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Under normal circumstances, I liked the kid. He was smart and a quick fucking study. Not formally trained, but anything you gave him didn't take long for him to master. He was some kind of genius with computers, had a photographic memory, the whole bloody lot. But knowing he was going to get a crack at Lohman before I did set my fucking teeth on edge.
“Just you hold the fuck up until I'm done with Gabe.”
Lachlan frowned. “Don't worry, you’ll get a chance. Or is there something else you're not telling me?”
I didn't take the bait, especially not with Rook listening. There was a lot Lachlan didn't know about me, and now hardly felt like the right time to get into all that. “Fine. I'll go see Gabe now while you go have all my fun, you wankers.”
I'd been looking forward to this moment for three years. They had better leave me something to work with.
Knowing that I was thwarted put me in an even shittier mood.
And the worst part was I could still fucking taste that woman as I stomped toward Gabe’s office for ourchat.
Her taste was like the finest whiskey. Biting at first, overconfident, but then it had a mellow, smoky quality to it. The type of drink that settled into crevices you didn't even know you had and warmed them up. A long slow burn. Infiltrating like an assassin. Before you knew it, you stood up and were punch drunk from having one sip too many.
Back up the stairs I opened the door to the main offices. Gabe Webb was in there with his sister, both of them staring at something on the monitor.
Saffron saw me first and gave me a wide smile, her ebony skin impeccable as always with a flawless bone structure. Some days working with her was like having a bloody supermodel or something as a manager. Only difference was that Saffron Abbot was no supermodel. In hand-to-hand, she could still take medown in a flash. Perhaps not as easily as when I first arrived, but she could still take me out for damn certain if she was inclined to fight dirty. Which she always was.
I didn’t let that get to my ego though. The woman had been training since she was able to walk since both of her parents were agents. They'd been preparing her for this career forever.
“Hey, Saint. Lock tell you to come on up?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he and Rook found me as I was headed to interrogation. What's the holdup?”
Her dark eyes studied mine, and I knew the moment she saw it — the frenetic energy. The desperation to not be here but instead be in interrogation getting my answers. Getting my revenge.
Saffron walked over and squeezed my bicep gently. “Lachlan and Westin will soften him up for you. They’re just going to ask him a couple of questions. They'll leave all the revenge for you, I promise.”
I shifted on my feet, uncomfortable under her gaze. She saw way too much. She tended to see through my easy-breezy affability to the real me hidden below, and I didn’t know what to do with that feeling. Sometimes I would catch her just staring at me, as if waiting for me to peel off the fake skin and show her the real me. I never did. I couldn’t do it. Not with Saff. Not with anyone.
She gave me a nod and then turned back to her brother, bidding him farewell.
When Gabe looked up from his desk, his gaze was different from his sister’s. I still remember Lock being confused as to how they were related. I might have kept their actual relationship a secret from him for longer than I should have, just to watch him squirm. He was so stupidly in love with Saffron but wouldn't do anything proper about it, so I gave him the nudge he needed. Jealousy was a great motivator. So I'd let him think that she andGabe had a thing going on as opposed to telling him that they were adopted siblings. My bad.
Gabe's green eyes met mine gravely. “Saint, take a seat.”
I stood stubbornly. “While I do respect you Gabe, we both know I should be the one interrogating that trash.”
“Oh, believe me, you wouldn't be in here unless it was important.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face and tried to let his words settle over me. “What's going on?”
Hitting a couple of keys on his laptop, the screen changed to a close up picture of Kaya. For the second time that night, my breath whooshed out like I was gut punched. Good Lord, she was beautiful.
“What about her?” I asked. “She wasn't a problem tonight. She was the one Connor bid on. She tried to see him after, but we didn't let it happen. We still got out in time within mission parameters and protocols.”
“Relax, Jasper. I'm not about to lay into you about going off script.”
Funny, because staying on the script was Gabe’s favorite game. However, I tended to do the things that worked but at times went against protocol.
“So what's the problem then, sir?”
“Well, it seemed Connor’s men were after her tonight.”
A tingle of unease wrapped around my spine.
“Someonewasafter her. No idea why. She made it out the door and off premises with no one chasing her, so maybe they were just looking for Lohman and not Kaya.”
