It’s a problem. A fucking great problem.
I can’t remember ever being this attracted to a woman. This infatuated. It’s exhilarating. And disturbing. I guess I should put a lid on it for a while.
I should…If only I knew how.
This thing between us is an avalanche. The freefall. The build of power. The upcoming carnage.
I let out a deep breath and flick a glance to the rear-view mirror. A white car follows us. One I hadn’t noticed approaching. Great, I’ve driven miles without conscious thought of anything but the woman beside me.
I’m getting sloppy. Fucking careless.
I force my attention back on the road and pull myself out of auto-pilot. Today is going to be filled with tough decisions. This meeting with Hunt needs my full attention. I have to focus.
I check the rear-view again, this time finding the white car riding my ass. I narrow my gaze, my stomach hollowing as the vehicle becomes familiar. An even more familiar woman sits behind the wheel.
Fuck.
Anissa found me.
Even worse is the thought of how she did it. Did she hack my cell? Or was she always watching?
Keira touches my arm, and I jolt from the unexpected connection.
“Sebastian?” Her brows pinch in concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I bite back the growl in my voice and return my attention to the mirror. “Just concentrating on the road, that’s all.”
I flick my indicator, preparing to turn off the highway and into the small town. My tail follows, inching the nose of her car closer to my bumper.
She wants to cause trouble. Big trouble. And I’m not sure I know how to stop her.
“Is someone following us?” Keira swivels in her seat to look out the back window. “Answer me.”
I grind my molars. “Yeah. We’ve got a tail.”
A tail we won’t outrun. Not easily. Or without attracting attention. I’m going to have to talk to Anissa. She’s not going to leave me alone until I face her.
“What do we do? Can we outrun them?”
“No. It’s okay. I know who it is.”
She keeps her focus out the back window. “It’s a woman.”
“Yes,” I mutter the confirmation.
“Is she a friend of yours?”
“No.”
“Then how did she know where to find us?” Anger creeps into her voice.
“I don’t fucking know, which obviously isn’t good. I have to pull over.” I straddle my attention between the road in front and the bitch behind as I drive into the main street of town. “I need you to stay in the car. Don’t get out. Don’t even look through the back window. It’s best if you remain out of sight, keep your belt on, and be ready for us to leave as soon as I get back.”
“Am I in danger?”
Good question. “I don’t fucking know.” I hold her gaze for long seconds, then return my attention to the road. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Just follow my instructions and you’ll be fine.”
I indicate. Anissa copies.
I pull to the curb. She follows.
I cut the engine, unfasten my belt, and open the door as my pulse pounds in my ears. “Remember what I said. Don’t move. I need you to lay low until I get back.”
She nods. “I will.”
I slide from my seat, but Keira reaches across the car interior and grabs my wrist.
“Wait,” she pleads. “Please be careful.” Her eyes implore me more than her words, the glassy blue depths hitting me in the feels.
I fake a grin. “You know my motto—it’s better to be safe than stupid.”
She winces. “Don’t joke at a time like this. I’m worried about you.”
It’s not me she needs to worry about. “I’ve got this under control.”
I pat her hand then climb from the car, all humor vanishing as I shut the door and turn to find Anissa leaning against the side of the white SUV.
I storm ahead, waiting until I reach her hood before I snarl, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She smiles, the curve of lips sinister. “Hey, lover. How are you?”
I scan the sidewalk, not appreciating the audience. “Why are you here?”
She crosses her feet at the ankles, her arms over her chest. “Your call was out of character. I was hoping you woke up and realized you made a mistake.”
“There’s no mistake. I’m done. You need to back off.”
Her smile doesn’t falter. “That’s not how this works.” She pushes from the car and closes the space between us.
I’m tempted to back away. Only because I don’t want her close enough to sink her nails in. But I refuse to retreat.
“You promised to stick by me,” she purrs. “You can’t leave now.”
I don’t mistake her statement for anything other than the threat it is.
“We had a mutually beneficial agreement.” I measure my tone, refusing to lose my cool. “And your part of the deal is no longer relevant. So, like I said, we’re done.”
“We’re not done until I say we are.” She leans close, whispering in my ear. “I call the shots here.”
I turn my head to face her, those venomous lips bare inches from mine. “Like hell you do.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. Where’s that sweet Decker I know? The one who always used to say my name with reverence.”
My nostrils flare. “Quit playing games.”
“I’m not.” Her smile widens, a tiny dimple peeking out. “But make a woman happy and say my name one last time.”
I glare. “Not gonna happen.”
“Say it or I go over there and introduce myself to your travel companion.”
Fucking bitch.
I want to hurt her. Strangle her. If I was Torian, she’d already be dead.
“Anissa,” I grate.
She chuckles. “You’ve gotta say all of it, sweetie. My first name. My last. And don’t forget the title.”
My nostrils flare as I clench my fists. “You’re fucking with the wrong person.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.” Her smile tightens and her eyes blaze in fury. “Now address me properly.”
