metal had touched her.
“Oh, what a relief!” she sighs. “Thank you. Here, I’ll do
you too.”
She’s a little clumsy with the tool, but she eventually
manages to clip through the clasp and free me from my own fetter. Soon we are
completely rid of all traces of the shackles, which lie in ruins between us on
the desk.
“Thank you Mark,” Tatiana says, handing back the cutters. “You’re
the best. Guess we’d better hit the gym now. Are we all set?”
“Yup, all set. Glad I could help.”
With another wink, Mark disappears to put the clippers away.
Which leaves Tatiana and I alone at the desk, staring at each other. My mouth
has gone suddenly dry. Now we’re smack dab in the moment of truth: will she or
won’t she give me the dodge?
“I’ll just get my duffel bag from my locker,” Tatiana says.
“It’s our only chance to cripple Breslin, slow him down. Actually, now that we’re
here, we might as well shower, yeah? The men’s locker room is over there. I’ll just
meet you back in the lobby in twenty minutes, unless you want to go rock
climbing or something.”
I ignore her attempt at humor,
searching her face. It’s gone inscrutable, her secret-agent look. Guess she
reserves that for me, while Mark gets all the flirtation.
My resolve to play it cool buckles.
I can’t just let her go. I need to say something. Grimacing, I grab her wrist.
“I’m coming with you.”
Her eyes narrow into slits. “Are you crazy? You can’t come
in the ladies’ room. What do you want—to invite trouble? We need to blend in,
be as normal as possible.”
I pull her in close, until the front of her body is only a
centimeter from mine and I can feel her warmth all the way up and down like an
extension of my own senses.
“Please,” I say, the word foreign and cumbersome on my lips.
I feel like an idiot as I desperately try to think of how that sentence ends.
All I come up with is, “Don’t try anything foolish.”
“Foolish?”
“Like, for example, giving me the
slip. You wouldn’t last an hour alone against Breslin at this point, and for
that matter neither would I.”
It’s true, at least for the moment.
Until I get my hands on that
laptop.
“We are a team now,” I murmur, as
calmly as I can. I need her to need me. My survival depends on it. “For better
or worse.”
For better or worse? Why the hell did I say that? It’s like
quoting a line from the wrong movie, totally out of place.
Tatiana’s eyes trace down over my
lips, and for a second I think she might kiss me. But instead of indulging my
fantasy of playing that out, I give her a rough shake. It’s my way of shaking
myself out of it, too. Apparently acting like an animal is my only defense
against her.
“Do you understand?” I ask gruffly. “No funny business.”
Now her eyes flash, and I am reminded of the edgy Katja I
met that very first night at Breslin’s party: the dangerous, mysterious Katja,
the one that drugged me, robbed a powerful sociopath and started this whole
crazy chain reaction. She’s perfectly capable of outsmarting me. The knowledge
doesn’t ease my mind.
But then she rolls her eyes at me, once again seeming like
the young and vulnerable Katja: the Katja who told me her real name and became
Tatiana, the girl who blushed at my erection and who asked for my help.
I can’t keep up with this woman.
Who the fuck is she?
“Of course I understand, brrochi .
Whose idea was it to work together in the first place? If it were up to you
we’d have gone to Seventh Avenue and been arrested or shot. Why not thank me?
Why not give me credit? How about instead of attacking me you cooperate, you
idiot? Eh? Cadi yleebi mocove .”
“God I love it when you call me
names I don’t understand.”
“I told you to go suck dick, you
asshole. Maybe mine!”
“You’re really hot when you’re mad,
you know that? I’d let you suck my dick.”
She groans and gently pulls her
wrist out of my grasp.
“Knox. Grow up. Take
“Oh, what a relief!” she sighs. “Thank you. Here, I’ll do
you too.”
She’s a little clumsy with the tool, but she eventually
manages to clip through the clasp and free me from my own fetter. Soon we are
completely rid of all traces of the shackles, which lie in ruins between us on
the desk.
“Thank you Mark,” Tatiana says, handing back the cutters. “You’re
the best. Guess we’d better hit the gym now. Are we all set?”
“Yup, all set. Glad I could help.”
With another wink, Mark disappears to put the clippers away.
Which leaves Tatiana and I alone at the desk, staring at each other. My mouth
has gone suddenly dry. Now we’re smack dab in the moment of truth: will she or
won’t she give me the dodge?
“I’ll just get my duffel bag from my locker,” Tatiana says.
“It’s our only chance to cripple Breslin, slow him down. Actually, now that we’re
here, we might as well shower, yeah? The men’s locker room is over there. I’ll just
meet you back in the lobby in twenty minutes, unless you want to go rock
climbing or something.”
I ignore her attempt at humor,
searching her face. It’s gone inscrutable, her secret-agent look. Guess she
reserves that for me, while Mark gets all the flirtation.
My resolve to play it cool buckles.
I can’t just let her go. I need to say something. Grimacing, I grab her wrist.
“I’m coming with you.”
Her eyes narrow into slits. “Are you crazy? You can’t come
in the ladies’ room. What do you want—to invite trouble? We need to blend in,
be as normal as possible.”
I pull her in close, until the front of her body is only a
centimeter from mine and I can feel her warmth all the way up and down like an
extension of my own senses.
“Please,” I say, the word foreign and cumbersome on my lips.
I feel like an idiot as I desperately try to think of how that sentence ends.
All I come up with is, “Don’t try anything foolish.”
“Foolish?”
“Like, for example, giving me the
slip. You wouldn’t last an hour alone against Breslin at this point, and for
that matter neither would I.”
It’s true, at least for the moment.
Until I get my hands on that
laptop.
“We are a team now,” I murmur, as
calmly as I can. I need her to need me. My survival depends on it. “For better
or worse.”
For better or worse? Why the hell did I say that? It’s like
quoting a line from the wrong movie, totally out of place.
Tatiana’s eyes trace down over my
lips, and for a second I think she might kiss me. But instead of indulging my
fantasy of playing that out, I give her a rough shake. It’s my way of shaking
myself out of it, too. Apparently acting like an animal is my only defense
against her.
“Do you understand?” I ask gruffly. “No funny business.”
Now her eyes flash, and I am reminded of the edgy Katja I
met that very first night at Breslin’s party: the dangerous, mysterious Katja,
the one that drugged me, robbed a powerful sociopath and started this whole
crazy chain reaction. She’s perfectly capable of outsmarting me. The knowledge
doesn’t ease my mind.
But then she rolls her eyes at me, once again seeming like
the young and vulnerable Katja: the Katja who told me her real name and became
Tatiana, the girl who blushed at my erection and who asked for my help.
I can’t keep up with this woman.
Who the fuck is she?
“Of course I understand, brrochi .
Whose idea was it to work together in the first place? If it were up to you
we’d have gone to Seventh Avenue and been arrested or shot. Why not thank me?
Why not give me credit? How about instead of attacking me you cooperate, you
idiot? Eh? Cadi yleebi mocove .”
“God I love it when you call me
names I don’t understand.”
“I told you to go suck dick, you
asshole. Maybe mine!”
“You’re really hot when you’re mad,
you know that? I’d let you suck my dick.”
She groans and gently pulls her
wrist out of my grasp.
“Knox. Grow up. Take
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