Page 48 of Code Name: Reaper
I gasped when I read the text Blackjack had sent him. “He suffered a stroke?”
“He’s in intensive care.”
Something the text clearly stated. “Yes, I see that. Why wasn’t I informed directly, and why would you wait to tell me?”
“I can’t answer your first question, but as for the second, I didn’t want to upset you.”
Rather than hand his phone to him, I threw it at him. “Upsetme?”
He held his hand out, palm up. “Case in point.”
“Argh.I think it’s obvious we should abort this entire trip. I’ll figure out another way to approach Briggs.”
“Again, not your decision to make?—”
“Donotcall me babe again. Or sweetheart or any other condescending, fake term of endearment.”
“Fake?”
“Yes, fake,babe. There, how does that make you feel? Lesser maybe? Or like someone I don’t take seriously?”
“I didn’t mean any of those things.”
“You know what? I don’t care. I’m finished with this conversation.” I folded my arms. “I’m only glad we didn’t…” I turned toward the window.
“Didn’t what,Charity?”
I shook my head. There was no way I’d finished that sentence, particularly since I didn’t mean it. Even as angry as I was at him presently, I still wanted him. Maybe even more now.
The passion between us had been intense from the moment I met him in Budva. It was instantaneous, not that I’d believed in that sort of thing until it happened to me.
Everything about him had slammed into me. His eyes as they bored into mine, his lips, the set of his jaw, his rock-hard body, his hands that I immediately longed to have on me, and the heat that seemed to pour out of him. I wanted him then as much as I did now.
“What happened?” I finally asked.
When he didn’t respond, I looked over my shoulder. His elbows rested on his legs, and he’d covered his face with his hands.
“Why are you so angry with me?”
When he turned his head, his expression sent chills up my spine. “Dagger’s cover was blown.”
It took me several seconds to process his words. What did that mean? Was he okay? Did Reaper think I had something to do with it? I couldn’t figure out which question to start with. Finally, I settled on what was most important. “Is he alive?”
“I don’t know.” Reaper’s voice sounded flat, emotionless.
“He could be?—”
“You were the only other person who knew what he was doing, where he was embedded.” The way he continued looking at me made my stomach clench. “The only one.”
“You think I had something to do with this?”
“The timing is too convenient. Hours after I read you in, he’s blown.” He leaned against his seat, arms crossed. “Either you’re the unluckiest person alive, or there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“How could I possibly have—” I stopped myself, my mind racing through the implications. “I’ve been with you every second since you told me about him.”
“Noteverysecond.”
The words slammed into me harder than his fists could have. “Are you seriously suggesting that I?—”
