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I don’t lovehim.
Leaning forward, I pick at a loose thread on the navy-blue comforter knotted around Quinn’s ankles.
But I definitely like him. A lot. So much, it scares me a little bit.
Because I could see myself falling for him—his cocky charm, devil-may-care attitude, his sarcastic edge, playful nature. He’s all the things I’m not, all the things I find myself drawn to like a magnet to steel. Impossible to fight the attraction.
And then there are the tiny little butterflies that take flight in my belly when he looks at me. Not a look where he’s undressing me with his eyes, which I’ve caught him doing plenty of times over the past twenty or so hours. The looks where he tries to see what’s hiding inside of my mind and soul, the ones where he tries to peel back the layers and barriers that I throw up to protect myself and my heart, the ones that make me completely vulnerable.
I love them and hate them at the same time.
I lean back in the chair at the foot of the bed and stare at him, muscular, tattooed arms sprawled over his head, tight pecs decorated with intricate inked designs, the deep cut V that makes me bite down on my lower lip… hard.
He’s gorgeous, but it’s not his looks that captivate me. It’s him—his passion, his loyalty, his love for his family, and his willingness to put his own life on the line to protect the ones he cares about. He’s sloppy and snarky, but so sexy and selfless.
Yes. I like him.Like him, like him. And the thought that Alek dragged him into this, knowing that he’d likely become a casualty of this war against Branko pisses me off.
My fingers grip the arms of the chair and I stand up.
I respect Alek, but I don’t like him very much right now. We had a long talk last night after Quinn’s impromptu surgery. I told him about the pitchfork tattoo and berated him for the leak that led those assholes right to us. He didn’t like me attacking his precious data team, but someone let our location be known to the enemies. Who the hell else could it have been?
So I fully expect him to be prickly this morning.
Alek doesn’t like loose ends any more than me. And right now, we have a crap ton of them.
Pulling open the door to Quinn’s bedroom, I take in a deep breath. The smell of bacon leads me into the kitchen where Alek stands at the stove with a spatula in hand.
“You think you can make everything better with bacon?”
He doesn’t look up.
“All this time you’ve been blasting Quinn left and right, but lo and behold, it was a leak in your chain of command that led those bastards right to us last night on the roof.” It still irks the hell out of me, and I can’t help the caustic words from spewing out of my mouth.
“Nobody told you to leave the suite,” he grumbles.
“Oh, so we should have waited for them there? Come on, Alek. Let’s face facts. Quinn’s not the problem.”
“This time.”
“Don’t deflect by making breakfast. You’re not fooling me. We have a serious problem. Someone is feeding information to Branko’s organization. The pitchfork tattoo? That wasn’t a coincidence. And that internet leak is just a bullshit distraction to make us think it’s someone else.”
“I’m going to smoke the bastard out,” Alek growls.
“Great. How the hell are you going to do that when you don’t know who to trust?”
He flashes an angry look at me over his shoulder. “I don’t trust anyone. Don’t you know that, Val? Nobody knows everything ever.”
“Well, someone knows some stuff. And if they suspect you’re hiding things, they’ll stand down until we’re thrown off course again. That’s when they’ll strike.”
“I have this under control. It just requires a change in plans.” His jaw tightens. “I’m going to someone outside of the network, someone I’ve worked with in the past. Someone who understands discretion and has a lot of knowledge about the world we’re about to invade.”
“Why didn’t you go to him earlier?”
“He’s a lifeline I don’t like to call upon unless the situation is desperate. That’s exactly where we are right now. He’s an unknown. He operates under different aliases. And he’s untraceable.”
“Sounds like a treasure,” I say with a sarcastic edge to my voice.
“He’s taking a meeting with us later on. Here.”
