Page 46 of The Spy
If I couldn’t sleep, I needed to work. Tabatha had done well yesterday. She’d gotten in with him and he’d taken the bait. Things were moving along. So why was I on bloody edge?
You know why.
I knew what was going to happen. They were going to go on a date. And then that wanker was going to put his hands all over her. And she was going to have to allow it. She knew what the mission might entail. And she would have to go along whether she wanted to or not.
My gut knotted at the thought. My fingers curled into fists thinking about him with his hands on what was mine.
I could kill him easily. Black Ops job. I could do it myself. I could choke him, throttle him, poison him, shoot him, slice him. There were all kinds of ways to kill someone, and I would enjoy every single one of them. Just for him thinking he could touch what was mine.
Snap out of it. She's not yours. She can't be yours. She would lose everything.
Because of Saff, I had an inkling how hard it was for women of color in the intelligence game. Me going anywhere near her would fuck up her career. I was selfish to want her, but I wasn't selfish enough to leave her with nothing.
So I was going to do my job. With my hard dick. Alone. And I was going to fucking work.
I tried to refocus on my laptop. My eyes were going blurry from all the data.
After my conversation with Igno, something had been bothering me. I was missing something vital, but I couldn't see what it was yet.
And when I did see it, I would kick myself. It would bloody help if I could focus and wasn’t riding the edge of desperation.
There was a soft knock at my door. I lifted my head to find Tabatha standing there, shifting on her feet.
"What do you want?" Yeah, I sounded like a wanker.
"Wow, God, I love you as a handler. You're always so supportive."
She has a point.
The sooner I got her out of my office, the better. Her soft vanilla and citrus scent was already fucking with my equilibrium.
“I want to pop down to South Africa and see my brother.”
Her brother? Why now? “You just started this assignment.”
“I know. But he sounded off when I spoke to him last. I Just want to pop down and make sure he's okay.”
There was something she wasn't saying. Her usual sunny glee at throwing a wrench in my plans had dimmed a little.
She hadn't taken downtime in nearly six months, and we needed the best version of her for this mission. Tate was gone for several days anyway.
“How long?”
“No more than three days.”
She was so close she made my blood hum. I could almost feel it. “He’s okay?”
She nodded. “I think so. I’m just checking. Three days and I'll be back.”
“You know as your handler, you're meant to talk to me if anything's wrong or going on."
Tabatha slowed in the doorway, keeping her back straight before she turned to face me, her dark eyes assessing me. "Why, so you can use it against me and keep me out of the field?"
I frowned. “That won’t happen.”
“I can do my job.”
“I know. Despite the tension from you, you are good at your job.”
