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“I had to protect him.” I unclench my jaw and lower my brow. She continues to explain. “Do you know what it’s like to have one person in your life who gives you everything? Seeing my guardian angel broken?” She wipes away a few tears that have fallen from her perfect face. “I could not sit back and watch him slowly kill himself. I heard those horror stories the men talked about in the support groups. One week someone didn’t show up, and we all knew why. I couldn’t let that happen to my brother.”
She sits up straighter and clears her throat.
“I could play the damsel in distress well enough to fool Kevin and his friends. DuPont was another story. Felt like I was bipolar trying to convince each person I needed to get that job.” She laughs and shrugs. “Once on the job, I could get intel on who was involved. The list of people that needed to be… sorted. We were just moving forward with handling those people when you showed up.”
“So you knew Jessica?” I ask. Since Jess said she was working with the CIA, I can only assume that they knew each other.
She nervously taps her foot. “I never met Jessica. She was working with someone else on our team and they monitored her for a bit. I didn’t know how crazy she was or that she was after you or me. I hadn’t felt so exposed until she tried to shoot at us in the park. You caused me to let my guard down.” She picks at her fingernails and boldly continues on as a moral agent.
“When you kidnapped Kevin, I was so pissed. You were on top of my list. I would have done anything to get him back, and the CIA knew that. They had only provided your service picture and a few informational documents. They redacted a lot. I searched and searched for you. I was so close to throwing in the towel and asking for help when you showed up at the coffee shop. As if I ordered you from a magazine.” Her green eyes meet mine and they glisten in the dim light. Tragically romantic at how much warmth they hold. “You don’t look like your service picture, but the jawline and smile were so similar. I could see the same damage in your eyes, even if you flirted with me. Your poker face is a horrible bluff.”
I grin and click my tongue against my teeth. This woman hooked me. The whole time I thought I had the upper hand, and here she was, holding me under her thumb.
“Your timetable of sorting people out was much quicker than mine. They ordered me to stand down as you made your moves. You don’t need a boss to tell you what you legally can and can’t do. This entire game you played was an honor to watch.”
I hear her words, but her body shifts in lust. Her monologue is beautiful, displaying my trophies as words from her sweet coffee breath. I am getting turned on in the basement of my torture chamber. How fucked up is that?
“I am the only one to see you for who you truly are. You have never been vulnerable to anyone, have you?”
“No. You are right, for good reason, too. Trust has to be earned.”
She nods and stands, pacing the room.
“I hate you so much,” she growls. “God, the way you took care of me after Jessica was such a cunt! Why?”
She stops in front of me. I look up at her, but I don’t see the anger; I see the confusion.
“I was just a target for you. Why did you protect me like that?”
“You started off as a target, a means to an end. You played the part well enough to make me fall for you. Our first kiss in front of the food truck changed everything. I know you felt it too.”
“That wasn’t a lie?” Her eyes beg for the truth.
I look around this dimly lit room and see a gas can and matches off to the side. Like I said, I expected to die today. I just didn’t think it would be this way.
“Fine, you want the truth?”
“I need the truth!” She points to me.
“I fell in love with you.” That stops everything. “You became the very thing I feared but the one thing to comfort me on impossible days. Reese… your name is Reese, right?”
She nods her head and I continue.
“We both may have been playing a part, but I know you felt the connection between us, too. I enjoy spending time with you. I savor every text, picture, phone call, all encounters with you.”
She closes her eyes and expels a breath.
“I love the way your coffee breath tastes against my lips, but what I love more is tasting you. Making love to you was the most thrilling moment of my life. I fucking hated when you yelled John. I want to curse that fucking name!”
Reese bends down, and her lips graze my ear. “Adam,” she breathlessly whispers. So gentle but loud enough to shake my core. I can feel goose bumps form all along my body. Fucking perfect. Her chest rises and falls dramatically and all I want to do is pounce on this woman and ravage her until she screams my real name. There is no lie in the connection between us. I lunge forward, pulling the chains tight as she stands tall.
“I thought you were so innocent. Innocent, my ass!” I laugh. “You are the devil!”
“I never said I was innocent of anything. Yes, I led you to believe small things about me, but in the end, you made assumptions,” she says. God, those eyes drilling into my soul.
“You never should have taken Kevin,” she states matter-of-factly. “You know I can’t let you leave here, right? CIA does not leave loose ends.”
She walks over to the gas can, picking it up. She sprays different parts of the room. I watch her move about in those skintight pants. Every drip of gasoline takes away from the picture-perfect woman I once saw. She has done this before, and my dick is aching for her. I shouldn’t be this turned on, but a woman who can handle life like this has interrupted my fantasies of that white picket fence facade. Fuck the suburbs. I want this fiery, green-eyed devil who gave me the most to live for at this moment. She can see through all the bullshit.
