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“No.”My eyes fall to the floor. “I looked away while you were… undressing.”
“You little pervert!”
“Dani, come on. I looked away.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“You just told me you didn’t break in—”
“I know. Dammit, Dani, can we just…”
I hold her eyes, hoping that she’ll believe me. If I can’t get her to believe me about this then she’ll never trust me at all.
Finally, she sighs. “Who are these snake people?”
“Snake Eyes,” I correct. “They’re an elite group of highly-trained agents,” I say, choosing my words carefully. “Snipers, like me. Soldiers, hackers, you name it — pretty much the best there is. They work in squads. Each agent performs a different task to finish a job.”
“What kind of jobs?”
“Assassinations.”
She shakes her head. “That’s ridiculous. People would know if something like that existed.”
“You’d be surprised, actually.”
“Then, how do you know about it?”
It’s the question I’ve dreaded since I set foot in Los Angeles again. I knew I’d have to tell her about Snake Eyes, but I debated how much truth to include in that. No matter what I came up with, it meant lying to cover up a piece of the truth and now, looking into her perfect blue eyes, I know I can’t lie to her. Not about this.
I reach for the top of my shirt and I flick the buttons free all the way down.
Dani gasps and holds up a hand to block her view. “Fox, what are you—”
I open my shirt and wait for her to look again. It only takes a moment for her curiosity to pique and her eyes fall on my chest.
Her breath catches. She steps forward, drawn to me with bewilderment on her face, and reaches out to touch the black ink traveling up my abdomen. My entire body reacts to her touch, spiking several degrees in less than a second. Her fingertips glide up the cobra’s tail, starting at the bottom near my navel and curling upward until they reach its head tattooed between my pecks. She reacts to my scars, too.
So many scars.
“Because I used to be one of them,” I say.
“Fox…” Her whisper buzzes the hairs on the back of my neck. “You…”
I close my shirt and step back to lean against the waist-high dresser across from the bed. She sits down on the mattress, her little eyes flickering in the dim lamplight. The lull between us is loud, almost deafening, but her thoughts practically tumble out of her eyes. She’s obviously scared and confused.
She has every right to be.
I spot the mini-fridge on the floor near the dresser and reach down to yank it open. Several tiny bottles of alcohol line the bottom shelf. I grab two random ones and look back to see Dani holding out a hand. I smirk and grab two more to pass off to her.
“Thanks,” she says.
She twists the cap off one and swallows a large gulp of it without even looking at the label first. Her face contorts but she doesn’t hesitate to take a second sip.
“So, you were a sniper?” she asks.
I nod. “Trained in the army.”
