Love Op: A Spicy, Cat-And-Mouse, Thriller Rom Com (Love and Other Jobs Book 5)

14. Mattie

You’re punishing me, aren’t you?” Kael grunted, hefting two dress boxes, three bags full of shoes, and six bags stuffed full of clothing to the apartment elevator. After a week of enduring solitude and going a little crazy in my parents’ prison, I’d finally arranged for an escape in the form of wasteful spending. Also, I might have wanted to be petty with my stony-faced companion. He deserved it.

I flounced past him after the doors parted. “That doesn’t sound like me. Don’t be dramatic.”

“Yeah, quip all you want,” he gritted out, shuffling to stand next to me under the weight of the shopping bags. He reached out and managed to tap the fifth-floor button with some difficulty. “Just wait until we’re alone again.”

“Maybe you should drug me so I’m more compliant,” I replied archly.

Kael shifted a look to me over the stack of boxes. His eyes simmered with amusement and irritation. “I knew it. You are punishing me.”

I clicked my tongue, looking forward again. “I thought you liked punishments. What was it you said? Oh, right. ‘Submission has its perks.’”

“Keep pushing my buttons,” he murmured back, but I heard the smile in his voice. “See what happens when I get turned on, little rabbit.”

My neck went hot. “Jesus, you’re direct,” I muttered.

Kael laughed, soft and full of the promise of something dark. The elevator doors opened, and we were met by a pair of black-clad guards who stood outside the door. My parents had beefed up their security after they had had me firmly back in their clutches, and although Kael went everywhere with me, the security detail ensured that we couldn’t do a whole lot of sneaking around.

Mostly, it had been a week of forcing Kael to watch Real Housewives in my tiny apartment and creeping downstairs to see what the parents were up to. I felt like we were a pair of naughty teenagers trying to get away with stealing liquor from the cabinet… without the fun sneaky sex thrown into the mix. Frustratingly. It didn’t matter what I wore or how suggestive I was, my bodyguard seemed determined to keep this strictly business. Which was so boring, I could scream. That little moment in the hallway had completely solidified my suspicions about Kael and his feelings for me. He totally wanted to bang me.

Only, he didn’t want to admit that to himself for some reason, so, he ignored me. I didn’t know what the big deal was. We were both adults, he was hot, I was smoking, and we were trapped together in an apartment. It seemed pretty cut-and-dried to me. But Kael apparently didn’t see it that way, and I’d stopped trying to hint after three days. My self-confidence was pretty hefty, but even I couldn’t take too many subtle rejections before calling it a lost cause.

Untilhe said things like that. It was those little dirty remarks that told me Kael was one sin away from selling his soul to the devil to get into my pants. What would happen if I turned you on, Kael? I wondered, sliding him another sideways look as we walked through the front door and to the stairs. I want to piss you off until you throw me down on the couch, rip up my skirt, and pull my hair…

“Matilda?” my mother’s voice asked.

The heat in my body cooled immediately, and I turned at the end of the stairs to find my mother coming in from the terrace. She had on a ridiculous-looking fur coat that was clearly overkill for mid-October. Then again, she probably had body temperature regulation issues after years of diet pills, bulimia, and bouts of starvation. She looked great, though. What a tradeoff.

I gave her a simpering smile. “Hey, Mom.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re back to yourself,” she smiled with relief etched into her features. “It’s good to see you out and shopping.”

The picture of health—an heiress who spends the gross national income of a small country in a day. “Me too,” I replied through my teeth.

“I wanted to know if you might email me some pictures of your… travels,” Alicia said with a stilted smile as she clicked across the floors in her heels to join us. She pushed an enormous pair of sunglasses off her face and onto her head. “You know, some of the things you’ve experienced these last two years.”

Like I’d been on a pampered world tour. The delusion ran deep with this woman. “Uh, why?” I asked. The only time I’d had a phone was when I’d done rideshare driving, and even then, I hadn’t taken pictures or posted them on social media.

“I’m making a slideshow,” my mother said, like that was obvious. “For you—to welcome you home. Naturally.”

Besides the fact that it wasn’t 2006 and no one made “slideshows” anymore, I had to wonder at my mother’s sanity in general. She really was acting like the prodigal daughter had returned home and this party was for me. “Oh, uh, I didn’t take any,” I replied honestly. “I was too busy.” Running from you.

“Oh.” She sniffed, pushing her blond hair away from her face like it wasn’t already in a meticulously crafted bob that stayed away from her airbrushed face. “I see. Well. Unfortunate.”

“Sorry,” I shrugged.

“Oh, Ghost, you can put those down,” Alicia said, waving at Kael. “We can have Marta take those up for her later.”

