Page 58 of The Spy
She frowned and waved a hand at me. “But you…”
“I got the tattoos and piercings after I left,” I told her. “I knew I was safe, temporarily, but I figured that making myself stand out would be a good way of preventing them from trying to bully me into working for them again. Once they’d decided they couldn’t get rid of me, they were reluctant to let me go. Looking the way I do now renders me far less valuable as an undercover asset.” Besides the whole fact that they’d hardly be able to trust me to go undercover without defecting even if they did pressure me into it. They knew a losing cause when they saw one, but the extra encouragement sure didn’t hurt.
“Do you actually like them?” she asked.
“I do.” I touched the place where the piercing through my eyebrow would usually be. “I’d always wanted a tattoo but hadn’t gotten one because of work.”
“I’m glad.” She kissed me chastely. “I hate the thought of you doing something you didn’t like just to protect yourself.”
I resisted the urge to point out that that had basically been my life for years.
“Besides,” she added, “they’re sexy as hell.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely.” A wicked smile curved her lips, but then a shadow passed over her eyes and the smile faded.
“What is it?” I asked, hating the bleakness of her expression.
She rubbed her lips together. “What do you think will happen?” she asked, blinking rapidly. “If I go to prison, I mean. Will I be okay? I’m not as strong as I pretend to be.”
Oh, Fi.
I tucked her face against my chest. “We won’t have to find out,” I said. “Because it isn’t going to happen.”
Whatever I had to do to ensure that, I would.
Whateverit took.
