“She’s a liar, E. A skillful one. There’s a possibility she was even trained to lie.”
“I am aware,” I said, my tone flat, refusing to rise to the bait.
He sighed. “That’s why you had them off the case? Because you both—ended your, uh… temporary involvement?”
“No. I needed Elia out of the compound. I needed Zahra out too. She was complicating things, messing with my goal, and I wouldn’t say I liked that she had kissed my brother. I didn’t want to entertain the way it made me feel. It distracted me. It made me… angry at him. I am never angry at him.” I frowned, realizing I still carried that anger.
“Wow.” Casmiro breathed out, scoffing and shaking hishead in disbelief. “I’ve never heard you speak of a woman like this; it shows you’re not only saying this because the sex was good. You really do like her, don’t you?”
I sighed. “It is now in the past. None of it matters,” I said. “That is why I am in a mood. You wanted to know, now you know.”
Casmiro watched me for a long time before he gave a very loud sigh. “Maybe it’s for the best. Nothing good will come out of you attaching yourself to that woman.”
“Maybe,” I murmured, shifting my gaze back to the pool.
It would be easier if everything around me didn’t remind me of her—this gazebo, that pool, my house, the casino, the office, even the torture rooms. It would be easier if when I smelled food spices, or vanilla, or even hear someone speak in Spanish, my mind didn’t drag back to her. It would be easier if when I closed my eyes, I didn’t see the look on her face when I told her she was a mistake.
It was a cruel thing to say. Knowing all that I knew about her, that meaning would have run deeper than what I wanted to convey.
But Casmiro was right. Nothing good would come out of it. Not just because Zahra had her many secrets, but because I didn’t plan to be here long. There was no use in starting something I wouldn’t finish, especially not when I was this close to getting all I wanted.
CHAPTER TWO
Zahra
Iwas certain the man patted my chest twice.
He also did the same to my ass, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t imagine how he squeezed a little.
I kept my eyes on him, raising a brow when he finally lifted his head to look at me. He cleared his throat and stepped back before speaking into his earpiece. “She’s clean, just a phone. I’m sending her up.”
He swiped a key card in the slot beside the elevator and I watched it slide open.
“Get in, someone will take you to him when you reach the top floor.”
Without saying a word, I stepped into the elevator, keeping my face straight as the doors closed.
I was alone.
I let out a breath, then I started coughing, covering my mouth with my hand and discreetly taking the small device from my tongue, stylishly brushing my vest, then my hair, which had grown out quite a bit. I tucked my hair behind my ear while fixing the device in my ear and clearing my throat.
“Zahra’s online.”Upper’s voice reached me first.
“Great, let’s get this show on the road,”Dog said.
“Okay, Z. I’m in position, anything goes sideways, send the signal and I’ll fall in,”Devil said, voice a little breathy.
“Hopefully nothing goes sideways. We’re just here for information, not to pick a fight,”Milk said.
“That building is armed to the teeth, and considering howwonderful all our missions have been going of late, we can’t be too sure of anything,”Upper said.
I knew it would be fine because I had it under control. The man I was going to meet was someone I’d conducted business with before I met Street. They didn’t know that, and I planned to keep it that way.
I planned to keep a lot of things in places where I could control them, namely, my past and the man who had plagued every one of my waking thoughts since we left Milan, the man who was responsible for the shit mood I’d been in since the moment I left that interrogation room and he told me we were free to go.
I shook my head, mentally erasing the thoughts of him as I stood straighter, squaring my jaw, and entering into the likeness of the Zahra I’d been before Street. I needed everything about that version of myself if I wanted to get information about the manor.
“According to your intel, Daniels should be done with his prior meetings so this is your best window to speak with him,”Milk said.
