Page 3 of Command and Control: GHOST Operative

It’s a woman. A woman with a voice like fucking honey.

I school my features, not wanting her to know how much she’s shocked me. “It seems unfair you can see me but I can’t see you.”

“Life is unfair, Vincent.”

“I won’t argue that point.” Leaning back in my chair, I begin putting on the same show that’s gotten me through decades of running this company. It’s one of the reasons people don’t fuck with me. And she’s fucking with me. Sweet voice or not, this woman needs to be put in her place.

Retrieving the glass I rejected not long ago, I pour myself a few fingers. “I assume you’re here for a reason. What is it you want?”

“I would like a job.”

“We’re not hiring.” I sip the whiskey, taking down very little even though I want to swallow the whole fucking thing.

“You’re always hiring—for the right people.”

My hand stills. Her knowledge is slightly unnerving. And I’m having a harder time pretending I don’t notice the soft, slight huskiness of her words. “Is that what this is about? Proving to me you’re one of those people?”

“I’m not interested in proving anything to you, Vincent.”

Again, she’s surprised me. “If this wasn’t about proving your skill, then what was it about?”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t about proving my skill. I just said it wasn’t about proving it to you.” The edge of her voice pulls me closer, reeling me in the way little else has.

“What’s your name?”

“If I tell you, you’ll come find me.”

It’s what I was planning to begin with, but now… Now I can’t get on that fucking plane soon enough. “Who said I wasn’t coming to find you anyway?”

“That will be tricky since you don’t know where to look.” Her words carry a hint of amusement. “I would assume you’re smart enough to know that if I can find my way into your system, I can make sure my IP address doesn’t lead you straight to me.”

I want to smirk, but I know she’s watching me, so I flatten my lips. “What’s your plan then, Miss—”

“It doesn’t seem like a good idea to give you my name, Vincent.”

“So you know where my team is located. You’ve been inside our system. You have my nameandyou’ve seen my face. If this is what you think will get you hired, then you’re not as smart as you think you are.” I reach for the edge of the laptop, ready to close it even though it’s the last thing I want to do.

I want to keep talking to her. Want to hear a little more of that silky voice as it says my name.

“Wait.” For the first time she sounds on edge.

I pause, tipping my head. “I’m a busy man. I don’t havetime to waste on people who won’t put their own ass on the line.”

“Does that mean you’d consider hiring me if I did?”

“I can’t hire someone I can’t identify, so unless you’re willing to—”

The screen flashes to life and steals the fucking air from my lungs. I was expecting…

Not this.

Wide brown eyes stare back at me, deep and soulful. Lined with lashes as dark and thick as the cascade of curls framing the face of a grown woman. Not a young woman, ready to start a life and a family. A peer. A woman who’s seen many of the same days I have. Maybe not all.

But most.

And she’s fucking stunning. Her lips are full and her softly-rounded cheeks are flushed pink across the rise of the bones beneath them. A scatter of freckles dot her nose, offering an air of innocence I doubt she possesses.

I hope.

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