Page 80 of Knight

"What if I can't do it? What if I freeze when I face her?"

I turn my chair to face her. "You won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've watched you push through every obstacle thrown at you." My hand finds hers without conscious thought. "You’ve proven time and again you won’t let anything stop you.”

She studies our joined hands. "Sometimes I think you see what you want to see."

"I see exactly what you are." The words come out rougher than intended. "Someone who refuses to break no matter what's thrown at them."

Her free hand comes up to touch my face, the gesture so unexpected it steals my breath. "Someone like you?"

The question hangs between us, heavy with implications neither of us should acknowledge. Her thumb traces my jaw.

"Eva ..." A warning. To her or myself, I'm not sure.

She leans forward, closing the distance between us. This kiss is different from our others – slower, deeper, filled with shared understanding of what tomorrow might bring. My hands slide into her hair, angling her head to deepen the contact.

She makes a small sound against my mouth that undoes what's left of my control. I pull her closer, until she's half in my lap, her body pressed against mine. Her fingers curl into my shirt as the kiss turns hungry, desperate.

Reality intrudes when her hands slip beneath my shirt. I catch her wrists, breaking the kiss but keeping her close. "We need to focus."

"I am focused." She nips at my lower lip. "Very focused."

I laugh, and the sound surprises me. "On the mission. On tomorrow."

She sighs, but doesn't pull away. "Always so practical."

"One of us has to be. After. When this is done ..."

"After." She eases back slightly. "When we've finished manipulating an innocent woman into helping us."

The bitterness in her voice reminds me of what I'm asking her to do. What I'm turning her into. I release her wrists, letting her put space between us.

"Get some rest." I turn back to my screens. "Tomorrow will be challenging enough without exhaustion clouding your judgment."

She stands but hesitates. "What about you?"

"I need to finish something here." It’s a lie. There’s nothing more I can do until I have access to Horizon Tech’s systems. I just need space to remember why I can't let myself get lost in her. Why focusing on the mission matters more than whatever is building between us.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Evangeline

Morning comes too soon,bringing with it the suffocating weight of what I have to do today. I've barely slept, spending most of the night staring into the darkness, while going over the plan. I’ve spent hours trying to convince myself that manipulating Amanda Hardwick is a means to an end. A necessary evil.

But the truth is undeniable. It’s no different from what was done to me.

Knight is already at his computers when I emerge from the bedroom, or maybe he never left them. The screens cast ghostly blue shadows that accentuate the tiredness etched on his face. His jawline, peppered with stubble, tightens almost imperceptibly when I enter. The memory of the kiss we shared hangs between us like a live wire.

"Coffee's fresh." His voice carries traces of exhaustion. "You should eat something before we do this." He hands me a protein bar.

The wrapper crinkles in my hands, as I unwrap it. “Don’t you keep real food here?” The flavor of it is no better than the first time I ate one.

He doesn’t reply, but his lips twitch, while his fingers move across multiple keyboards with the precision of a surgeon.

"Her routine's consistent." He finally looks up from his screens. "She stops at the same coffee shop every morning before work. Orders the same drink. Sits at the same table." His mouth flattens into a grim line. "People are creatures of habit. It makes them predictable."

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