tell me this.
I look each of them in their eyes and mutter, “You’re serious.”
A collective nod.
“Why are you telling me this? I shouldn’t know this if you’re in some secret branch. Isn’t that, like, a security breach?” I move to stand, but Taylor firms his hold on my leg, silently telling me to stay put.
Roman’s eyes darken, and he tilts his head to the side as he unwraps a piece of candy and slowly places it on his tongue. “Because the enemy of our enemy is a loose end.”
I glower at him. “It’s supposed to befriend.”
“We don’t do friends, Squirt. Not when it comes to work,” Roman says with a crooked grin.
Work? This is beyond work.
“Uh-huh, I’ll believe that when I don’t see you guys fawning over every woman that looks your way,” I shoot back.
John huffs. “Stop. We are tasked to blend in. It’s okay that we?—”
“Get your dick wet?” I deadpan. Taylor bursts out laughing beside me. I spot Bensen quickly smothering his grin with his hand.
“Why here of all places? And why me? I’m useless. I don’t have anything to do with…whoever you guys are fighting with.” I set down the tea before I spill it all over myself.
“We’ve been digging up the black market’s gatekeepers. This particular group is known as Sub-Rosa, but you wouldn’t believe how much shady shit goes down in small, insignificant towns like these, where no one bats an eye at anything happening,” Gale adds.
Bensen leans against the wall and grunts. “Think hard, Briar. What do you have or have knowledge of that would be useful to an underworld operation? Because honestly, it’s been pretty damn quiet around here until your uncle was terminated and you showed up out of nowhere.”
My uncle was terminated?My eyes widen and my stomach drops.
Was he working with the black market? Like dark web shit or illegal weapons trade? My heart beats faster, and the few sips of tea I took are already bubbling like they might come back up.
They all stare at me expectantly. Like they genuinely think I’ll have the answer they want to hear.
“I don’t know anything. Especially about my uncle. Maybe important documents or the item I’m supposed to be looking for that’s worth money…but other than that, I don’t know.” My fingers curl into my palms, and I hesitantly look up at Roman. His gaze could cut stone. I consider clarifying that it’s a flash drive but can’t bring myself to say it. What if it’s the only thing keeping me alive? One thing is clear, I can’t trust any of them.
John gives me a pitiful frown when I start trembling again. “We will have time to discuss this later. Can we figure out lunch first? Let’s try to clear our heads. We’re all tired.”
Gale stretches and nods. “Pizza.”
Taylor and Bensen are quick to agree.
It’s crazy how they’re able to just push this world-shattering news aside with the mention of food. It seems like they are so desensitized to danger that they don’t even care that we could literally be sitting ducks here.
Roman’s standing over me. “Calm down. All you’re doing is stressing yourself out.” I blink and am a bit mortified at how I just totally zoned out for a few moments.
He just won’t leave me alone, and I’m beyond sick of it.
I stand up and slip by him. “Eat without me. I’m going to bed,” I grumble as I head down the hall toward my room. Well, temporary room. Nothing here feels like mine, and I hate it.
I just want to feel like I belong somewhere for once.
Heavy footsteps follow me into the hallway. I don’t bother looking to see who it is. I know it’s Roman in all his asshole glory.
The second I step into my room, I shut the door behind me and flip the lock. I collapse onto the bed and stare at the ceiling as Roman tries the doorknob. A weak grin forms across my lips for a fleeting moment because I hear the lock unclick and he’s stepping into my room.
