Page 69 of Broken
“No. Being an Operative means being a team player. The missions are dangerous, and I didn’t want to be the reason any of my teammates died.”
“I see,” she murmured. “So, if you’re not with ALPHA…”
“I’m a lone-wolf assassin.”
Her eyebrows crowded her forehead while big, green eyes stared at him. “Oh, wow. Okay. I wasnotexpecting that.”
“I’ve been on ALPHA missions when other Ops ask for me.”
She stared at him for a long beat. “Like Hawk or Addison?”
Crossroads. Prescott was willing to confide information about himself, but he didn’t want to loop others in.
Her lips twitched and she bit back the smile. “It’s okay, you don’t have to answer that.”
“Guess I already did, huh?”
“I have a feeling you’re not supposed to be telling me as much as you are, so we’ll keep everyone else out of it.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, the glint of a diamond-stud earring catching his attention.
For a brief few seconds, they stared into each other’s eyes, letting the silence hover between them. The energy shifted, the desire to kiss her started to take hold. She was easy to look at, even easier to be around. She was the one, bright spot in a very dark week.
Two ALPHA Ops had been gunned down in cold blood. His sister too. If those deaths weren’t bad enough, Addison had been shot, he’d inherited a child he had no business raising, and he’d bribed his former kink partner with sex to get her to work with him. If things went south between them, Z would fire his ass.
“I meant it when I told you I’d take care of you sexually.”
She nodded.
“But to be clear, we gotta to separate business from pleasure.”
“If that’s the case, turn the plane around. Deal’s off.” Then, she cracked a smile. “I didn’t accept this job because of that. That would be highly unethical, but I gotta say, the sex wasfantastic. I’m here because I want my old job back.”
“So, we’ll keep Mac and Jack separate from Prescott and Jacqueline.”
“Absolutely,” she replied. “So, how was the sex for you?”
“Meh,” he replied.
“Nice.” Then, she leaned close and whispered, “Liar.”
He tucked his finger under her chin and tipped her head toward him. “It was good enough for me to show up at Asylum months later, even though I was pissed.”
“I’m glad you did,” she murmured.
As they stared into each other’s eyes, warmth blanketed his chest.
“You’re impossible to resist,” he said. “Fucking impossible.”
He dipped down, brushing his lips against hers. Desire swept through him as she released a sigh and pressed her lips to his. He relished in the fullness of her mouth, her soft skin, the way her breath hitched. His tongue pressed into her mouth and tangled with hers. Rather than deepen the embrace, he kissed her softly again. Her eyes fluttered open and she broke away.
Ethan stirred, and they glanced in his direction.
“Did you bring your adorable nephew to tempt me?”
“Would you have come if I hadn’t?”
“I would have, but I gotta hand it to you… it was a smooth move.”
He paused. “I brought him because his mom died. My sister didn’t make it. She pulled through surgery, but when I got there yesterday morning, she was gone.”