Kael unloaded the clothing and shoes on the floor next to the stairs, and I bounced an uncertain look from my mom to the stairs. “Well… I’ll see you.”

“Hold on,” Alicia said with a forced smile. “I wanted to run something by you.”

Oh boy. “Yeah?” I asked warily.

“I’d love you to be involved in the party planning,” she said with a significant raise of her eyebrows. “It’s your party, after all.”

I shifted a nervous look to Kael, wondering if he was catching onto the significance of any of this. I desperately hoped not. If he knew, he’d cart me out of here in five seconds flat, and then my hopes of being free would be dashed. It was possible he wouldn’t, of course. There was a chance he’d take that revelation in stride, but I had a pretty good read on Kael. I didn’t think he would let me stay after learning what was really going on. What was really at stake.

A memory of a knife, of a thin stream of blood pouring from my arm surfaced in my mind, and it stole my breath. No, I thought with sudden panic. No, he can’t know. Don’t give it away.

I edged away toward the stairs. “Sure. Whatever you think will help.”

“Your father and I are leaving for a trip to the winery in Bordeaux this afternoon,” she explained. “We’d love to have you join us. You could help choose the wine, and Jonathon will be there, of course.”

Jonathon. Of course, it would be him. I’d rather choke on a cork. “Oh, I don’t really like wine,” I shrugged. “But I could choose the… napkins. Or something.” As I backed away, I came in contact with Kael’s immovable body, and his hands steadied me before I could run into him. Whether he meant it on purpose or not, it imbued me with some calm.

“Are you sure you won’t come with us?” Alicia pressed with a pout of her magenta-stained lips. God, she looked like a fucking vampire. “We’re trying a fifty-thousand-dollar bottle of Chambolle-Musigny,” she added, like she was offering a sugar cube to a cranky horse.

My patience snapped with an internal crack. “Mom, if I wanted to put fifty thousand dollars in my mouth, I’d hire a prostitu—”

Kael cleared his throat, gripping my arms hard.

I bit the inside of my mouth as my mother’s gaze fell into a hard glint. It was nearly impossible not to lash out at this witch. I was a person, not a fucking saint. With a gargantuan effort, I relaxed my shoulders and molded my voice into the spoiled socialite my mother wished I was. “I mean, seriously, no thanks. France in October? Boring.”

Alicia swung a slow, grateful gaze over my head to Kael. Christ, she probably wanted to adopt him and switch me out. “Well. We will see you on Sunday, then. Family dinner?”

Barf.“Sure.”

Kael and I went back upstairs, and as soon as the door to my apartment snicked shut, Kael rounded an irritated glower on me. “What was that?”

“She’s insufferable,” I growled, stalking across the small living space and going to the kitchen.

He hooked an arm around my waist, and with no effort at all, spun me around to face him. He took hold of my forearm and held my wrist up to eye level, reminding me of the red marks from a week ago. “Stop putting me in a position to discipline you in front of your parents.”

“I thought you liked disciplining me,” I threw back with wide, mockingly innocent eyes.

“Mattie,” he barked. He looked less amused than I’d ever seen him, and it sobered me. His dark hair looked slightly disheveled, which actually worked with his usual vibe with the necklace and leather bracelets he wore. But it wasn’t his norm. He looked… disturbed. I wanted to smooth the silver hair above his ears and tell him to chill. “How can you be so unfazed by this situation? Stop being so careless.”

Because if I take it seriously, I’ll be in a constant state of panic attacks. Because if I think about what’s really at stake—if I think about the man in France—I’ll devolve into a blabbering, frothing-at-the-mouth mess. “Alright, I’m sorry. She just brings out the worst in me.”

“I bring out the worst in you,” he grouched, dropping my wrist and stalking away as he undid the leather clips around his utility belt. “One of these days you’re going to force me to actually make a demonstration to them, and I swear to God, Mattie,” he shot over his shoulder, hooking me with a furious glare, “I will not forgive you for that.”

My mouth curved up. “Why? Because you like me?”

“If I didn’t like you, do you think I’d be playing nanny to you?” he drawled. Kael threw his heavy belt onto the marble countertop and stretched. His muscles bunched and rippled, straining against the white button-down and almost tugging out of the waistband of his black pants. My mouth watered. What would it be like to watch that hem keep… rising… all the way up? I was dying to see if his tattoos snaked all the way down to his hips and below. I”d tried to look when he”d walked out from the shower, but it had been too dark, then. I wanted to study his tattoos and maybe run my hands over a few, well-sculpted abs…

But, of course, Kael had been frustratingly careful to keep me from accidentally getting a peek of his shirtless body again. He worked out in the apartment building gym so early, I didn’t bother waking up to catch him. And anyway, I knew he wore tank tops and shorts. We didn’t share bathrooms, so all in all, it had been monotonously chaste.

