Shattered Duty

by Katie Reus

  Angry, he looked up at her but realized she hadn’t done it intentionally. She wasn’t even paying attention to him, just surveying the interior of the SUV. Which he’d have to ditch soon. He’d been switching vehicles regularly and after coming to Shah’s party knew this one wouldn’t be safe anymore. Shah might have put a tracker on it or any government agency with an interest in the man could have been surveying the party and taking note of all the attendees.

  He resisted the childish urge to slam the door, shutting it quietly instead. After scanning the interior and underneath the SUV for trackers he slid into the driver’s seat.

  “We’re going to have to come up with a reason we’re both meeting with Tasev,” she said, her expression hard. “Or you coming with me will never fly.”

  “What’s your meet about?” he asked as he steered out of his spot.

  “I’m using my cover to offer my services as a freelancer. The German said I had good timing. Not sure what that meant but . . .” She trailed off, shrugging.

  Levi thought about the files Alexander had given him and decided to information-share. It was small but he knew he needed to show he was a team player. Even if he wasn’t. “His right-hand man, Vasily, was found dead. If his resident assassin is gone he’ll need someone else soon.”

  Her pretty mouth pulled down. “Huh.”

  “You guys kill him?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No. Or, not that I know of.”

  He frowned as another thought occurred to him. “What’s your real name?”

  “My name is Selene. Not Silva though. And no, I’m not telling you my real last name.” She glanced in the side view mirror, either looking for a tail or hoping her team—if she had one—had followed. “We need to check in with Lopez and your date, make sure they’re okay.”

  Levi shot her a sideways glance as he pulled up to a stoplight. “You care what happens to Alexander or some random woman?”

  She shrugged. “He’s a good asset.”

  Right. She wouldn’t have mentioned Allison if she didn’t care. He found that interesting—and a little annoying. He didn’t want to like Selene, didn’t want to know that she could be a decent person. Not when she was just an asset to him. And that was all he could afford to let her be. He would just ignore this bullshit attraction he felt. “When we were on the beach he texted me that he and Allison are safe and he’ll be getting her home. The gunfire was from a stupid argument and the two men in question have been escorted from the property for smuggling in weapons. He also wanted to make sure you were safe.”

  Selene didn’t respond, but a soft smile touched her lips. Yeah, she liked Alexander more than she’d let on. Clearing her throat, she said, “So what’s your cover, Isaiah? I’m going to need to know everything about your alias’s background and why you’d want to meet with Tasev. It’s gotta be strong if you’re coming with me.”

  “We’ll go over it tomorrow before we meet with him.” He wasn’t taking the chance that she’d run back to Wesley and tell the man everything about his current ID. Wesley might already have Levi’s alias but he wasn’t risking it. He’d covered his tracks well over the past couple of years but he didn’t want the NSA knowing any more about him than necessary.

  To his surprise she didn’t argue or even respond. She just laid her head back against the headrest and semi-relaxed. To an untrained observer she looked at ease, but her posture was just a little too stiff, her body tense, as if waiting for an attack. And he hated that she felt that way because of him, hated that any female was afraid of him. But there was nothing to do about it. He’d made his decisions and he was seeing this thing through. He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t.

  The rest of the drive was quiet. Selene straightened as he pulled down a quiet street in an upper-class neighborhood under construction. Most of the homes were half-built and that wasn’t changing anytime soon. The house he’d been staying in was a little over five thousand square feet. The previous owners had run out of money during the building phase and when the construction market crashed, this neighborhood was one of the casualties. He’d done his homework and most of the homes were bank owned now and just sitting there. The house he was in was basically done, with just a few small cosmetic finishes that needed to be completed.

  “You’re squatting?” Selene asked incredulously.

  He shrugged as he pulled into the garage and shut it. It was the best way to stay off the grid. Thanks to contacts he’d been able to steal electricity, water, and even Internet. He used the electricity only when necessary though, not wanting anyone to see lights and get curious about them. “Come on,” he said as he opened his door.

  She followed, her feet silent against the concrete floor of the garage. There were two windows that let in enough moonlight for him to make out her graceful movements. Her pale hair seemed to almost glow against the backdrop of the windows, giving her an ethereal quality that just added to her beauty.

  Something he didn’t want to be noticing. He rolled his shoulders once, trying to ease out the tension building inside him. Why the hell was he even aware of her?

  There weren’t any coverings on most of the windows so the moonlight was a good enough guide as he took her through the kitchen and up a curved staircase to the master bedroom. He’d found a mattress and had the most basic needs covered so he could sleep and shower when necessary. Since there wasn’t a bed frame he couldn’t hook her to it so he headed for the bathroom with her in tow.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded as he cuffed her to the rail in the walk-in shower, but she didn’t struggle.

  That surprised him, but he was betting on her not wanting to throw down with him either. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He had to check all his traps to make sure no one had infiltrated the place while he’d been out. They were all small and wouldn’t alert anyone breaking in, but he’d know if they’d been triggered and that was what mattered.

