Chapter 9 #2
Bullshit. “And the bikers who could have started shooting? Did he trust them implicitly? Is that the story you’re spinning right now?”
“Most of them had moved out of range. A few lingered, but those were people who were loyal to you. And you gave the signal for them to stand down.”
Tension knifed through him.
Sighing. She tucked the earpiece back into the pocket of her pants. Then she lifted her hand, and she fluttered her fingers. Almost looked like a “come here” gesture.
It wasn’t.
“Wait,” she said. She fluttered again. “Wait.” A nod. “As soon as you gave the order, I knew that it was time. Gray knew, too. He was there, watching in the shadows. When he saw you sign, that was when he gave the order for Malik to shoot the blanks.”
Check. The blanks. “You acted like you didn’t know sign language.
When I made that motion, you literally asked me if I was telling Javion to come closer.
” The woman had done recon work—he would bet his life she knew plenty about Javion.
And about everyone else in the inner circle of the Night Strikers.
“Sorry. That was for show. You know sign language,” she said. “So I made it a point to know it, too.”
She would have needed a whole lot of time to learn sign language. He had the feeling that when she told him she knew sign language, Agnes wasn’t just talking about a few gestures. “Gray told you.” Fuck. Was nothing sacred these days?
“I’ve been…watching you for a bit,” she confessed.
Well, hell.
“I saw when you’d use it. Don’t worry, most people would miss it. I just made a point of studying you closely.”
He hadn’t been aware that he’d been under surveillance.
“Gray doesn’t trust me these days? He’s sent Feds in to keep an eye on me?
How the hell long has this been happening?
” And why didn’t I see you? He was usually good at spotting watchers.
Was he slipping? Losing his edge because he’d been in this mess for far too long?
She nibbled on her lower lip. That ever-so-delicious lower lip. Then, “Gray didn’t know what I was doing.” A miserable whisper. “I was watching you on my own time.”
Was he supposed to be flattered? Or super worried? “You watched me? And you decided to teach yourself sign language?”
“I’m teaching it to myself now. Not like I’m completely fluent. I’m learning. Gray doesn’t know about that, either.”
“I didn’t spot you tailing me.” That bothered him.
“I wasn’t very close. I know to keep my distance. A good watcher can spy from a distance.” She exhaled on a soft sigh. “I’m good at not being seen when I don’t want to be.”
Uh, huh. Cass finally stepped away from the thin door. He closed in on her with slow steps. “Someone has been a naughty FBI agent.”
“Totally, you should spank me.”
What?
Her eyes closed. “Forget I said that.”
Never in a million years. The woman confused—and aroused—the hell out of him. “Who are you?”
Her eyes opened. “I’m Agnes Quinn. I…say kinda crazy, outlandish things when I’m nervous.
I had this FBI shrink once who told me that it was a shielding technique.
” She remained on the bed. “It was after my very first officer-involved shooting. A man had a put a gun to his pregnant wife’s stomach.
He’d been screaming and raging, saying the kid wasn’t his and that he wasn’t going to put up with a cheating whore any longer.
I knew he was going to kill her and the baby.
I demanded he drop the gun. I yelled it three times.
Three times. He didn’t comply. And he was going to pull the trigger.
” An exhale. “I shot him in the leg. That got him to let her go. But then he raised the gun and aimed it at me as he screamed and screamed, and—when I fired a second time, I hit him in the heart.”
Shit. He stopped advancing toward her. Halfway between the door and the bed. He just stared down at her, shaking his head. “So you look delicate, but you’re very clearly not.”
“She raged at me. The wife, I mean. She screamed that I’d left her baby without a father.
I did, of course, but…I kinda thought it was more important that the wife and the baby got to live.
That I got to live, too. I was a big proponent of me living.
” A roll of one shoulder. “So when I was talking to the shrink—see, you have to be cleared by the FBI shrink after a shooting. You don’t just get to head straight back into active duty.
She told me that I used humor and flippant statements as defensive and shielding mechanisms. She explained that I tend to say outlandish things to redirect.
” A nod. “Guilty as charged. I do that.”
He could see that. “You’re sharing an awful lot with me.”
“Yes, well, considering that I have to trust you with my life for the foreseeable future, I figured a bit of sharing was necessary. Especially since we began our relationship with me…lying to you.” Now her shoulders sagged. “Pretty sure you are going to be pissed.”
