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“And what am I supposed to tell Sydney?”
“I don’t really care what you tell her,” she says, setting the bottle next to her. “I just care that it gets done. She may be freaking out right now, but that girl has a moral compass that doesn’t let up. She’ll come around and help.”
“How do you know that?”
“You know I’ve kept watch on her for years. You want to take down my parents’ empire, and she wants to make things right. The second I called her out, I saw the wheels turn. Just watch. She’s going to come around.”
I shake my head, feeling as if I can combust. “That’s not the point, Jerry.”
“I’m done arguing,” she says as she jumps down, heading to the stairs. I grab her arm, forcing her to look at me again. She looks at my hand, her gaze drifting slowly up to mine. “That girl has a heart of gold. You never have. Don’t go soft on me now, Ronan.”
With a shake of her shoulder, Jerry is on her way. Without a second glance, she ascends the stairs to her room.
I stand in the middle of the compound, wondering what the hell I’m going to do.
If Jerry makes us do this, I know Sydney is going to make my life a living hell. I’ve seen that side of her. No matter how much we may try to break her, she’s going to come back.
Seething, I head up the stairs and back into my room, finding Sydney sitting in a towel on my bed.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
“You told me to take a shower.”
“That doesn’t mean you can just sit around naked,” I snap, but quickly realize it’s not her I’m angry at.
I watch her face as it falls, her eyes drifting to the floor. I’m just about to apologize when her head snaps up, her eyes suddenly hard. Steely. Wicked. “I assume there’s no way of getting out of this, is there?” she asks.
I shake my head, confirming.
She nods, biting her lip, her eye contact unwavering. “I guess we have to get comfortable with each other then,” she says as she stands. Before I know it, the towel is on the floor as she runs her fingers through her hair.
I stare at her, not giving her the reaction she wants, but I won’t lie and say that her body doesn’t stir something in me. All muscle, curves, and temptation. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” I tell her, heading to my dresser to get her some clothes.
“You don’t want people thinking we’re strangers, do you?” Her head tilts, a smirk tugging at her lips.
Running my hand across my forehead, I turn back to her. “Out of all the women I’ve ever been with, I’d put you last on the list of women I want to touch,” I bite back and instantly feel horrible.
But she doesn’t back down. Instead, she crosses her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes.
Whipping out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, I toss them at her before leaving the room once more.
I’ve told a lot of lies, but none have ever felt as false crossing my lips.
Ten years ago
The building in front of me stands tall, its walls crumbling around it. Surrounded by broken-down cars, abandoned, shredded tires, microwaves, and TVs, the place looks like any other abandoned warehouse in any city.
“We’re here,” the woman beside me says, clasping her hands in front of her.
“This is where I’m going to be living from now on?” I ask, wondering how the hell that could be.
“You’re going to fit in just fine, I promise.”
I don’t believe her.
My lips press into a firm line as she gets out of her seat and swings the back door to the van open, the summer heat hitting me like a wall.
I’ve been awake for a month now, running through the CIA Project Fallen Angel program with ease.
