Page 105 of Elite Metal: Warriors

“I told you. I wasn’t following you.”

“I know that now. But you have to realize how suspicious you look.”

“I don’t look suspicious in the least.”

“Of course you do, all big and muscular and…” She waved a hand at his person.

“It kind of sounds like you want me again,” he said, waggling his nether regions.

She didn’t take the bait. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just trying to warn you. If I saw you coming, you’d better believe Ming Kow noticed you too.”

“Maybe I’m not his type.”

“Oh, brother.” She rolled her eyes. “Look, Cooper. You need to forget about that server and leave Hong Kong.”

What? “I’m on a mission to destroy Ming Kow.”

“I am too, and I cannot have a big galoot like you getting in my way.”

Wait. What? They were on the same mission? If she was out for Ming Kow, she couldn’t be in league with Babikov. Could she? “What do you mean?” he asked.

Her frown deepened. “I’m too close. I can’t have you screwing everything up.”

“Too close to what?”

But she didn’t seem inclined to answer his questions. “I promise, if you go after Ming Kow’s server, you will get caught. And he will kill you. I know this guy. He’s brutal.”

“I know him too. And I’m a badass.”

She flicked a dismissive look at him, focusing on the bonds above his head. “Just take my word for it. Get the hell out of Hong Kong. Now.”

He should be furious at her and he really tried to glower, but his head was going muddy again and his eyesight was dimming. “But I have a mission,” he tried to say, but it came out all garbled.

The last thing he saw was her expression—it was mortifyingly pitying.

He thought he felt the brush of her breath on his lips before he passed out again, but he was probably just imagining it.

When he woke up, it was morning, he had a splitting headache and she was gone.

Chapter Four

“What are you doing here?”

Nat jumped as Ming Kow’s voice echoed through her office. She hadn’t expected him back tonight because the private soirees he had at the hotel usually went all night. They were a foul collection of villains and gangsters with dark desires, but she was never expected to attend, thank God.

After her interaction with Cooper, she’d headed for the office because it was closer than her apartment, and she’d needed to recuperate, find her balance again.

Not that he’d thrown her for a loop…but he had.

She was still shaking.

It took a moment for her to pull herself together, re-don her unflappable persona and face her boss. Still, her smile was tight. “I had some things to finish up.”

He quirked a brow. Her gaze went unerringly to the scar bisecting his forehead. “It’s two in the morning.”

“I wasn’t tired.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You work too hard.”