Deep (The Deep Duet 1)

Rafe clenched his jaw. Noah had been on something the day he paired him with Oskar. One of Rafe’s main jobs once they got some new recruits would be training them to be efficient. He would be training them to kill, but only if they had to. Oskar thought it was his job to train Rafe to not kill people. As if he needed lessons on that. He had been FBI after all. Yeah, but you were also an assassin for hire. Details.

“Don’t make me repeat myself. You know how I get when I get angry.”

There was a bit of silence. “You know what, come to think of it, I’m still mad at you for that.”

“Get on with it.”

“Ah, someone’s testy. Does that mean I interrupted some get-it-on time? What’s his name? Is he big and burly? I picture you with a bear type myself. But hey, I don’t judge. Whatever tickles your fancy.”

Rafe just rolled his eyes. Oskar had somehow gotten it in his head that for six years Rafe had lived like a monk or was gay. Neither was true. He liked women; he was just selective. And he didn’t trust anyone.

“Did you have a point? Or are you just calling to annoy me? Because of the two blondes I could choose to deal with, I’d rather Diana over you.”

“Oh Diana. She is adorable. I’m surprised she’s choosing to hang out with you. But as much as I’d love to bust your balls, we gotta go. And lucky for you it’s in your neighborhood. Meet me on your north corner in five minutes.”

Showtime. “On it.”

Rafe turned to Diana. “I need to go out for a minute. Take care of s

omething for Lucia. I’ll run by the store on the way home. Do you need anything?”

She shook her head. “That’s sweet of you. I’ll probably take a walk myself and do a little bit of shopping.”

“Okay. I’ll see you back here for dinner?” He retrieved the extra house key from the kitchen and brought it to her. “You’ll probably get back before I do.”

“Maybe not. I need a lot of stuff. I’ll probably head out and see if I can find a pair of sandals. I have a little money left from what you gave me the other day. And in case we go back to Noah’s or I meet Lucia for lunch or something, I want to have something besides the same pair of sneakers.”

He frowned. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Oh yeah, like women’s fashion was high on the list of priorities. Well, except for lingerie. That could be the highest of priorities depending on who was wearing it. “Oh. Sorry, I should have thought about that. I can take you myself if you want.”

She shook her head. “Somehow I doubt you want to go shoe shopping. Go. Go do whatever it is you have to do. I’ll see you later.”

Rafe hated to just leave her behind. But he had work to do. Besides, she said she was fine.

So then why is every instinct telling you she’s not?

Diana wasted no time.

The moment Rafe left the apartment, dressed in all black and with his don’t fuck with me face on, she was off the couch and sliding her sneakers on. There was no way she’d be able to follow him on foot. He was too good. She was glad she’d put one of those friend-tracker apps on her phone. Since he’d bought her the phone and they were on the same home network, the app loaded to his phone too.

It was low tech, but it worked.

She was out the door in a flash, keeping an eye on the direction Rafe was headed. Along the way, she passed a shoe store and stopped. She grabbed the first pair labeled in her size and was out in minutes. Now at least her cover was set.

And just what are you going to say when you find him? Maybe she hadn’t thought this through all the way, but no way she was going to miss a chance to get some valuable intel.

Or maybe he’s meeting someone… a female someone.

Diana scowled. Theoretically, she shouldn’t even care. She didn’t want him. Uh-huh. It wasn’t like he was her boyfriend. And she wasn’t stupid enough to think a man who looked like Rafe was a monk. Yesterday there’d been a certain closeness between them. But it wasn’t like he’d made a move. He might be off to see someone. She needed to be careful of that before she started to believe the madness.

She checked the app on her phone and cursed. He was moving a lot more quickly than she was. She’d need some assistance if she wanted to keep up. Also, he had the advantage of knowing where they were going and she didn’t, which was now glaringly obvious.

“Oh no. Wait!” She held up her hand to signal a man who was getting out of a cab right behind her.

“You need this one?” The man smiled at her in a vaguely flirty way, but Diana ignored him, pushing past and catapulting into the back seat of the cab.

“Please hurry and make the next left.”

“You in some kind of trouble, lady?” The cabbie glanced at her in the rearview mirror, but at least they were moving.