Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Fuck. Don’t you get it? I don’t give a damn about this mission. I’m scared for you. They’re using you as bait again. Just like last time. I couldn’t protect you then and you almost died. I won’t let that happen again.”
Words rose into my throat but I couldn’t bring them out. Despair and worry crowded on Alec’s face. His palm felt warm against my cheek. What did it matter that he could read my emotions? It didn’t change what I felt for him. Alec leaned down until our breaths mingled and I could practically feel the heat of his lips on mine. One kiss and maybe everything would be okay.
Don’t, a tiny voice warned but it couldn’t compete against Alec’s warmth, against the smell of him, against the look in his gray eyes. Our lips collided and it felt like the world around me had faded to black, like nothing mattered but him and our kiss. I jerked away. How could I know he hadn’t planned this, gauging my emotions until they told him what he was waiting for? How could I know that I wasn’t just feeling what he wanted me to feel?
Alec slumped against the wall. For a long time, we just stared at each other and the look in his eyes almost killed me. I whirled around, away from the pain on his face. I had bigger things to worry about; Abel’s Army and the next mission. If what Alec said was true, Holly and I were in great danger.
My hands were sweaty when I stepped into Major’s office the next morning to meet Senator Pollard. It felt more like an assessment than a meeting.
I was surprised to see Summers leaning against the wall beside the glass cabinet, her sinewy arms crossed in front of her chest. As usual she was dressed in all black: black muscle shirt, tight leather pants and combat boots with steel toe caps. She gave me a curt nod. Her ash blond hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. It looked as if a brush hadn’t come near her for days. Sometimes I wondered if Summers deliberately dressed like a man, so people would show her more respect. Or maybe she just hated makeup and other girly things. I supposed she was involved in the mission because of Holly. After all, it was her evaluation that had convinced Major that Holly was ready for the field.
Major stood in front of his floor-to-ceiling window, his back turned to the man in the chair across from his desk. The door fell shut behind my back with an audible thud. I winced. Major turned, his face lined with a deep frown. The senator twisted in his chair to look at me. He was the epitome of a successful politician. Every detail of his appearance was perfect, from his black designer suit with thin pin stripes, the light blue tie, his neatly smoothed-back gray hair and his attractive, clean-shaven face. Nothing was out of line. Even his high-wattage smile looked like it took weeks to perfect in the mirror.
“So that’s her?” he asked in a voice even smoother than his outward experience. His smile twisted and suddenly turned cruel. I was pretty sure that was his behind-closed-doors smile. “That tiny slip of a girl? You’re losing your touch, my friend.” He let out a superior laugh while watching me the way one would regard a bothersome fly.
I was stunned into silence and glanced at Major. Was that man for real? It seemed his perfect appearance was trying to overcompensate for his ugly persona. What a douche.
Summers straightened, her square jaw tightening. Her leather pants squeaked as her legs moved.
Pollard looked at me, blue eyes no longer amused but calculating. “You, come here.”
The annoyance must have shown on my face because he let out a deep laugh. “Ohhoho, a firecracker,” he whistled. He glanced at Summers as if he thought she’d agree with him, but from the look on her face, she would have liked to crush him under her black boots.
I walked up to him without a word, rearranging my face into a smile. Nothing I wanted to say would have improved my situation. Not that I thought I’d have gotten in trouble with Major. Whatever insult I might have chosen, I was sure he had a worse word in mind for the senator. But this was about professionalism. In future missions, I’d often work with people I didn’t like or who would be rude to me. The trick was to remain above the fray.
“So you’re the one they’re all salivating over?” He didn’t even try to hide his doubt and amusement.
His hands were smooth, with skin of someone who’d always had other people who did his work, and neat nails as if he’d had a manicure recently. When he reached out to touch my arm, it still took all my willpower not to flinch. He was rude and slimy, and I didn’t want him anywhere near me. The second his skin came into contact with mine, I could feel my body absorb his data, incorporate it somehow into my memory and DNA.