Page 7 of Cash

I’d wash him off later, for now I stupidly wanted him with me. Not as a souvenir or some silly notion of ownership. He wasn’t mine and I sure as hell wasn’t his. But as a reminder of my failure.

Once my jeans were buttoned, I nudged him back with my ass and slipped out from between him and the vanity to make my exit.

With the door ajar I glanced over my shoulder, taking my final look at Cash beautifully naked. Once I had the sight committed to memory I demanded, “Clean up the floor before you go.”

Those lips…gorgeous, full lips I’d felt on my neck, the ones I wished he would’ve kissed me with, curled up. I didn’t bother preparing for what was next, I let his smile singe what was left of me.

“Not even going to thank me for the orgasm?”

“What orgasm?”

His smile widened and for a split second I allowed myself to wonder what it would be like to own that smile, to be his, and in return he would be mine.

“See ya around, baby girl.”

Baby girl.

Ugh.

I didn’t bother correcting him or issuing threats we both knew were meaningless.

He knew he won.

Which meant I’d lost.

At least he wasn’t an asshole winner and let me leave without rubbing it in. Though I was leaving with his come drying on my skin, so he didn’t have to rub anything in.

I’d done it for him.

CHAPTER TWO

“Where is everyone?” I asked, glancing around the empty basement the team had been using as a base of operations, zeroing in on the lone occupant.

Zane Lewis brooding alone in silence was never good. It was a clear sign we were in the shit and there was little to no chance we’d wash the filth off before we were buried under it.

Though we’d been wading in this particular steaming pile of shit for a while. And around every turn more shit fell on us.

“Not here,” he grunted, not taking his eyes off the wall in front of him.

I pulled out the closest chair, plopped down, and waited.

“Brave,” Zane mumbled.

He wasn’t wrong. I’d just painted a bullseye on my forehead for a snake coiled ready to strike.

“You gonna let the president swing?” I asked, knowing he wouldn’t.

“I should.”

A few hours ago, President Graham had addressed the nation. He’d tossed out words like: terrorist attacks, transparency, treason, foiled assassination attempt, and conspiracy. He’d doubled down and called out China and Russia, alerting both our adversaries that the US knew they were behind two bridge collapses—one in Baltimore and one in the Bay Area. He’d also shared that we knew the Chinese were behind a power outage in Arizona and they’d done it by installing a backdoor in the transformers they’d manufactured and sold us.

Further, he lowered the hammer and addressed both countries on national TV for the world to see and hear that if they didn’t retreat and cease further attacks, he’d deploy the nuclear options available to him.

The only thing Graham didn’t divulge was that we knew the Chinese were targeting our nuclear power plants and those were now heavily guarded and taken offline.

The country was already quickly sliding into chaos. If the population at large knew about the power plants, Graham could kiss chaos goodbye and pandemonium would sweep through the country like wildfire.

“After that speech, he not only tied the knot, he slipped his head into the noose,” I reminded him.