Page 106
She shrugs. “I always get the job done. You’ll appreciate that when it saves your ass.”
“The blow job, you mean?”
She laughs. “You can try every jab your little brain can think of, but you won’t be able to hurt my feelings. I’ve done things no male ILF operative could. And yeah, sex appeal is part of it. But it’s not all of it.”
She unscrews the cap on a bottle of nail polish, about to paint her nails.
“That stinks. Don’t do it when I’m a foot away and I can’t move.”
She flicks a glare at me. “You made it through the smell of melting flesh, so you’ll live.”
“Don’t be a bitch. Those people mattered.”
“I never said otherwise. But the volcano did do that—it was in the briefings.”
I narrow my eyes. “Briefings? So you read more than just mine?”
“I read all of them.”
“And then you acted surprised when I told you about Briar.”
She shrugs. “Does it matter?”
“Tells me I can’t trust you.”
She makes fake crying sounds while she paints her nails, and it’s all I can do not to rip off my seat belt and kick over stacks of crates. My partner is supposed to be someone I like and trust, not someone like her.
I brood in silence for a few minutes. The train is moving fast, but not fast enough. I want to get out of this fucking train car.
We aren’t wearing our fake wedding rings yet, which is part of the plan for getting the intel on my father’s signet. But I won’t be able to stomach convincing anyone this icy serpent is my beloved wife. She’s nothing like my Hannah.
“I’m asking for a new partner.”
Her response is the laugh I used to find sexy. Now it’s nails grating over a chalkboard.
“Good luck with that. Hiro pulled me from important work to come hold your hand for your reunion with Daddy. You’re the weak link, not me.”
Un-fucking-believable. Just when I think I can’t get any more pissed off, she manages it.
“So this is your game? You’re professional around Hiro, but then you go raging bitch when we’re alone?”
She darts a glare at me, her eyes simmering with anger. “Call me a bitch one more time and see what happens. I let it go the first time because I’d just rejected you. I don’t care about your chemically enhanced strength; I will smash your balls so hard your future children will feel it the next time you call me that.”
I actually believe her, which is unfortunate for me. I finally figured out how to get to her, but I don’t want to risk having my balls burst.
“Also, no.” She’s paying attention to her nails again, but I groan in anticipation of what else is coming.
“I speak freely around Hiro. He knows me.”
“He said you’re reckless.”
“You already told me, and again, I consider it a compliment.”
I’m just going to keep my mouth shut. Nothing I say to her will end in anything but an argument that she gets the better end of.
I last a solid ten minutes before I can’t help myself.
“I rescind my desire to fuck you. Attraction isn’t just skin deep.”
