Page 111 of Summer Heat
“I know.”
“I’m in it, earrings deep. I need to talk this out.”
He took a breath and ran a hand around the nape of his neck. “’Kay. You keep driving, and I’ll shut my trap.” At least I’ll try.
“The man you just beat within a hair of his life was the butler at Smooth’s estate. After you bagged and tagged Antilla, he found me, said he had extraction instructions that superseded my handler’s. But he turned me over to the men I avoided with my flying window trick. My handler made arrangements for me this morning. Voila! Hello, butler.”
“So you’re thinking…”
“He’s doing double duty.”
“He’s CIA, and he’s… on the clock for Smooth?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged.
It seemed possible. “Why not take you out long rifle style?”
“They want to know what I got first. My job was intel. Map out Antilla Smooth’s network, his high rollers and big players.”
“You debriefed yet?”
“Nope.”
“What’s your handler know?”
“Little to nothing.”
“You seriously think this dude is stupid enough to fuck with you CIA folks?”
“It’s been done before. He must’ve thought I was weak.”
“Well, you schooled him, didn’t you? I saw that left hook. Killer, woman. Killer job. For real.”
Nicola looked at him with a half-cocked smile. The most honest look he’d seen on her since she stumbled in front of their car. “I’ve got a few tricks. But truth is my right arm is too sore to use.”
How different their lives could have been? She could’ve been at home, or at least at a job that didn’t require knowing any tricks, though the woman could take a punch. Nicola, all schooled in hand to hand. Never saw that coming. Too bad it had almost killed him. This CIA bullshit was damn hard for him to understand. He needed a subject change and quick.
“You got a boyfriend or something at the Farm?” Though that wasn’t exactly a subject change that would lessen his urge to kill. Damn—she could be married. She could have kids. His stomach dropped. He shouldn’t care. Ten years. What did it matter? Not a damn thing. But still, if she had a man, Cash wanted him dead. And any other operative who said otherwise would be a liar.
She laughed. “Um, that’s a big no. You?”
Thank fuck.
He cracked a grin, which hurt his busted face. “Got a boyfriend? No.”
“I missed your smile.”
And I miss your laugh. Shit. Nothing warm and fuzzy should be tingling anywhere in his body, but he was all loosey-goosey at the moment.
“Nah. No girl for me.”
“Why not?”
“Really, Nic? This is the convo you wanted to have after I just went all WWE on your colleague back there?”
“You started the let’s-talk-about-our-love-life chat, and he wasn’t my partner. He— Never mind. Can I use your phone? I’ve got to call my handler.”
Cash shrugged, not wanting to admit that she was one-hundred-percent correct. They needed to stay away from relationship conversations. He handed her his phone and thought about the guys back at the house who probably wondered where he was, but he knew it was better for him to cool down.
