Page 78 of Vicious Temptation

She didn’t call me Officer Braga or even Braga this time. She called me Thiago, and I fucking like how it sounds coming from her.

I turn the ring between my fingers once before giving it back. “Thank you for telling me.”

She closes her hand around it and stares at me for a heartbeat. “Okay, that’s enough feelings.”

A laugh catches in my throat. “Enough feelings?”

“Yes. You’re making this weird.” Reaching for the bowl on the coffee table, she grabs a lollipop. “It’s time for your final test.”

“Wait, were you serious about that?”

“Deadly.” She unwraps it and holds it out to me.

“And what happens if I hate it?” I ask, taking it from her.

“You leave.”

“You’d kick me out over a lollipop?”

“I have standards.”

I suppress a laugh and pop it into my mouth as she watches me with such intense focus that it feels like an actual evaluation.

“Well?”

I roll it over my tongue, pretending to consider my answer.

Her eyes narrow. “You better choose your next words very carefully.”

“Watermelon. It’s sweet.”

“That’s generally how candy works.”

I grin around the stick. “I like it.”

Her shoulders relax dramatically. “Congratulations. You can stay.”

“Does that mean we’re friends?”

The question hangs between us as Remi holds my gaze before reaching for another slice of pizza.

“Don’t push your luck, Braga.”

My phone vibrates against the table. I pick it up and glance at the screen.

ELENA: REPORT

Well, it was great while it lasted.

Twenty-Two

Remi

Itighten the ratchet beneath the hood of my GT-R, music echoing through the vast space as the car fights me another goddamn day. Most people would’ve given up already and handed the problem off to someone else, but I’ve never been good at walking away from something I know I can fix.

Eventually.

I wipe the sweat from my jaw with the back of my wrist, then lean farther over the engine bay, adjusting the socket against the timing assembly.