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“So?”
“He was on the phone with some guy named Roselli.”
Eva’s eyes went wide. She shook her head. “Impossible.”
“I heard him through the window—saw him, too.”
“Roselli is dead.”
“Not from what I heard. Now listen, your ‘partner’ is planning something all on his own. He told this guy he’d take care of you and Alrigo and that you, specifically, wouldn’t be a problem. My parents landed in jail when they trusted someone better at the con game than they were, so believe me, I know a double cross when I hear one.”
Her gaze narrowed as she considered his words. Watching her face, he could practically see the wheels turning in her head.
He reached out to cover her small hand with his. “You can’t trust him, Eva, but you can trust me. Let’s help each other.”
She jerked from his touch and straightened. She’d gone poker-faced again, retreating behind an indifferent mask.
“You misunderstood. I know where Nino’s loyalty lies. Say nothing more to anyone.”
Again with the door. Damn it, she was going to get herself killed if she ignored him. Ben surged to his feet and followed her across the room. Two steps from the door, he reached for her shoulder.
Next thing he knew, he was kissing the wall, arm twisted mercilessly behind his back. Christ, she was fast. With the painful vice grip she had on his arm, her slight weight had no problem holding him in place.
Twisting his head to the side, he uttered a few choice words and then demanded, “How the hell’d you do that?”
“A woman in my line of work learns to take care of herself.”
“What exactly is your line of work, by the way?”
“That is not clear?”
The only thing that was clear right now was her warm body tight against his. Her spicy exotic scent wafted up to tease his nostrils. Damn it, he needed to focus here.
“It’s clear you can cook like nobody’s business, and equally clear you have exceptional defense skills, but none of that tells me what a nice, smart girl like you is doing with scum like Alrigo and Nino.”
“You are so sure I am a nice girl?”
Her voice had dropped a notch and Ben turned his head as far as possible to see her face over his shoulder from the corner of his eye. “You want to help me. I’ve seen it all along in those beautiful brown eyes of yours, Eva, and the eyes don’t lie.”
She applied pressure to his arm, her gaze downcast. When her lashes lifted again, the warmth he was so sure he’d glimpsed had shriveled under a thick sheet of ice.
“You have no idea what you are involved in, but trust me when I say if you wish to survive the next twelve hours, you will cease your arrogant attitude and keep your damn mouth shut.”
It was more of a warning than a threat, yet a shiver ran down his spine anyway. Fine, she wanted to trust the scumbags,
let her roast her own ass.
Yeah right. Cheap talk, buddy.
“My arm’s going numb.”
Her grip loosened a fraction. Ben shoved away from the wall, throwing her off balance enough that he was able to wrench free. Moving as fast as she had, he grabbed her and spun so her back pressed against the wall, wrists imprisoned above her head. A preemptive hip swivel blocked her knee to his groin. Not going there again.
He fought the urge for a long, deep inhale of her unique scent and focused on meeting her furious gaze.
“Just like that, the tables turn,” he murmured.
Uncertainty flickered in her eyes, only to be blinked away. “You said I could trust you.”
