Page 4 of His Sweet Torment
“Dude, you are one gorgeous man.”
Danilo grinned. “Why, thank you.” He came to the bed and covered her body with his. “As long asyouthink so.” He was already hard, and Padme pulled the towel away from his hips.
“That’s better. You should always be naked.”
They laughed. “That would make business meetings difficult, but intriguing. How about we make a deal? If I’m naked, you’re naked.”
She kissed him. “Deal.”
He kissed her back, tenderly, as if memorizing the shape of her lips and then buried his face in her neck, making a strange growling sound. “Mio Dio, I don’t want to let you go,” he murmured, and Padme felt her chest ache. No, neither did she – she wanted to hang onto him, to them, to these last few moments.
He looked up, and she saw the genuine conflict in his eyes. “Hey,” she said softly, “We said one weekend. And it’s beenperfect. I mean it…this has been the most incredible few days.”
Danilo nuzzled her nose with his. “It has…I just wish…” He sighed. “I wish that I wasn’t who I was, that I could just be here with you and not have to deal with…” He didn’t finish the sentence, just looked at her sadly. “I’ve never met anyone like you before. And it would have to happennow.”
Padme swept her hands over his face, gazing up at him. “My name isn’t Penny.”
He grinned that crooked smile she loved. “I know. And you know I’m not Danilo.”
“Yes.”
He kissed her. “Soon I hope I’ll be free to tell you my real name.”
“Just whisper it to me,” she pleaded, “I swear on my life, it will go no further.” She saw the hesitation in his eyes. “To sweeten the deal…my real name is Padme Kaur.”
“That’s beautiful.” She could see the conflict in his eyes.
“Trust me,” she said simply and he nodded.
“You’re about the only person in the world I do trust, even after this short time. But if I tell you my name and one day you slip – we are only human – then it could mean your life being in danger. I want to tell you so much, Padme, I really, really do. Please just trust me enough to say, when it’s safe – I’ll tell youeverything.”
And she had to be happy with that.
They made love again and then, just after midnight, Padme said goodbye to the most sensual man she’d ever met and traveled by cab back to her apartment. Opening the door, she dumped her purse on the table and stood for a long minute in the silence, before bursting into tears.
“Why do you look so grumpy?” Dale, her partner, squinted at her as she got into his car the next morning.
“Mind your own business,” she snapped then relented. “Sorry, D, I had a weird weekend.”
Dale grinned at her. “Bet I can cheer you up. Guess who got the Cleveland posting?”
Padme suddenly perked up. “Tell me it was Maria;pleasetell me it was Maria…”
“Bingo.” They both cheered, and Dale was right, that did perk Padme’s spirits up. Maria had been at Quantico with them – an arrogant, incompetent know-it-all who delighted in telling them that her father had been an agent for thirty-five years and she knew it all by osmosis. She didn’t. Couple that with her abject jealousy over Padme’s brilliance, and Maria had been the focus of most of the class’s hatred. Now she had been posted to the least requested field office in the States.
“I have to admit, as much as it makes me a bad person, karma, bitch,” Padme was grinning now. Dale chuckled.
“See, told you I could cheer you up. God, this traffic today. All ready for our babysitting job?”
Padme rolled her eyes. “Guess we can’t be too picky right out of the Academy. Who is this guy?”
“No idea. We get our orders from the office then head out.”
Henry Jones greeted them both with a smile. “Welcome, welcome. Not to blow smoke up your ass’s right off the bat, but we hit pay dirt with you two. You know every field office was clamoring for you?”
Padme and Dale looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Henry grinned. “Well, now we have the good news out of the way…Here comes the real world. You may think we’re just handed you a babysitting job, but this guy is putting it all on the line to bring down the Ingles, and we’re going to have his back while he’s doing it. The death threats are real, and this kid, Enver Toscano, has already seen his business partner murdered. Also, Frederick Ingles flew into Seattle on Saturday. He knows where Toscano was at the weekend, but since then, we transferred Toscano to a safe house. You read the briefing notes? Good.”
He sat on the edge of the desk. “His lawyer, an arrogant asshole called Brian Dedalus, specifically requested new agents. The Ingles have spies everywhere, and he is betting on them not having gotten to you two – yet. So, get over to this address. You’ll meet the lawyer and the protectee, and work out the protection detail together. Don’t forget to brief me about what you decided.”
