Chapter 17
ADELINA
The way he robbed my senses was terrifying. It felt like I’d forgotten the entire mission, forgotten the kids, forgotten who the hell this man even was. In that tiny closet, we were just two strangers breathing the same air.
I didn’t hate the nickname. Maybe it reminded me too much of my youth. Too much of the pain I buried. When he first said it, it cracked something open. But the more he used it, the more I wanted to hear it—his low, raspy tone winding through me.
He turned me on more than I would ever admit. He was drop-dead gorgeous, sure, but it was more than that. There was something about the way he carried himself, the way he looked at me. His presence alone filled whatever space we were in and did things to me.
We were both so wrapped up in our own thoughts that the door opening caught us completely off guard.
Neither of us reacted in time for an enemy strike.
Thankfully, it was just Dorin. Maybe I subconsciously recognized his footsteps.
That was what I was going to tell myself.
Definitely not that I was distracted by Cezar.
“Umm… we should go…” Dorin warned, moving into the hall with his weapon up.
Cezar extended his arm, wordlessly gesturing for me to go first. As we made our way back to where we started, I watched Cezar.
His experience showed in every step. Everything about how he moved was annoyingly sexy.
Controlled. Efficient. He knew exactly what he was doing.
His gun snapped up before I even had time to process it. He fired. A high-pitched yelp sounded from my right. I twisted, and a masked man hit the floor.
Before I could react, Cezar was at my back, one hand around my waist, dragging me with him. My legs were not prepared to move that fast.
His shooting was deliberate and too practiced. It made me wonder how many people he’d killed. How many didn’t deserve it? I had to get rid of the thoughts before they dragged me to a place I didn’t have time to go.
He leaned in close, his breath combing against my ear. “Petal, if I wanted to kill you, I would have back then. Just like you would have…” He laughed.
How the hell could he be so carefree in a situation like this?
Making it back to the rendezvous point, I sat to catch my breath.
Of course, Cezar was perfectly fine, acting like we hadn’t just run a fucking marathon.
He annoyed me with how effortlessly perfect he was.
The rock I’d ended up on was surprisingly comfortable.
Dorin was sorting out where all the kids were going and who would be escorting them.
Cezar lifted his pant legs a bit, then squatted in front of me.
He barely looked up. The man had as much torso as he did legs.
With his fingers interlocked, elbows resting on his knees, he spoke.
“That was fun. Not as much fun as I had the other night with you, though.” Before this motherfucker could even think about smirking, I palmed his face and shoved him backward.
His eyes widened. He couldn’t untangle his hands fast enough to catch himself. He hit the ground with a grunt, rolling to his side. “Ah, fuck—what was that for??” He sounded wounded. Like a puppy whose tail I’d just stepped on. So dramatic.
“I can’t deal with that smirk of yours.”
“Oh, come on, Petal, I know you love it. I see the way you look at me—every goddamn part of me.” He pushed himself to a kneel, close enough that I could feel the want rolling off him.
Hands braced on either side of me against the rock, caging me in.
“It fucking turns you on. That’s why you hate it.
Wrong time, fine, sure. But admit it, my Petal.
You know I want to fucking play when you look at me like that. ”
My Petal?
Without even noticing, I’d parted my legs, and he’d moved in closer. His arms enveloped my waist, locking me in place. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. With Cezar around, everything fell away until it was just us.
Dorin came over and put his hand over Cezar’s eyes and yanked him backward. “Fuck man, what the hell are you doing?”
Standing there as if nothing had just happened, Dorin said, “As much as I’d love to see whatever the fuck this is play out, we can’t be hanging around the site we just burned to the ground. Let’s fucking go.”
Cezar was smiling, making it obvious to everyone within a ten-mile radius what he wanted to do.
He didn’t even need words. People began loading into the cars, and I got into the back seat of the one Dorin was driving.
I just wanted five minutes of peace. Why the hell would I think peace was possible with him around?
The door on the opposite side opened, and Cezar climbed in like he owned the entire vehicle. “Where to, Doc?”
“Cezar, what the hell are you doing? And how did you even get here? However you did, use that to get home. This isn’t a free ride service.” I shoved him into the door.
“Nice try. Use those muscles,” he shot back, mocking me as the car lurched into motion.
“Dorin?”
“Lina, we don’t have time to deal with him right now.
We need to move. The cops have been on their way for a while.
We’ll have to change routes to avoid them.
Passing them on the road would look suspicious.
” Dorin kept his focus on the road, glancing at us through the rearview mirror like none of this was his problem.
Cezar grabbed both of my hands, the ones still pushing him into the door, and held them tight. “You can slap me if you want, Petal. Tell me what you want to do to me. Or maybe what you want me to do to you.” No shame. Nope. Not even an ounce of it.
I was certain my face was tomato-level red, and I snatched my hands back, fighting out of his grip while seriously contemplating throwing myself out of the moving car. He was too intense. And it was getting impossibly hard to pretend I didn’t like it.