  Ten minutes later he was striding up the stairs—far too eager to see his captive—but froze at the top step. The sound of running water greeted his ears, making him go cold. What the hell?

  Weapon drawn, he eased into the bedroom and was immediately struck by two things. The bathroom light was on and he hadn’t left it that way. And Selene had been too far away to have turned it on. The second thing made his entire body heat up with a fire he’d never imagined.

  Selene’s blue dress was folded neatly and placed on the edge of the mattress.

  Steam billowed out of the shower as he stepped inside. The frosted glass made it impossible to see her naked body, but he could make out her shadow.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he asked louder than he’d intended.

  “What does it look like, dumbass? I’m tired and since I don’t know when I’m going to get another chance, I’m showering now. Do you have anything to eat here? I didn’t get to try anything at the party and I’m starving.”

  He stood there, feeling like an idiot as she casually showered, as if he hadn’t taken her captive. Or clearly, she’d just let him. “How’d you get out of the cuffs?” Because contrary to what television showed, it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Currently they hung on the shower rail, mocking him.

  Hell, she’d probably had a hairpin tucked in her hair. And that was the kind of thing he should have searched for. But the thought of getting too close to her, of running his hands over her body, made him ache in the best and worst way. She was walking, talking temptation. He didn’t like it. It made him feel guilty, even if it shouldn’t.

  She peeked her head around the corner of the shower, her long blond hair dripping water. She held out her hands and bent one of her thumbs back completely to her wrist and grinned. “Double-jointed thumbs.” Giving him what he could describe only as a cheeky grin, she disappeared behind the glass.

  He started to respond when he spotted his bottle of vodka next to the sink, empty. It had been half-full before. “What the fuck? You dumped out my vodka?”
>
  She peeked her head out again, her hair soapy from shampoo. Her pale eyes narrowed at him. “Yep. If we’re working together, you’re sober. I won’t work any other way.”

  “It’s not like I’m drinking on the job.” He hadn’t touched it before he’d left for Shah’s party. But he drank at night. It was the only way he could get to sleep. Vodka took that edge off.

  She raised one of her perfect eyebrows. “I don’t care. You either deal with my rules or don’t work with me. I don’t have to take you with me tomorrow.”

  Which brought up another interesting point. “You think you owe me because of something . . . Meghan did for you?” It felt weird and a little therapeutic to say his dead wife’s name. For so long he’d just thought about her but he hadn’t been able to talk about her to anyone. Even if it was pathetic, he was starved to talk to someone who knew who he was. The real him.

  Selene moved back behind the glass and he could see a blurred outline of her rinsing her hair out. “You did a lot for your country, Levi.”

  Okay, that wasn’t an answer, but he wasn’t going to push. Instead he went to the toilet seat, sat on the closed lid, and leaned back. “You could have left.”

  “Are you going to keep saying obvious things all night?” she asked, her voice light and teasing.

  A rusty laugh escaped, the sound shocking him as it rattled in his chest. “Fine. Why didn’t you leave?”

  “I think you’ll be a valuable asset and you’ve been off the reservation for two years. Considering the people you’ve worked with—and yes, we know about some of them, but probably not all—your cover will be solid, which means you’ll give me more credibility. My ID might be solid but I haven’t done many meets. But if you give me a reason, I’ll cut you out of this op and not lose any sleep over it.”

  Setting his weapon on the counter, he put his hands behind his head and leaned back. For the first time in years he felt like his old self. Not completely because he’d never be that man again, but he felt almost . . . normal. He grasped the illusion, knowing he’d have it for only a few minutes or maybe even hours. “How’d you get involved with Wesley? You look too young.”

  “How does anyone get recruited?” she asked vaguely.

  He snorted. “Fair enough. How old were you when he recruited you?”

  A long silence stretched between them and he eventually realized she wasn’t going to answer. When the water shut off, he jerked upright and stood. Sitting here, he’d been trying to convince himself he didn’t care that she was naked behind the frosted glass. The thought of what color her nipples might be or . . . damn it, what was wrong with him? It had been so long since he’d felt real attraction to a woman, not just noticed her in the physical sense. It wasn’t as if he was blind because his wife had died, but his dick hadn’t cared about any woman, period. Now it decided to wake up—with a woman he was going to be working with. Unless of course she decided to betray him to Wesley. That made him frown even more. “I’ll give you privacy,” he muttered, and strode from the room unsteadily. He shut the door behind him with more force than necessary, then cringed at himself.

  As he stripped off his jacket he realized his laptop had been moved. It was only a half inch or so, but he was particular about the way he left his things. That kind of training had been ingrained into him long ago. Turning around, he whipped open the door and froze.

  Selene was bent over drying her legs but she jerked up at his entrance. Taking him by surprise, she turned toward him, covering her breasts with one arm and snapped her towel at him lightning quick, hitting him right in the eye.

  “Shit,” he yelled, jumping back holding one hand up defensively while covering his stinging eye. “I wasn’t—”

  “I knew you were a pervert,” she shouted, and before he was able to fully retreat something hard hit him in the middle of the chest. A bar of soap.

  “Selene—”

  She slammed the door in his face.

