"What?" Victor asks, stepping beside me. "Does that mean, 'Oh, that's easy. I can get past it no problem,' or 'Fuck, this is going to be hard?'"
I glare up at him. "Take a wild guess."
He nods and looks back down the hallway.
"Yeah."
I study the hall, calculating angles, gaps, potential routes I can take.
It's tight, and one wrong move will trigger some type of alarm that will have this floor flooded with guards. We'll be trapped, and I'll be as good as dead alongside him.
Victor reaches into his pocket and pulls out a keycard. He holds it up between two fingers.
"You need to make your way to the end," he says, handing it to me. "Scan this. It'll kill the lasers."
I take the card, turning it over in my hand.
"Where'd you get this?"
He nods toward one of the bodies on the floor.
"From one of your Russian friends."
Of course he did. I want to correct him about the friend bit, but I don't.
I slide the card into the top of my dress, tucking it against my bra. Victor's gaze follows the motion, completely unashamed. His eyes linger on my chest, and I feel the weight of his stare like a physical touch.
He sure seems to be devouring me with his eyes a bit more than ever before. I hope he doesn't think anything will come from our little arrangement.
Either way, I ignore the heat pooling low in my belly and focus on the lasers.
"We've got twelve minutes," I say, checking my internal clock. "Maybe fifteen before the next patrol comes by."
Victor leans down, and I can feel the heat radiating off him, his breath brushing my ear.
"Well then," he says, his voice dark and smooth. "Good luck, Danika."
I don't respond. I just kick off my heels, letting them clatter to the floor, and step toward the grid.
The first beam is low. I crouch, sliding under it, my dress pulling tight across my thighs. The fabric restricts my movement, and I curse silently, bunching it higher.
The second beam is higher. I step over it, balancing on one leg while I lift the other.
"So," Victor calls from behind me, his voice casual, amused. "Why does a pretty girl like you want the tablet?"
I glance back at him. He's leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching me like this is entertainment.
"None of your business," I shoot back, lowering myself under another beam.
"Come on," he says. "We're partners now. You can tell me."
"We're not partners. This is temporary."
"Still counts for something."
I twist my torso, threading my body through a narrow gap between two beams.
"Why don't you tell me why you want it besides the obvious? Why are you here targeting the Volkovs in the first place?" I ask, not looking back.