Damn him.

He leaned against the counter, sighing, and turned his piercing eyes back to me where I stood there salivating like a moron. “They’re leaving for France in a couple hours, then.”

My attention snapped back to reality. “Yep,” I agreed, my voice still dazed. “Seems like our best chance.”

Kael rubbed his lower back, and I’d noticed him doing that before. Usually only after he’d worked out or after sitting on the couch for too long. My eyes tracked the movement before flicking back up to his face. Kael’s mouth stretched in a smile. “Where’s the old guy joke?”

“Percolating.”

“I got shot,” he admitted, bending forward and bracing his weight on the counter as he stretched. “A long time ago, but it bugs me sometimes.”

“Seriously?” I crossed the room to join him in the kitchen. I’d put on a black denim mini skirt with burgundy tights underneath, and I rolled up the sleeves of my white sweater before hiking myself onto the counter to sit next to him. “Sounds like a good story.”

“Not really,” he chuckled. “I probably shouldn’t be giving you personal information about me. You’ll use it to take me down.”

“Oh, for sure,” I agreed. “So, keep going.”

Smiling crookedly, Kael straightened and leaned his butt against the counter with his arms folded. “I was a Navy SEAL. But only for a year. I got shot in the field—first deployment after BUD/S.”

“You got shot in the back?” I clarified with a grimace.

“Right under my vest,” he nodded. “They discharged me honorably after that,” his features pulled into a wry squint, “so I could go on to do less than honorable things afterward.”

“Yeah, how do you go from Navy SEAL to hitman?”

“I’m not a hitman,” he said, rolling his eyes. “But my skillset is highly sought after. I got an offer in the Chechnya hospital, and they sort of stacked up after that.” He shrugged. “I had my own goals. It was lucrative, and I’m good at it.”

“Spoken like a true mercenary,” I teased.

Kael turned, and like it was the most effortless thing to do, he came to stand between my legs. His icy gaze sliced through me, and the sensation went straight between my legs. I held my breath, staring at him in surprise. He placed his strong hands above my knees. “I am a mercenary, Bunny. But I don’t want to get you hurt. Are you sure about this? Still? It’s not too late to back out.”

My intuition about him calling off this entire operation if he knew about Jonathon was spot on. If he knew, he wouldn’t let us stay here. And I needed to be here. I didn’t want to run from my demons anymore—I wanted to gut them. I nodded. “I’m sure.”

He squeezed my knees gently, and it sent an electric shock of desire through me. I sipped in a little breath, and it caused his expression to soften with humor. “Then give me a safe word.”

“What?” I squeezed out. Where did all the oxygen go? Is there a gas leak in here?

“Give me a safe word,” he repeated calmly. Amusement shimmered on the edges of his mouth and in the flit of his gaze over me. “In case I need to maintain our cover. If you say that word, then I’ll extract you instead of trying to keep your cover.”

“Oh,” I gusted out. He knew exactly what he was doing. Asshole. Beautiful, deadly, sexy asshole. “You mean in case they demand a public beating or something?”

His eyes hooded. “Sure.”

“I’ll… call you Casper,” I grinned crookedly.

Kael laughed, soft and husky, and it swished over my skin like satin. “Casper. Alright, I can remember that. Although, with any luck, I’ll find something tonight and we can leave.”

“We’ll find something,” I corrected.

He shook his head. “No, you’re staying here.”

“The fuck I am,” I frowned.

I tried to get off the counter, but Kael tightened his hold on my legs and pinned me in place. “Mattie, don’t go there. I’m qualified to go skulking around personal studies. You are not.”

“Yeah, but if you get caught skulking around, it will make more sense if I’m with you.”

Kael snorted. “I don’t get caught.”

“Oh, okay, John Wick. Sure you don’t.” I pushed his hands off my legs, but he didn’t move his body. I tried to wiggle down, but it only brought my spread center against his abdomen, and my neck went red hot. “Will you move?”

“Give me your word,” he glared. “You’ll stay here.”

“Yes, fine, I’ll stay here,” I promised. In the house.

Kael angled a suspicious look my way, but then he put his hands on my waist and helped me off the counter. His touch seared through my sweater, and I only barely managed to stop from humiliating myself by leaning into him. I stepped away, avoiding his burning stare. He sighed through his nose. “Mattie, I know you think I’m more bark than bite—”

“And I will change that opinion when the bite comes out to play,” I smirked over my shoulder as I left to find the TV remote. Kael made a sound like he was in pain and rubbed his eyes. I grinned.

Bunny: 23. Ghost: 0.

He wasn’t the only one who could keep count.