The Payback (Team Zulu 2)

“I’d thought up a lot of reasons you’d have the skills you do, but I never imagined that.” She gave an amused chuckle. It was the first time I’d heard her laugh, and it was beautiful. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she added.

“I never thought it would be hard for me. I thought it would be hard for you.”

She scoffed. “Why?”

This woman was full of surprises. “Tonight wasn’t the first time I’ve killed people. Doesn’t that concern you?”

“Have you ever taken a life for sport? Or to be cruel?”

I shook my head. “Never.” Although I’d spent a lot of time lately thinking of slow ways to end Dante and the Russian.

“Then your past doesn’t scare me. It’s the reason I’m still alive, and the reason you are, too.” She drew a deep breath. “What are we doing here, Brandon? We can’t stay in this hotel forever.”

“We won’t. But we have important decisions to make, and I’d rather we do that after we’ve slept. Plus, in the morning, I’ll be able to check on how the investigation into the club shoot-out is progressing.”

Sage looked unimpressed with my answer, but as she yawned and stretched her arms above her head, I think she realized we wouldn’t be effective at coming up with a decent plan before we’d rested.

I packed away our dishes and shifted the tray to the desk. “Come on. Let’s get you tucked in for some shut-eye.” I drew back the white cover on one side of the huge king-size bed, and Sage crawled under. She snuggled into the crisp sheets, sighing as she pulled them up to her chin and closed her lids.

Her eyes shot open and found me. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“I’ve got more work to do. I’ll grab a blanket from the closet and sleep on the floor when I finish up.” I’d slept in much worse conditions. A night on the carpet didn’t worry me.

“This is a huge bed, Brandon. I won’t freak out if you take the other side. Besides, we’ve done far more intimate things.” She mumbled the last part while tucking her hair behind her dark-pink-tipped ears.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She chewed on her lip and thought about it for a moment before answering. “I’m sure. You’ll need quality sleep if we’re going to come up with a solid plan tomorrow.” She wriggled around to get comfortable and closed her eyes once more. “But you’ll cop an elbow to the face if you steal the covers.”

“Noted.” Although I wouldn’t sleep well. Not with Sage’s warm, soft body mere feet away and completely off limits.

The surprising thing was my desire to have Sage pressed against me wasn’t purely motivated by attraction. After what had happened at Vixens, I needed to hold her close more than anything, if only to know she was safe while I slept.

Over the last two weeks, my feelings had changed fromI want to help this intriguing womantoIf anyone harms a hair on her head I’ll tear their fucking limbs off. Extreme, yes. It didn’t stop it from being true.

Despite Sage’s denials, she was attracted to me. She’d also been clear from the beginning that she didn’t want a relationship. But I wasn’t interested in a hookup. If I had even one taste of Sage, I knew I’d become addicted.

Maybe she was right to put on the brakes. Would that stop me from pursuing her? Not a goddamn chance.