My pulse pounds beneath tightening ribs as I utter the words that make my stomach turn. “Special Agent Anissa Fox.”
Her flirty smile falls back into place. “Good boy. Now make sure you keep repeating my name in your head every time you think about backing out on our fucking agreement.”
“There is no agreement,” I snarl.
“Because you think Luther is dead, right? That’s the only assumption I could make from your ‘I don’t need you anymore’ comment.”
I fight a fucking war inside myself, unsure whether to answer her or make more threats of my own. “It doesn’t matter. I’m out.”
“Oh, honey, it matters. You know it does.” She inches closer, narrowing her gaze to scrutinize my expression. “Where did you get the information?”
I press my lips into a tight line, scowling out my refusal to answer.
“I thought you were smarter than that, Deck. I know very few people who would cut ties before determining fact from fiction.”
“As far as I’m concerned, the news is concrete.”
She raises her brows. “Yet in the last five hours, not one of my sources could confirm a damn thing.”
My palms sweat with the need to do something, anything, to shut her up.
“You wanted to take them down,” she snips. “You came to me for help, remember?”
“And now I’ve got what I wanted. Richard is out. Luther is dead. The fairytale lives on. Just as soon as you get out of my fucking face.”
She narrows her eyes. “They’ve messed with you, haven’t they? She got in your head. She worked you over.”
“No.” I lean close, unable to control my breathing. I’m livid. Furious. “I worked her over. How else do you think I got the fucking information, you conniving bitch?”
&n
bsp; “You think this is me being a bitch?” She snickers. “Sweetie, I’m only doing my job, and to be honest, I’m just getting started.”
She pulls a cell from her jeans pocket and taps the screen, opening icons and folders. “If you bail on me and Luther isn’t dead, I’ll make sure not only you get named as an informant, but your best buddy, too.”
She holds up the device, showing me a picture of Hunter beside a guy I don’t recognize. She flicks through more images, displaying different locations with various people, all of them interacting with Hunt in some way.
“The men in these pictures are undercover agents,” she explains. “I spent months setting up these scenarios, ensuring we had the necessary leverage to tie him to us. All it took was a bump to the shoulder, a dropped piece of paper or a wallet. Anything at all, really, to make the shot look like an exchange of information.”
I stare at the collection, my heart pounding, my blood boiling. The images are damning. Cole won’t waste a second contemplating their legitimacy.
“I’m sorry, Decker, but you’re too valuable to simply walk away. If you leave, I’ll make sure your friend gets exposed as a traitor.” She keeps flicking the screen, moving to similar pictures with Sarah. “His fiancée, too.”
I see red, my vision narrowing into spiteful slits. “You’re going to get innocent people killed.”
“Innocent? Really? That’s a stretch.”
I react without thought, grabbing my gun from my waistband and stepping close as I ram it under her chin.
I shouldn’t be surprised she doesn’t respond in shock or fear. Instead, she keeps that smile in place like the fucking psychotic bitch I know her to be.
She’s sweet to smell. Sweet to touch. And I know from experience, she’s sweet to taste, too. But everything else about this woman is bitter. Tainted. Evil. She does a lot of wrong things for a person who is supposed to be on the right side of the law.
“Don’t mess with me.” I get in her face. “What you’re doing is illegal. You can’t fucking manipulate me.”
“I already have.” She maintains her grin. If anything, she appears empowered by my weapon.
It sickening.
“Sebastian.”
I wince at the sound of Keira’s voice and the subsequent slam of the Porsche door.
“Let her go.”
“Yeah, Decker,” Anissa taunts in a whisper. “Let me go.”
I step away, shoving my gun into the back of my pants. “Get back in the car, Keira.”
Her footsteps rush up behind me, stopping a few feet away. “What are you doing?”
“Get back in the fucking car,” I growl and glance over my shoulder to give her a warning look.
Her eyes are wild with pain and confusion. She doesn’t understand what’s going on, and that’s a good thing. I can talk myself out of an ignorant situation. What I can’t do is manipulate her once she knows the truth.
“The car,” I snap. “Get back in it.”
Her lips part on silent words.
“Yeah, bitch,” Anissa adds. “This is none of your fucking business.”
Keira balks, clearly daunted by a woman who would reject help when being threatened by a gun. And for the first time, I’m thankful for the agent’s input. She’s maintaining my cover, if only a little.
Keira steps back, once, twice. She meets my eyes, but the confusion doesn’t leave her gaze. She’s panicked. Traumatized.
I raise my hands in surrender. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll explain.”
She retreats another step and another, not acknowledging me.
Fuck. I can’t hold her hand through this while Anissa watches. I need to attack the closest threat before I can set things right.
I turn back to the witch and lower my arms to my side. “Leave.”
There are more footfalls. The pace fast and frantic. The sound becomes distant. Keira is running. Fleeing. It takes every ounce of my strength not to sprint after her and show Anissa just how much the enemy means to me.
“You’re sleeping with her?” she asks. “Isn’t that kinda messed up given your situation?”
