Iris (Mike Bravo Ops 1)

“Is it just me, or is she scarier when she’s smiling?” I mutter.

“Definitely scarier.” Iris sips his drink.

“Thank you,” Angel says breezily without moving her lips.

Damn, she’s next-level.

A guy approaches her from the deeper end of the pool, smiling seductively as he swims up to the shallow end. “Hi—”

“Nope,” she says.

The guy’s face falls, and we all snicker.

Though I notice that Danyal hasn’t even looked in her direction yet.

“Maybe Danyal likes the aggressive type, not someone playing hard to get,” I say.

“I’m not playing hard to get,” Angel argues.

“Maybe he’s too intimidated.” I stare at Danyal out of the corner of my eye, trying to assess where his gaze is focused. “Uh-oh.”

“What is it?” Trav asks in my ear.

“I think I’ve figured out why he’s the black sheep of the family and why he hasn’t even glanced at Angel.”

Iris turns his head. “Fuck. You’re right.”

“What is it?” Ghost asks.

“We’re trying to catch him with the wrong type of honey,” I say. “He stares at the ass of every guy who walks by.”

“My time to shine. Walk with me.” Iris pulls me by my shirtsleeve, and as we get closer to where Danyal and one of his bodyguards are standing around a high cocktail table, he says, “Push me.”

“What?”

“Push. Me.”

It takes a second too long for me to process what he means, so when I put my hand on his waist, he flings himself away from me and spills his drink all over Danyal’s polo shirt.

He turns to me. “Chet, you asshole.” Then his charms are plastered all over Danyal. “I’m so sorry. My brother is a twat.”

Danyal laughs, and then his gaze rakes over Iris. “No problem at all. But … brother?”

“Frat brother. Not brother brother. I’m an only child.”

“That must be nice. I’m one of twelve,” Danyal says, only cementing it further that he is actually Danyal Farouk. “I’m Hameel.”

“Buffy.” Iris waves in my direction. “Go get me another drink, asswipe.”

I slink away, and Danyal doesn’t even see me leave. He’s too busy staring at Iris with lustful eyes. I line up at the other side of the bar so I can watch them while I wait to be served.

“Oh no!” Iris says. “Your poor shirt.” He runs his hand over Danyal’s chest. “Here, you can take mine.” He whips off his tank top, and I struggle to hold in my snort.

“Smooth,” Angel says.

“Have a drink with me?” Danyal asks.

“Only if you wear my shirt. I feel horrible.”

Danyal reaches back and takes off his shirt and then puts Iris’s on.

Some weird internal part of me is screaming that I don’t like the sight, but my rational brain reminds me this is an act. I have to say I much preferred it when Angel was the honey trap.

“What’s the plan now?” I ask.

Danyal says to his right-hand man, “Go get us some drinks. What will you have?”

“I was drinking rum and Coke, but I think your shirt drank more of it than I did.”

“I’ll have the same, then.”

Danyal’s bodyguard scampers in my direction, and I realize I’m staring, so I focus in front of me instead, but when I look back, Angel has caught the bodyguard’s attention, and he is definitely batting for the right team if his eyes glued to her chest is any indication.

I order the rum and Cokes for them because I get the impression he’ll be busy for a while. Angel’s flirting up a storm, and it’s amazing how much game Angel and Iris have between them.

Angel giggles at something the bodyguard says that wasn’t even funny, but she takes the opportunity to touch his chest while her other hand pickpockets the room key.

She’s so smooth, and if I wasn’t watching intently, I would’ve missed it completely.

I get the server to take the drinks over to Iris and Danyal so it’s not suspicious if I do it, and then on my way back to our stuff, I bypass Angel, where she hands off the key card.

“Got the room key,” I say under my breath. “Are we going through with this?” I grab a towel and throw it around my shoulders and pick up the tote bag with the equipment I need to tap into Danyal’s things, then casually make my way to the rooftop doors and elevator. “He’s obviously gay, and if that’s the case, he would have absolutely no contact with his father,” I say as I keep walking. “In fact, I’m starting to suspect Danyal has surrounded himself with bodyguards to protect him from his family instead of outsiders. Farouk wouldn’t hesitate to kill his gay son to protect his honor.”

“Who’s bankrolling his lavish lifestyle, though?” Trav asks. “Get in, tap any electronics you can find, and get out again. We can’t pass up this opportunity even if it turns out to be a dead end.”