Chapter Sixteen
Zane was on his feetin an instant at the knock on the door. He growled at his anticipation. He didn’t want it to be Riley, regardless of what the hollow pit behind his ribs insisted.
His heart sank against his will when he saw who it was. He didn’t bother with a smile as he yanked the door open. He wasn’t in the mood for Sabrina. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a thick braid that draped her shoulder, drawing the eye to a low-cut T-shirt that toed the line between too tight and just right. Regardless of how much he didn’t want to see her, he still couldn’t defy propriety. He kept his attention on her face. “Can I help you?”
Sabrina lounged against the doorframe, a smirk dancing on full, too-red lips. She stepped closer, nudging him with her frame. “Invite me in?”
Fuck. He hadn’t seen this behavior since they were first assigned to work together. Back then, his dick controlled the conversations when she did this. Today, he wasn’t in the mood. He put more distance between them. “Do you want to sit?”
She ducked her head and looked up at him through heavy black lashes. “Only if you’re the seat.”
He didn’t try to hide his irritation. “There’s no need, really. I’m standing, so there’s plenty of room on the couch.”
She traced a finger along the edge of her T-shirt, pausing at her cleavage. “It looks lonely over there.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “What do you want?”
“You.”
“No, really.”
She crossed her arms, pushing her tits together and up. “So blondes are more your thing?”
His veins filled with ice. She knew about Riley. “Can’t say I have a preference.”
“You know what I do for a living, right?” Sabrina raised an eyebrow, studying him with disbelief.
Zane struggled to hold back his creeping dread. “She was a friend before I deployed. That’s all.”
“Really?” Her laugh chilled him further. “Okay. Let’s play this game.Please, Ms. Spy, leave her out of this. She doesn’t know. It doesn’t have anything to do with her.”
Zane clenched his jaw and his fists, and let a growl escape her chest. “So you’re here to... threaten the people I know? That won’t end well for you.”
“Oh, so cute. But that’s not your line. Now you say,I’ll do anything you want. Just leave them alone.”
He took a step toward her, and then another, twisted satisfaction growing inside when she moved back. “No.” He kept his voice low and even. “Now I tell you, if you’re here to threaten me—directly or otherwise—you won’t like the results. I can destroy you digitally, and you know it.”
“There’s the man I adore.” Her smile unnerved him more than the innuendo about Riley. “I’m not here to threaten anyone. Nothing bad is going to happen to your playmate. We don’t work like that.”