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With a sigh, I shucked my clothes and moved in beside her. Almost immediately, she wrapped her body around mine as if it was the most natural thing to do.
Brushing the hair off her forehead, I said, “You don’t have to be strong tonight. You can let your guard down. I’ll keep you safe.”
She snuggled into me and whispered, “Don’t make me love you, Sam.”
“Too late. You already do.”
9
Devani
With a heavy sigh,I wiped the sweat from my brow and exited the alley outside my target’s building. Navigating the crevices of the two-hundred-year-old building had taken longer than expected, which meant I’d get some shit from Tweedledum and Tweedledee. At least the equipment placement had gone without a hitch.
Pushing the communication link on my wrist piece, I said, “Data transfer in progress. I’m exhausted. Why did I agree to this after someone I won’t name ditched me today? I could barely make it through the luncheon with the two Masters of the Universe patting themselves on the back with all their self-accolades on the many things they accomplished in life.”
“To be fair, Neil bought you an entire red velvet cake from that bakery you love to make up for the pain you suffered.” Noah’s voice came into the earpiece.
“Which doesn’t help when a lady has to wear a skintight bodysuit and crawl through spaces in ancient buildings. I felt like a sardine in a can.”
“No one told you to eat that much,” Neil responded. “You could have saved it until you got home.”
“As if any of the vultures on the team would have left a piece for me to take home.”
Taking a set of stairs into a park, I turned a corner, stopped near a group of overgrown bushes, reached behind it, and pulled out a long jacket.
After shrugging it on and adjusting my hair to something more relaxed and in line with the pedestrians in the area, I made my way to where my security team waited.
As I approached my car, I caught sight of the King Holdings building and paused.
A lump formed in my throat, bringing forth all the emotions I’d tried so hard to ignore for most of the day. The impact hit me like a fist to the gut.
As if sensing my thoughts, Neil said, “Don’t take this the wrong way.”
“But?”
“This job took longer than when you had no schematics for a building and went in blind.”
Of course, one of them had to say something.
“Was this a timed task?” I asked as I stared toward the renovated high-rise and thought of one specific man who lived there.
The reason behind my lack of concentration.
“More an observation than anything.”
“Since my performance is faltering and I’m also on the verge of retirement, next timeyougo in. It only seems fair that my replacement works all the nooks and crannies of old buildings better than I do. Or how about letting our surveillance jockey take a go at it? I know how much he loves small spaces.”
“What crawled up your ass tonight?” Noah muttered under his breath. “You need to call King and get laid. You’re so much nicer when he’s in the picture.”
Ignoring him, I slid into my car and immediately closed my eyes.
Calling Sam was probably not the best idea considering what he’d said right before he slipped from my bed in the early-morning hours.
“New deck, new rules. All or nothing, Highness.”
He’d set an ultimatum. One I’d expected a long time ago.
If only I could give him the answer he wanted. Which only meant we were well and truly over.