  He could hear her moving around in the bathroom and while he tried not to think about the fact that her mound had been completely bare—and wondered if she shaved or waxed—he leaned against the wall by the door. His eye freaking hurt and wouldn’t stop watering, but he ignored it. “Were you on my computer?” he asked through the door, already knowing the answer.

  As the door flew open, he stepped back, ready for another attack, but she stood there with her hair wrapped in a towel above her head and another towel wrapped snuggly around her body, tucked perfectly between her breasts. “Of course. I was snooping, what else?”

  He stared at her, forcing his gaze to remain on her face. “And you’re just . . . admitting it?”

  “Why would I lie? I’d be stupid not to take a peek at your computer. You shouldn’t have left it out if you didn’t want me to go through it. Your encryption is pretty good, but I’m better. And your playlist sucks, by the way.”

  “My playlist is awesome,” he said without thinking. He shouldn’t be arguing with her about his damn music, he should be yelling at her for going through his computer. Even if she was right. He shouldn’t have left the damn thing out. There was nothing of particular value on it so he wasn’t concerned about that. He used it mainly for communication but he always deleted his tracks no matter what.

  Snorting, she sidestepped him and headed for the closet. Moments later she came back out wearing one of his T-shirts and jogging pants—and no bra. He swallowed hard, trying not to notice how full her breasts were or imagine how they’d feel cupped in his hands. Fuck him. He closed his eyes, trying to shove away the image of her lean, smooth body but it was impossible. He could easily envision those sexy tan lines and fantasize how her bare mound would feel against his mouth and tongue.

  “‘Awesome’ is not the word that comes to mind. More like, wrist-slitting depressing. And you don’t even have any good country music on there.”

  His eyes snapped open and he watched as she sauntered over to the mattress and collapsed on it as if she totally belonged there. The fact that he liked seeing her there made something shift inside his chest—and the guilt was back. She pulled the towel off her head and dropped it on the floor in a messy heap.

  “You like country?” he asked before yanking up her towel. He wondered if she was messy in general, then cursed his curiosity. He should not care what kind of habits she had. She was just going to be an asset to him, nothing more. Right.

  “Uh, yeah. Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, come on—who doesn’t love those guys?”

  It was too weird to be having this conversation with her, but he shook his head and hung that towel and the one she’d left haphazardly in the closet back in the bathroom. As he finished stripping off his shirt, shoes, and socks he said, “That’s not real country.”

  “Really? Because I’m pretty sure they’re topping the Billboard country charts,” she said, finger-combing her damp hair.

  “You know what I mean,” he muttered, sitting on the opposite side of the mattress. When he thought of country it was Hank or Autry. “You’re sleeping here?” He’d originally planned to just cuff her to him but now she’d proved the cuffs were useless and she didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

  “Well, I’m not sleeping on the floor. Unless you’re worried about me killing you in your sleep?” The light note in her voice took away what could have been a deadly question.

  Rolling his eyes, he turned off the only lamp in the room and lay down next to her. He noticed that she’d slid under the sheet he’d thrown on the mattress, giving them a little separation.

  It was beyond surreal sleeping next to a woman who worked for his old boss—and who’d just mocked his taste in music as if they were friends—and it was made worse by the fact that he wanted her. Desperately.

  He didn’t trust many people and he didn’t trust her, but he also didn’t think she was going to stab him in the back either. At least not literally. She might still sell him out to Wesley. Only time would tell. Stretching out next to her, he shut his
eyes and tried to find sleep but his mind was racing with too many thoughts. Tomorrow he could meet Tasev. The thought alone made a punch of adrenaline jolt through him. He still had to figure out if Tasev had been involved with Meghan’s death, and if he was, he was dead.

  “You asleep?” Levi asked after a few minutes even though he was certain she wasn’t. Selene’s breathing was steady enough, but there was a certain stillness to people when they slept and she kept shifting around, fidgety.

  She softly sighed. “No.”

  “So . . . country music?” It couldn’t hurt to talk. If anything it might make him more tired. He wasn’t opening dialogue because he wanted to get to know Selene.

  Keep telling yourself that.

  “Yeah. But that’s not all I like. I’m a little eclectic when it comes to music.”

  “You from the South?” It was hard to tell. She didn’t have a discernible accent, which had likely been trained out of her. He was from Georgia but didn’t have an accent either.

  “What do you think?” she asked quietly.

  “Forget it,” he muttered. She wouldn’t give him any personal details.

  After a long moment she spoke again, surprising him. “I’m from Alabama.”

  He frowned in the darkness. There was no way he’d know if she was lying. But he was surprised they both had Southern roots. “Why are you telling me?”

  “I’ve read your file, it only seems fair you know a little about me too.”

  When she didn’t continue, he didn’t either. He was beyond mentally exhausted and even with the knowledge that he was closing in on Meghan’s killer racing through his mind, he knew he needed sleep if he was going to stay on his game.

  For the first time in a long time he decided to trust that the woman next to him, who smelled like peaches and cream and made him think of nothing but sex, wasn’t going to kill him in his sleep.