“Our relationship?”
“Well, yes, we have one now, don’t we? At least, I’m about ninety-nine percent certain you are going to declare me as your lady to the members of your MC.
You’re going to take me with you when we leave this motel.
Where you go, I go. I’ll be your ride-or-die.
That whole situation is what we’ve got going, right? ”
His back teeth had clenched. “Tell me about your lie,” he bit out.
“I will but, promise you won’t be furious?”
“You just said I’d be pissed.”
“Yes. I did.” A quick nod. “But I think, with you, there is a difference between being pissed and being furious.” Her gaze searched his. “I think when you’re pissed, you’re scary. Intimidating. You’ll make me feel super, super horrible.”
He waited.
“But when you’re furious, I suspect that is something quite different. I think that when a real rage takes you, it’s like the devil walks on the earth.”
His whole body tightened.
“So just promise you won’t be furious. Try to see things from my point of view, would you?”
He would make no promises. “You lied to me.”
“Know what? Lie might just be too strong of a word. How about…I misled you. Misled. I began our relationship by misleading you. Technically, I’ve told zero lies to you.” A thoughtful hesitation. “Yet. Maybe. Honestly, I can’t remember every single word I said to you…so…”
Enough of this bullshit. She wasn’t going to spin her way into his life, throw him off guard, charm him, alarm him, and get him twisted into a million knots. He finished stalking toward the bed. Stopped when he was inches away from her.
He would not think of how easy it would be to wreck the bed. With Agnes. “How about you vow to always tell me zero lies from here on out?”
Her pretty lips pursed. “I don’t like to make promises I might not be able to keep.”
What? His hands went to his hips as he glowered at her. “Agnes.”
“You’re really sexy when you say my name. Full disclosure, I always hated my name. Makes me sound like a maidenly aunt, and FYI, I actually did get the name from my maiden aunt. Though, if you listen to the stories, she was quite the partier back in the day.”
His temples were throbbing. It had been a helluva night, and he’d just discovered that Agnes lacked the ability to answer a question simply. “The idea of spanking you holds definite appeal.”
“Glad we’re both into that.”
A muscle flexed along his jaw.
“Sorry.” Quiet. “That defense mechanism thing again.” She huffed out a breath. “I deliberately sought you out.”
Apparently, she’d also deliberately and secretly stalked him.
Her hands pressed against the bedding near her. “Once I made the connection between the leader of the Night Strikers being secretly related to my boss, I knew…I knew there had to be a lot more to you than met the eye. Sure, you seemed to be the big, bad guy.”
“I am the big, bad guy.” He gave nightmares to most of the world. There was no pretending on that point. He’d been born for the Night Striker MC. And, eventually, he’d taken leadership a bloody battle that had left a man dead.
Two men, actually.
She frowned at him. “You’re working undercover. You need to be honest with me. I’m being honest with you.”
He leaned toward her. Put one hand on either side of the bed. The old, sagging mattress dipped even more. “You think I’m some true-blue hero pretending to be MC? You think I’m playing by the rules and rolling over to deliver dirt to the Feds?”
Her gaze searched his. “Yes.”
He laughed. In her face. Sorry. That was probably rude. His mother would have been horrified. Then again, his mother had been dead for a long time. “I thought you were way better at profiling.”
“Tell me how I’m wrong.”
He’d rather kiss her. Maybe spank her. Definitely fuck her. But…no. Not happening. Because he’d fucked her before, then a jackass had tried to kill her.
And…when Cass had fucked her before…
I let my guard slip. I wanted her too much. “Tell me why you’re using me.” Anger rumbled in the words. He didn’t like being used. Not even when the user came in such a tempting package.
“I was using you.” A blunt admission. “I’m sorry.”
Well, damn. “Why?”
She bit her lower lip. His right hand flew up, and he lightly pressed on that lower lip. “Don’t.” Because when she bit, she made him want to bite, too.
She stopped biting her lower lip. Her tongue snaked out. Lightly touched the tip of his finger. Her eyes widened in horror. “I did not mean to do that.” Her breath blew over his finger.
His eager dick was glad she had licked him. But his dick needed to calm the hell down. His hand moved to curl under her jaw. “Why were you using me?” He would get a straight answer from her.
“Because I need you to help me kill a man.” A thoughtful pause. “At least one man, but maybe two.”