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She didn’t sass back and get feisty. She wasn’t frowning or reconfiguring her face into scowls.

Louisa kept her cool.

She didn’t let it show that this guy, probably her boss, was getting to her.

Yet, I saw it all. How she’d deflate after he moved on. Then how she’d mouth something to herself under her breath and look so defeated and peeved that I wanted to beat that asshole for making her feel so down.

I growled, lowering the scope and running my hand over my face.

What the fuck is going on here?

I care if she’s upset?

I’m supposed to kill her.

“Unless you’re not that much of a useful witness anyway,” I whispered to myself.

I lifted the scope lens again to peer at her.

She was peering at the screen, but her profile was in full detail. I was addicted already, drawn to commit her to memory.

The long, dark curls and waves that draped down her back and over one shoulder. The sharp blue eyes that hinted at so much intelligence. The sweet curves of her tits, her cheeks, her waist, all those tempting lines that even her drab Pickering Inc. uniform shirt couldn’t hide. The thickness of her thighs in those tight jeans I could imagine peeling off in a slow and lazy exploration of familiarizing myself with every inch of her petite and curvy body.

I bet she had the purest white lingerie underneath those layers. Dainty and sweet. She didn’t look like the kind of forward woman who’d need fine silk and lace to feel desirable. To know she was desirable.

I imagined her voice was soft and gentle, melodic and not demanding. But the smiles those plump lips could curl up into? I had a hunch they were the kind that could bring a grown man like me down to his knees to beg for more.

“Goddammit.”

I thrust the scope back down, seriously struggling to understand how and why this could be happening to me. That after all those years, all that time in the before stage of my life changing so much, I’d had countless women. So many, it’d be impossible to recall how many. I’d scraped through that adventure intact, never pining for any one woman again.

But this?

This target?

This loose end I had to eliminate?

I couldn’t stand the idea of losing a chance with her.

You haven’t even gotten close to know what she could be like.

How in the hell can she pull me in like this—from a distance and with a bullseye on her back?

I brought the scope back to my eyes and sighed.

Is it because I can notice her so acutely, or is it because I really can’t tell if she needs to be killed?

Maksim hadn’t been opposed to capturing her for intel, but Adrik wanted her gone without even knowing who she was.

I didn’t know who she was either, but something about her had me second-guessing my orders for the first time ever.

A buzz from my phone distracted me, and I glanced at the screen.

Just Viktor, texting me that he’d found Alexei because he’d needed to talk to him.

Nothing important, but what was significant was the time. I’d stayed here, all night, just watching her. All this time that I debated whether I should take her life. Whether I was thinking with my dick and not my head.

As if on cue, she began closing down her work in her cubicle. Another shift would start soon, and I had already noticed the company’s routine. Two mid-shift employees would stay until the others would arrive.