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“What’s up, Pharaoh? Did your team win?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t care about football. Now hockey, on the other hand…”
“Who’s your favorite team?”
“The Boston Bruins, of course.”
“Of course.” She chuckled. Men and their sports teams. Pushing up off the couch, she headed toward her small apartment. “Well, have a good night. Unlike the rest of you, I have to get up early and go to work.”
“Let’s hope we get a breakthrough soon.”
“Fingers crossed.” Unfortunately, that would mean the end of seeing Lucas every day, and Inda didn’t want to think about that. Not yet, anyway. Her daily interactions with Lucas had gotten her juices flowing again and, like River said earlier, women had needs, too.
Once Inda reached her little apartment, she locked the door, stripped out of her clothes and took a long, warm shower. Sexy thoughts filled her head. Specifically, the fantasy of Lucas Sheridan pulling back the shower curtain, standing there in all his naked glory, and then joining her.
With a groan, Inda flipped the water off and reached for a towel. After she dried off, she decided to forgo her pajamas, and slipped into bed naked. The cool sheets did little to soothe her overheated body, so she reached over, pulled the nightstand drawer open and grabbed her vibrator. She might not be able to fuck Lucas, but she could pretend while she eased the ache, if only temporarily.
Chapter Two
It was well after eleven by the time Lucas settled down on the couch with his laptop and a beer. He couldn’t get that stuffy suit off fast enough. It was confining and restraining. Too many damn buttons. And the tie felt like a noose around his neck, always on the verge of choking him. Of course, it wasn’t all bad. His new assistant seemed to appreciate the billionaire/mafia vibes. He’d caught her checking him out on more than one occasion, and he’d made sure to return the favor.
Looks could be damn deceiving, though. The gorgeous brunette could pretend to be an assistant all day long, but he knew exactly who she was beneath the slick suits and that pretty mask she kept so carefully in place.
Despite a mutual attraction, it couldn’t go anywhere. Any future he might’ve considered pursuing with her didn’t stand a chance in hell of ever working out. The cold truth was they’d been lying to each other for weeks. Neither of them were who they pretended to be.
From the moment she’d stepped into his office, Lucas had known Leoa Cardosa was actually Inda Diaz. Inda AKA Leoa AKA Bruja was a job, nothing more. Hours of digging around online hadn’t produced as much intel as he’d hoped, but Lucas knew the basics. Diaz was former Army, had no family and was part of Ex Nihilo.
Much to his annoyance, it was hard for him to ignore all that long, dark, thick hair that she kept pinned back and those intelligent caramel eyes that missed nothing. It took every ounce of his self-control to not openly ogle her. She was small, barely reaching his shoulder in her heels, but she had a fierce quality about her. And don’t even get him started on the beauty marks dotting her face. He wanted to kiss every single one. Repeatedly.
Inda Diaz was a woman who couldn’t be overlooked, even when she was trying hard to blend in.
Lounging back against a pillow, finally comfortable in a T-shirt and sweatpants, Lucas took a long swig of beer and turned thoughtful. He knew all about her checkered past. How her mom had dated a string of abusive boyfriends, one of whom eventually stabbed and killed her. And how a young Inda had dropped off the radar, disappearing right afterwards.
Lucas wasn’t sure what Inda had done between the time her mother died and when she’d turned eighteen and joined the Army. But he could only imagine the things a young girl had to do in order to survive in a cold, uncaring world. His stomach revolted at the thought and he set the beer down.
He shouldn’t feel sorry for her. Sure, she’d been dealt a shitty hand, but she’d ultimately made the wrong decision by joining Ex Nihilo. And that made her his enemy.
Shutting down the empathy, he focused on his laptop screen and disappeared into the Dark Web. He found a picture of her, enlarged it and studied the image. Damn, the woman was gorgeous. Enlarging her photo further, he counted the little beauty marks that dotted her face and imagined his lips trailing from one to the next. The urge to touch and explore all thosetantalizing curves was enough to drive him insane. He’d always been an ass man, and hers was the stuff of legends.
Focus, Sheridan.He needed to get himself under control and not let her get under his skin. Allowing her to play on his emotions would result in nothing but disaster—for him. The need to keep things professional was fast becoming a constant reminder, one that shouldn’t even be happening.
It was hard to ignore a woman like Inda Diaz, though. He just hoped to hell he could keep his wits about him and the cinnamon-scented delight wouldn’t end up being his downfall. She was one smart cookie, though, and he was still trying to figure out why facial recognition software hadn’t picked her up yet.
“What have you done, my clever little girl?” he asked the photo on the screen. Clicking the image shut, he skulked and scoured around for more intel on Ex Nihilo, but didn’t find anything. They were like ghosts.
Dragging a hand over his stubbled jaw and neck, he decided it was show time. Fingers flying over the keyboard, Lucas went straight to the secret backdoor he’d created that would allow him inside Zane Hawkins’ network, and waltzed right inside.
So fucking easy.Maybe he should’ve been more aware, more careful, but he’d gotten into Hawkins’ network before and it had hardly been a challenge. Ex Nihilo’s hacker might be good, but Lucas was better.
“Let’s dance, Banshee,” he murmured.
???
Inda had barely closed her eyes when a loud alarm began beeping from somewhere. Jumping out of bed, she crossed her small apartment and threw the door open. Frantic voices spilled down the hallway and she ran toward the common area where Zane and River hovered over a laptop.
“What’s going on?” Inda asked, jogging over.
“Hacker,” River said with a frown before slamming her hand on the table and yelling, “Get him out of there!”
