“I like that, you know. Being special to you.” Sola nuzzled his bearded jaw.
And suddenly something he’d agonized over, the fear that his lack of experience might drive her away once she found out, vanished. How had she managed to make it seem like a benefit instead of a drawback?
Aarav grinned, then started rummaging through the containers in the bag. He set them out on the bed in front of them. Steak. Fish. Sides. Bread. And dessert. Bingo. “You want real food?”
“Hell no. I like skipping straight to the good stuff.” Sola popped open the lid on the chocolate cake oozing black cherry filling. Their friend Morgan had baked it especially for Sevan, Ransom, and Levi. It was decadent and dark and tangy yet still sweet in the center of all those layers. Just like Sola.
Aarav picked up a morsel with his fingers and fed it to her, loving how she spent more time than necessary licking and sucking his fingers clean.
“More.” She opened her mouth and waited for him to give her another bite. Then she surprised him by returning the favor. Nothing had tasted as good in his entire life. He thought, if the universe paid him back even a tiny bit for all the hurt it had put him through in his childhood, he would ask Morgan to make the same cake the day he got up the nerve to propose to Sola.
Because he could see it in a flash. That’s where they could end up. If their jobs and the evil in the world didn’t rip them apart first. The reminder was like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.
“Shit. We should study the file.” He groaned and reached for his duffle, withdrawing the tablet inside even as Sola smacked his ass.
“I’ve always wanted to do that. You have such a cute butt.” She grinned, then dove at him, licking the partial icing handprint she’d left on his flank to keep it from staining the sheets.
“Uh, thanks.” He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate. That wasn’t usually an issue for him. He could turn off everything but the feel of his rifle, the brush of wind against the hairs on his forearm, and whoever was in his sights, then lie in wait for hours. Days, if need be.
But in that moment, he couldn’t take his eyes from Sola even as she turned on the device he’d already forgotten about and started flipping through virtual documents.
Killing wasn’t easy, even when it was deserved. What Sola did was damn difficult. Bearing that burden, for the sake of the innocents it would protect, was a sacrifice not many other people could understand. But he did.
Maybe that was part of why he’d refused to acknowledge his feelings for her for so long. She took risks. And so did he by letting himself care for her.
As Aarav studied her—naked, sitting cross legged, the container of cake balanced on one knee and the tablet with the information they needed to pull off their assignment on the other—he knew he’d made a horrific mistake. Because there was no way in hell one time with Sola was ever going to be enough to burn her out of his system. Instead, the flame she’d ignited in him only blazed brighter.
It was several hours later, after they had locked in their plans and there was nothing to do but wait, that she finally noticed his hungry gaze. “You want more cake?”
“There’s something else I’d rather have seconds of.” He pounced on her, making her squeal and laugh…though it wasn’t long before her giggles were replaced with moans.
If the mission went sideways and he died later that day, at least he’d go happy.
3
Sola passed the guard with her attempt at a sultry smile, then flipped her hair over her shoulder. Not because she was vain, but because it gave her the perfect cover to reactivate her comms after having made it through security. Awfully comfortable in this glass fortress they’d built, they hadn’t even frisked her for a weapon. Fools. “I’m in.”
“Good.” James spoke into her ear from most of the way around the world. “There isn’t much time. Aarav is finalizing his gear set up, so we’ll need you to try for a visual on the target. Stick close in case we need you to step in.”
Maybe it was the flight on the private jet. Or the ride she’d taken on Aarav. Twice. Or the glamorous dress and jewels she was wearing for once. But for some reason, she felt every bit a super spy worthy of a feature film instead of the imposter she’d sometimes considered herself when surrounded by a team of incredible men and women.
She hated to admit it, but Aarav’s apparent lack of interest in her over the past several months, when she swore she could feel their bond growing by the second, had completely fucked with her self-confidence. Not to mention her faith in her gut instincts.
That could be a fatal flaw for a field agent like her, especially a lone wolf assassin deep in enemy territory. Out here, all she had to rely on was herself. Sure, Aarav was aiming a monstrous gun at the balcony—or would be shortly—but if shit went down, she would be on her own to extract herself from the flaming dumpster fire this place would quickly turn into.
With that in mind, Sola verified the intel they’d gotten in the form of the casino blueprints. The exits were as indicated on them, placed at each of the four cardinal directions around the glass dome that encapsulated the gaming tables. It wasn’t an act when she gawked at the sparkling panels that cast rainbows onto the black marble flooring and allowed the gorgeous seascape around them to make a perfect backdrop for distracting someone from the thousands they were losing by the second.
Sola noted her possible escape paths as she circled the room under the guise of browsing the refreshments that lined the perimeter of the space. She had worked up a bit of an appetite that not even leftovers in bed from Sevan, Ransom, and Levi’s wedding had been able to fully satisfy. So she plucked a cracker topped with some brown stuff that looked horrid but tasted divine from a filigreed silver platter and was immediately met with a roving server offering her a linen napkin to wipe her fingers on afterward.
“Thank you.” She cleaned her hands, then accepted a flute of champagne from yet another of the staff. They probably outnumbered the guests.
“Any sign of Cash yet?” Jordan asked, though he could see the room as well as her given the camera embedded among the diamonds and rubies of her necklace. The thing was practically microscopic yet relayed images both in ultra high definition and alternate imaging like infrared, for identifying the heat signatures of hidden bodies. It came in handier in jungles than in casinos, but it never hurt to have as much information as possible. Jordan didn’t skimp for his operatives. He gave them every tool possible to ensure a positive outcome for their missions. With the prices he charged the government agencies they worked for, they could afford it.
“Nope.” Sola hid the movement of her lips behind the napkin. “But Daddy’s right over there.”
She angled her torso so that he was clearly in sight. When she did, she could hear the furious clicks of Ruby banging away on one of her keyboards in the command center, probably taking screen captures for their files, which some analyst would scour for useful data later.
“Who the hell names their kid Cash anyway? Sounds kind of douchey.” Sola let her gaze lift long enough to take in the man who owned this empire, at least according to official documents. If his kid was as much of a dirtbag as their informants promised, then his father was merely a puppet.