Page 51 of Cast in Shadow
Did her “anchor” analogy include people she returned to or just places? Again, he wondered where she’d been and who she’d been with. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask, but he refrained. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. She was asking him to return to Parryville with her and tie off some loose ends. That would have to be enough—for now.
“All right, you’ve got yourself a mercenary.”
“Excellent.”
Her smile lit off a series of fireworks in his chest.
“When do you want to leave?”
“Tomorrow, after you bring me coffee and breakfast in bed.”
He stood and walked around to her side of the breakfast bar. He remained standing, leaned back against the granite so that he faced her, and crossed his arms. “Shouldn’t we discuss my fee?”
Her gaze lowered from his eyes and worked its way downward slowly, then back up again. It was like a blatant stroke to his cock, and his cock responded accordingly. She pushed back from the counter and tugged her robe open.
“Yes, let’s.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aggie
Admittedly, his price was steep. Had any other man suggested such a fee, she wouldn’t have considered it. But he wasn’t any other man. He was Zeke, the white knight mercenary and kindred soul who knew how to make her body melt and her blood sing.
“So, what’s the plan?” he asked as he rubbed the towel over his wet hair.
Fresh from the shower, he wore loose sweats low on his slim hips. She took a moment to admire the view, then shook her head to clear it and focus.
“We go back to Parryville, find Sam, get him to tell us what he knows, then exact some vengeance.”
He smirked. “Exact vengeance?”
“Yes,” she replied firmly. “I don’t appreciate being thrown under the bus, and I really don’t appreciate being roughed up.”
His eyes practically glowed at the reminder as they scanned her body, pausing on those areas that had sustained the most damage. His look was possessive. Intense. In that moment, she understood why his code name was Raguel. He looked exactly like a beautiful, fierce archangel, ready to rain down justice on those who’d hurt her. In that moment, she’d never felt more cherished.
She pulled out her laptop and connected to the secure cache of information she’d compiled on Parryville. There were more files there than there had been. Since her brother was the only other person on earth with access to the information, they must have come from him despite his assertion that Sam Higgins and the Parryville situation weren’t on his “playground.”
Zeke sat down beside her on the massive sectional, bringing with him the scents of soap, shaving cream, and something uniquely him.
She turned her screen, so he could see it. “This is what I’ve got so far. Read through it and tell me what you think we’ll need.”
He accepted the laptop and began to read while she took her turn in the bathroom. They’d agreed that showering separately was more conducive to getting things done than showering together. When they were naked around each other, they had trouble concentrating on anything else.
It was odd, this obsession developing between them. They couldn’t get enough of one another. She’d never experienced anything like it before. Aggie wasn’t complaining, however. As a devout practitioner of mindfulness and living in the moment, she was going to enjoy it while she could. Nothing this powerful, this intense, could last. She just had to keep that in the back of her mind every time her heart tried to suggest otherwise.
Zeke was where she’d left him when she emerged. He glanced up at her briefly, his expression unreadable, then went back to reading. There was a lot of information to wade through. It included her notes based on conversations with Sam, detailed schedules of disposal and route schematics, a list of paper mill employees involved in the process and an in-depth financial analysis on each one, as well as dossiers on the FBI task force and the organized crime situation in the area.
She made a cup of herbal tea, then went out onto the balcony to meditate. If they were going to do this, she would need to be in the proper headspace.
She sat cross-legged on a soft cushion, closed her eyes, and began with some deep breathing exercises. Her body was already loose and relaxed. She lifted her face to the sky and opened her heart, allowing herself to drift away.
When she opened her eyes again, Zeke was sitting on the balcony with her. It was a testament to how safe she felt in his presence that she could lose herself so thoroughly.
“All finished?” she asked.
“All finished,” he confirmed. “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”
Very few people knew she existed, let alone what she did, and that was okay. She wasn’t in it for accolades or recognition. Quite the opposite in fact. But hearing those words from Zeke, a man who did his own share of work from the shadows, warmed her from the inside out.
