Chapter 6-1
660 Words
6Lucas
She stands in the doorway, looking so beautiful and vulnerable that my heart squeezes in my chest. Her eyes are glittering with tears, and as I reach for her, she wraps her arms around her naked torso in a defensive gesture.
“No, come here, sweetheart.” I unwrap her arms and pull her toward me, doing a quick visual scan of her hands to make sure she’s not concealing a weapon. No matter how fragile Yulia appears, I can’t forget that she’s a trained agent who’s already tried to kill me.
To my relief, she’s unarmed, so I fold my arms around her, pressing her against my chest. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, stroking her hair. “I’m so sorry.”
The feel of her bare skin against mine makes my body stir again, and I have to focus to ignore the press of her n*****s against my chest. I don’t want to get distracted by lust, not after what I’ve just learned.
I know I’m being irrational. It shouldn’t matter that she’s been abused. Some of the most twisted individuals I know have had a rough past, and I’ve never been inclined to cut them any slack. If they f****d up, they paid. Nobody gets a free pass with me, yet that’s precisely what I’m planning to give her.
My one-eighty turn is so sudden I want to laugh at myself. She’s been here less than twenty-four hours, and my plans for her have already gone up in smoke. I suppose I should’ve expected this, given that I haven’t been able to get Yulia out of my mind for the last two months, but the intensity of my need and the inconvenient feelings that came with it still blindsided me.
She killed dozens of our men and nearly killed me.
The thought that always enraged me now brings up only echoes of my former fury. She was doing her job, carrying out the assignment she’d been entrusted with. I’ve always known it was nothing personal, but that didn’t matter to me before. An eye for an eye—that’s the way Esguerra and I have always operated. You cross us, you pay.
Except I don’t want to make Yulia pay anymore. She’s been through enough, first at the Russian prison, then at my hands. Instead of her, I’ll focus my vengeance on the ones who are truly responsible: the agency that gave her that assignment.
“Let’s go back to bed,” I say, pulling back to gaze down at Yulia. She’s stopped trembling, though her face is still wet with tears. “It’s early.”
She gives a curt shake of her head. “No, I can’t sleep. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”
“All right.” The sun’s already starting to come up, so I figure it’s not a big deal. “Do you want something to eat?”
She extricates herself from my hold and takes a step back. “Another sandwich?” Her voice still sounds shaky, but there’s a tiny note of amusement there too.
“I have soup,” I say, trying to keep my eyes off her slim, naked body.
She blinks. “What kind of soup?”
“I’m not sure. I forgot to look inside the pot before putting it in the fridge. It’s something from Esguerra’s house. His maid gave it to me last night.”
A small, surprising smile curves Yulia’s lips. “Really? Do they also feed you scraps from their table?”
“No.” I chuckle at her not-so-subtle jab. “I wish they would, though. Esguerra’s housekeeper is amazing in the kitchen, and I can’t cook worth shit.”
Yulia arches her delicate eyebrows. “Seriously? I can.”
“Oh?” I find myself enjoying the unexpected banter. “Did they teach you that in spy school?”
“No, I taught myself some basic recipes when I first arrived in Moscow. I was living off a student stipend, so I didn’t have a lot of money for eating out. Later on, I discovered I liked cooking, so I started experimenting with more advanced recipes.”
The reminder of the f****d-up nature of her job kills my lighter mood. “You weren’t getting a salary?”
“What?” She looks taken aback. “No, of course I was. It was being deposited into my bank account in Ukraine. I just couldn’t use those funds—I had to live like a student, else I wouldn’t have passed the Kremlin’s background checks.”
Of course. Undercover living at its finest.
“All right,” I say, forcing my tone to lighten. “Let’s try the soup for now. Maybe later you can show me your cooking skills.”
- Writer
