Page 60 of Live for Me

She stopped to look back at me then.

“You must have the wrong person,” she said, shaking her head.

“I can call you Carlie if it’ll make you feel better for the moment,” I said. “But we both know that’s not your name either.”

She glared at me for a second before she looked over my head to Utah. She spent a painful few extra seconds looking his whole body over.

“What is this?” she asked, slipping a perfectly manicured hand into the front pocket of her scrubs to pull out her phone.

“Yeah, I’m just going to jump right into it because we’ve had some really shitty luck at this part so far and no tactic at all has worked yet,” I said. “I know about Dr. Grant.”

She pushed her phone into her purse and zipped it shut before she dropped the whole bag from her shoulder right to the asphalt.

“Say that again,” Nevada hissed.

“I don’t think this tactic is going to work either,” Utah whispered with a chuckle.

“Just hear me out,” I said, raising my hands between us. “I’m not going to fight you. I just need you to understand. I know what happened with Dr. Grant. I probably know even more than you do about it. The President finds people that he believes?—”

“Stop,” she interrupted. “What do you mean youknow even morethan me?”

“I just mean, I dug into your past before we came here,” I said. “I don’t think you ever had the whole?—”

“Who is this guy?” she interrupted again, nodding over my head. “Who the fuck areyoufor that matter?” she asked when she looked back at me.

“If you’d let me fucking talk, I might just answer some of these questions,” I snapped.

I felt like a million tiny bugs crawled across every inch of my skin as she smiled at my frustration.

“You must be the Judge,” she said and kept that terribly unpleasant smile on me.

“Yes. The intelligence probably gives that away just like the brazen arrogance gives away that you’re an Executioner.”

She took one whole step toward me before Utah’s arm swung around my chest to shift me behind his body. Nevada stopped instantly, and her smile changed from threatening to flirtatious in a matter of a millisecond.

“That’s a much better view,” she said and fucking winked at Utah. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that a joke?” I mumbled. “Was I not trying to fucking answer exactly that?”

“If I want your attention, I’ll talk to you,” she said and started to step off to the side of Utah again. He shifted right with her to make sure his body stayed squarely between us.

“She’s smarter than you, me, and Salem combined,” Utah said to Nevada. “I’d listen to her, sweetheart.”

Hearing him call this womansweetheartabout set my eardrums on fire.

Nevada looked back at me. “You don’t seem like the type to be friends with Salem.”

“I’m not. We’re here because we need your help. Our organization is ruining lives and I want to stop them. Wouldn’t hurt to have a nurse. Even if it’s one who seems to fail at nursing in its very nature because all her patients end up dead.”

She narrowed her eyes at me before she lunged in my direction. Utah caught her around the waist and hurled her backward. She spun like a fucking cat on acid and managed to stay upright to land on her feet.

“I’m not going to fight you,” he said with a laugh. “But I won’t let you hurt her either.”

“Awe,” Nevada said, cocking her head at Utah. “Sweet girl can’t defend herself?”

“Doesn’t matter if shecan,” Utah said. “I’m doing it for her either way.”

“Then you’re going to have to fight me, honey,” she said and winked at Utah another time. “I promise you’ll have fun.”

---