Page 109 of Dangerous Mission

Justice would not do that.No fucking way.

He’s way more honorable than that.

But the Russians… they might not be in a vehicle. They’re staying in one of the farm’s cabinas too. The agave farm is Vandemora’s grand central station for operatives these days.

Fuck. And I don’t even know who they really are.

Any one of those big bastards could have walked over to stay with Aria.

My anger surges hotter than a volcano and threatens to uncap my head. I told Justice about my suspicion about thedamage to her lines, but would he trust one of the others to watch over Aria as she slept?

The thought of Rory being near Aria makes my hands clench, and my brain pulse with murderous rage. Gregor is a complete unknown.

And where the fuck is Vik? Their leader has been MIA for the last two days. It drives me crazy to have so many unknown variables.

Driving way too fast, I tear past the big wooden barn with ‘DonAzule Agave’ painted on the side and slam to a stop in front of the little blue stucco house. That’s when I see a shadow looming through the curtain. Not just a shadow, a big shadow and a small shadow.

Dammit. Aria.Someone has Aria.

When I flip open the glove box, the first thing my hand lands on is a knife. It’ll do. I bolt from the truck.

The element of surprise went out the window with my noisy arrival. So I go right for the one and only door and kick the fucking thing so hard one of the hinges breaks.

Everything happens fast.

A hand chops down on my arm, a punch lands in my ribs, knocking the air out of me. The knife flies, but I land a solid punch to a steel jaw and catch the big bastard’s arm, swinging it behind him.

A white ceramic bowl soars past me and bounces off of the guy's head.

Wait what? The fuck?

Truck and I both start laughing.

Shit, I drop his arm and shake out my hand. “You son of a bitch. I didn’t know you were in town.”

He rolls his shoulder, stretches his neck, and looks pointedly at the bowl on the floor. “Aria, who were you throwing thatat?”

Standing by the front door, her hair is tousled, she’s wearing one of my t-shirts and a pair of my boxer briefs—the ones I put her in when she was asleep—and I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight in my life.

She makes a small grimace and fists her hands next to her thighs. “I don’t know. I just… I just thought you were going to hurt each other.”

Truck slaps me on the shoulder. “She’s got cajones, I’ll give her that. She even thought about kicking me in mine when she woke up to find me in the house.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “Did you scare her?”

Aria kneels to pick up the bowl and its spilled contents. “How could he not, looking like that?”

“Good point. He does have a way of terrifying women.” I grab a towel from the kitchen and crouch down to help her with the yogurty mess. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. Groggy. But Truck claims the ladies don’t mind that he looks like he’s come to claim souls. All he needs is the cape, and a big knife thing.”

“Depends on the kind of woman,” Truck quips. “There are plenty out there that like to live dangerously. Have you ever looked at BookTok?”

I shake my head and toss the kitchen towel toward the sink. I don’t know what BookTok is, but I know one story. “Like the paramedic girl from the earthquake?”

“Shit, that girl,” he snorts and shakes his head. “She wanted to play doctor and it wasn’t myleftleg she wanted to look at.”

Aria’s looking between us like we’re a tennis match. But there’s definitely worry in her eyes. And I don’t like that one bit.

---