It is. It fucking is. But I also know Keira isn’t the enemy.
It’s her father.
Her uncle.
And maybe Cole, too.
I know she’s innocent of their crimes.
“I don’t need my morality questioned by someone like you.” Besides, the situation is too fucking complicated to explain. It was never supposed to go this far.
I wanted to watch their family from the outside. From my safe position working surveillance for Hunter. But then Sarah came along.
It wasn’t in the plan to get sucked into the inner circles. I didn’t anticipate getting forced to work for them.
“Well, then, what’s it going to be? Are you going to stick to our arrangement, or do I leak these photos of your buddies?”
Keira’s retreating steps haunt me.
I can’t stand it.
“If you haven’t blown my cover, I’ll keep helping you,” I seethe. “But you need to give me some fucking space so I can keep working this angle with her.”
“I’ll do one better.” She winks. “I’ll do you a favor.”
I frown as she straightens to full height and glances over my shoulder in the direction Keira fled. Her face crumples, turning into an emotional montage.
I can’t resist my curiosity. I glance behind me to see Keira staring at us from the building at the corner of the street.
She looks devastated. Betrayed. It takes all my determination to turn back to Anissa, only to see her palm rushing toward my face to slap me hard across the cheek.
“Motherfucker.” I pull away from her. “What the fuck was that for?”
She backtracks, one tormented slide after another. “You told me you loved me,” she screams. “You fucking cheating bastard.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter.
She’s still playing the relationship angle, giving me an out that feels too fucking complicated for my current level of exhaustion.
“Thanks. This is very fucking helpful.”
“I hate you.” She stumbles toward her car. “You’re dead to me.”
“That’s enough,” I hiss. She’s attracting too much attention.
She drops the act as she pulls her car door wide. “If I were you, I’d start chasing your girl before she has a chance to hide.”
“Fuck you,” I grate.
“Jealousy is better than the truth, Decker.” She climbs into the vehicle and closes the door behind her, giving me one last wink as she starts the ignition.
13
Keira
I run along the side of the brick building, hoping I’ll find an alley to lead me far from here.
I need to think.
Think. Think. Think.
What am I doing? What have I done?
Everything had been going so well, then that woman appeared and knocked me off my axis.
“Keira,” he shouts, his heavy footfalls sounding in the distance. “Please stop.”
I cringe.
Goddamn it. What have I gotten myself into? Cole is going to kill me.
“Keira…” He’s closing in on me. Eating up the distance. “Let me explain.”
“Don’t.” I slow my stride to a power walk and continue to the back of the building. I don’t find the getaway I need. There’s only a head-high wire fence with no gate.
There’s no escaping this. No escaping him.
I plant my feet, and he halts beside me, his shadow looming.
“It’s not what you think.” His hand gently glides over the low of my back. “You need to hear me out.”
“I need to?”
“Please, Keira.” He pulls me into his chest. “She means nothing to me.”
I turn toward him, my game face fully intact. “Do you think I care about some other woman? Christ, Decker, you’re the one who demanded commitment. Not me.”
He grows a foot tall
er, his shoulders straightening. “Then why did you run? Why are you pissed at me?”
My pulse grows frantic the longer he stares, the rapid pounding in my chest becoming painful as he holds my gaze.
“I’m livid because you made me believe my safety was at risk when what you were really doing was putting space between your booty calls.”
I make this about his job. About the commitment he’s made to my brother. I refuse to let it be about anything else.
“You made me think I was in danger, when there was no threat at all.” I shove out of his hold, placing space between us.
His nostrils flare as he glances away, letting out a huff of frustration. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“In front of me?” I seethe. “Or at all?”
“At all,” he grates. “She’s not a woman who can be ignored. If I didn’t pull over and speak to her, she would’ve followed until I did. She would’ve made a bigger scene.”
“Making a scene is the least of your worries. You need to remember why you’re here and who you work for. My protection isn’t something you can push aside whenever your girlfriend shows up.”
“Your protection?” His eyes harden as he meets my gaze. “Are you really going to keep playing this like it’s a work related problem? It’s clear you’re jealous, and you don’t need to be.”
I bite back a retort that would only prove his point. “We can make this about sex if you like, Decker, the unprotected sex we had after you led me to believe you weren’t sleeping around.”
“I’m not sleeping around. And stop calling me Decker. You know my fucking name.”
I’m not here to do him any favors. I can’t. I’m beyond reasoning. “Is she the woman you cancelled plans with yesterday?”
“Yes,” he growls. “But it doesn’t change a thing—”
“Because she’s only an old friend?”
“It’s complicated.”
“It always is.” I start toward the street, needing to find another escape route.
“Come on, Keira. I understand why you’re upset. Honestly, I am, too. But the last thing I want to do is hurt you.” His footsteps follow. “Please, believe me when I say I’m sorry.”
“Believing in someone is a luxury I can’t afford.” Case in point—our current situation.
Decker Page 13