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“You never know with Carmine.” He starts the engine. “But he’ll come through.”
“What’s this Oak place? Why are we going to dinner with all your buddies when there’s some killer Russian stalking feds? Why haven’t you warned the FBI? Maybe they can help.”
“Questions again.” Lanzo pinches his nose. “You ask too many.”
“You don’t answer enough.”
“Can’t go to the feds. We’re not on bad terms, but we’re not on good terms either. I could warn my contacts in the State Department, but I’m worried they’ll scare Burian off, and I’m close. And dinner with the buddies will be fun, that’s why.” He starts driving. “Now come on, let’s go home.”
“Home?” My eyebrows raise.
“That’s right. Back to my apartment. You’ll love it, trust me.”
His tone does not inspire confidence.
Chapter11
Lanzo
Idon’t remember the last time I brought a woman home.
Mostly becausehomehas been a string of depressing safe houses scattered all over Eastern Europe for the last ten years.
My Dallas condo is exactly how I left it. Simply furnished, barely decorated, but all mine. There are big windows, a nice kitchen, a comfortable bed. “Unfortunately, I never bothered furnishing the guest room. It’s currently filled with spare computer parts.” I toss her bag down in the master. “Which is actually for the best, since you’ll be safest sleeping with me.”
“No, thanks.” She grabs the bag and heads into the living room. “I’ll sleep here.” Dumps it on the couch.
“Suit yourself.” I stretch, looking out the windows. It’s refreshing, being back here, a place where I spent a good chunk of my early years. Back before I left for a war zone and spent a decade killing, hacking, spying, and worse. Back when I was younger, back when my life was simpler. “We should go over some ground rules so you don’t accidentally get yourself killed.”
“There are rules now?” She sounds surprised.
She shouldn’t be.
I glance back at her. “Always were, you just didn’t know them.”
I get another flat glare in response. “You’re not as clever as you think you are.”
“Oh, you have no clue how clever I really am.” I whistle as I check the refrigerator and the cabinets. All empty, except for a can of expired tuna in the back of one cupboard. I toss it. “First rule is no calls, texts, emails, or other communication without running it by me.”
“Pass.” She crosses her arms. “Next.”
“That one’s non-negotiable. Burian thinks you’re his creature still, which means he’s monitoring everything you do.”
Her eyebrows raise. “Seriously?”
I’m surprised she hasn’t figured this out yet already. The moment she took Burian’s job, he infiltrated all of her devices. That first night in the hotel, I spent all my time cleaning him out the best I could, at least until she appeared in my doorway.
With those lovely fuck-me lips.
I tell her, “All outgoing and all incoming messages will be intercepted, snooped, and passed along. Burian didn’t get to be where he is now without being really good. I’ve managed to neutralize some of his control, but if I got rid of him completely, he’d know the game is over. I don’t want to spook him.”
“I really don’t like this job,” she says, rubbing her face. “I can’t call home? Can’t call any of my friends?”
“Not without speaking to me first.”
“You like that, don’t you?” Her fingers drum on her biceps. “You get off on the control.”
“I get off on you straddling my lap. The control is incidental.”
