Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
What better way to get that attention than for me to date one of his men? Of course, even if Collin personally looks through the town footage, we haven’t seen each other in so long, I doubt he’d even recognize me. But eventually, it’s all gonna come out and I hope I’m there when this realization hits my big brother, because I really want to see his reaction.
But even if I’m not, it’s easy enough to imagine it.
He’s going to be pissed.
It’s a joker. That’s what Brose and I call it when we have a card to play, but don’t. And this one is definitely wild.
Ean shakes my hand. “You already know my name.”
“Ean.”
“Shep. I go by Shep.”
“Shep.” I smile, because I like it. I like Ean too, especially the alternative spelling. But Shep is even better.
“So?” he says. “What did you want to tell me that was so important you couldn’t say it at the stairs?”
Brose is listening, and of course I told him this was my lure, but we didn’t talk about it after the exceptional spanking he delivered that day. I was so caught up in the sex—Brose is such an addiction, I’d do almost anything for the depraved attention he gives me when I’m bad—that I kind of forgot about it until this morning on our way here. I think he did too because I catch him, from the corner of my eye, lowering his newspaper so he can watch us from across the room.
I asked Brose what I should talk about with Ean, but he just said, “Use your discretion, Olive.” Which makes this whole thing feel like a test. It shouldn’t be a test, I was released into full duty months ago, but it still feels like one.
There are many techniques that agents use to garner trust in targets, but none work better than what I call Misery Loves Company. So that’s the scheme I’ve decided to execute. “Tell me something… Shep.” I give him a shy smile here. “Were you born into it? Or was it a recruitment type thing?”
I already know the answer to this question—it’s the same answer for all of us. Still, I don’t know the details, and I’m curious. So I’ve decided that this is how I will approach the ‘date.’
Shep sneers at me. “We’re not here to talk about me. You said you had something to say. If that’s true, say it. If it was just a lure to get me here, I’ll be on my way.”
I anticipated this reaction to my question. I mean, even if we weren’t allowed to talk about it, who the hell wants to talk about it? “Fine. I wanted to tell you why the Mule Pit is out there in the woods.”
He actually rolls his eyes. “Do I look like an idiot? Clearly, you guys are there to lure us.”
“Us?”
“Edge,” he clarifies.
“So you consider yourself one of them? Even though you’re the new guy?”
“What do you want, Olive?”
“You.” My answer surprises him because it comes out very honest. And since I already know that he was a Deep Recon Specialist for CORE, it surprises me as well. Because there’s no way that what he and I are doing here is real. But even if it was, it’s just… impossible. Brose is my partner. For life. And while I might have to sleep with former DRS agent Ean Shephard, and I won’t mind doin’ it, it can’t mean anything.
He thinks for me, I act for him.
Still, my response to Shep comes out with a whole lot of feeling backing it up. Which makes Shep even more suspicious than he already was.
I glance over at Brose, just to see if he’s got a reaction, but he’s not there. There’s a couple sitting in that two-seater booth now. My eyes flicker across the room and I just barely catch a glimpse of him walking out the door.
Did he hear it too?
Did he hear the feelings of desire behind my answer?
Does he think I’m serious?
“That’s crazy.”
I look at Shep. “What?”
“Your answer.” He leans in, almost to the middle of the table, like he’s about to tell me a secret. “Look, I don’t know you. I don’t know what you’re involved in, but I know what kind of training you guys get and I’m not gonna sit here and let you insult my intelligence while you lie to me.”
I push Brose all the way out of my mind. I need this guy. He’s the only one from Edge who came in to the Pit. After all that money, all that time, he’s all we’ve got. So I give him one hundred percent of my time and play the joker.
“I’m Collin’s little sister.”
Shep laughs. It’s loud too, even over all the talking of the packed diner, and a few people turn their heads to look at us. “Bullshit.”