Page 122 of Elite Metal: Warriors

“Pretty damn close.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Titanium was going to kick him in the ass.

Chapter Eight

Cooper’s expression captured her attention and Natalia stilled. “You know this name?” she asked.

His mouth slanted into a grim line. “My team has been hunting Red Wolf for years.”

“I thought Ming Kow was your target,” Gregor said, rolling his glass between his palms. But his casual demeanor was a façade. Nat knew him far too well to think anything else.

“We’ve been going after Red Wolf’s associates as a way to flush him out.” He shot a glance at Nat, and she flinched. Not because his eyes were cold and hard, but because they weren’t.

This, he had passion about.

She wanted to smack him, but instead curled her fingers into a fist.

“A double pity then, that Natalia chose you over her vengeance.”

Cooper chuckled. His gaze locked on hers. “That may not matter.”

Gregor leaned forward. His bushy brows rumpled. “What do you mean?”

“Because I have this.” Cooper dangled the medallion from his fingers.

Natalia snorted. “A piece of jewelry?”

“It’s more than that.” He turned the mechanism and a thumb drive popped out. “I was able to download Ming Kow’s hard drive. I’ve been going through the material, looking for ways to shut down his business, but there’s far too much information that’s encoded. With Nat’s knowledge of Ming Kow’s business and Nurelnikov’s role in it, we may be able to narrow it down.” He caught her eye again. “If we work together.”

Work together?

What torment that would be.

She had no idea why excitement trilled through her.

If she were smart, she would refuse. Hell, she would run. She’d laid it all out for Cooper—admitted that her feelings went far beyond the superficial—and he’d pretty much told her he didn’t feel the same about her. She was just asking for trouble to cling to that foolish hope. She was asking for trouble to put herself into his presence. On purpose.

But then she looked at Gregor, saw her mentor’s expression, and she knew this was something she had to do. For herself, for her team, for him. Working with Cooper would be a challenge, but she could handle it. Especially if it meant she still had a chance at finding Nurelnikov.

She’d managed to keep her emotions locked down for the better part of her life. What were a few more days?

“All right,” she said. “Shall we begin now?”

Cooper sent her a crooked grin, one that threatened to make her belly flip. “No time like the present.”

Damn the man.

Why did he have to be so fucking attractive?

* * *

Oh. Had she thought working with Cooper would be torment?

It was worse.

They sat side by side, painstakingly going through the files he’d stolen. She was able to quickly identify many of them as standard business and slowly but surely, they created a list of files that stood out from the rest, either in that they were encoded, or because something about them was odd.

It was hard for Natalia to remain focused. Cooper was warm, his scent surrounded her, lured her, which was annoying because it wasn’t a cologne or a soap…it was just him. Occasionally he’d move and brush her arm, or her thigh. It happened so often, she began to wonder if he was doing it on purpose.