Page 16 of Kept By The Agents

"How the hell did he know where the safe house was?" Brando asked, running a hand through his hair. He always started that up when he was agitated.

"No idea." My eyes flicked over to Cat. "Maybe someone's been following her on top of them watching her place."

"What?" Cat gasped. "There were people watching my apartment? I didn't think they knew I was here."

She looked horrified, and scared. I wanted nothing more than to pull her onto my lap and comfort her. Swallowing hard past the lump in my throat, I shook off the urge. She had Suave to provide for her. She didn't need me. And I would never insult my best friend by making a move on his woman.

Even before he admitted to us that he'd almost married Cat it'd been easy to see that there was something there between them. They were both fighting it, but just the way they looked at each other when they thought the other wasn't paying attention told me that they were still in love with one another. I wondered if I'd ever find that. A woman who'd love me even if I fucked up that royally.

Being a shy nerd hadn't helped my love life any over the years. It didn't matter that I'd packed on some muscle, or that I was a CIA Operative, I was still the same man I'd always been. Quiet. Reserved. I made friends easily enough, but when it came to dating? I mostly sat on the sidelines. It would be fine with me except for one key fact. If I wanted a wife, I needed to date.

And I did want a wife. A family. Kids running around screaming in the backyard while I cooked on the grill and my wife played with a pudgy baby on the grass. A wife that looked like Cat. Fuck. The woman in the image had always been faceless. Not anymore.

I looked away from Cat, realizing I'd been staring while I fantasized. There was no way I was ever going to get that dream because I was a damn introvert. Forcing myself to walk up to a woman I was interested in and speak to her made me break out in a cold sweat. Ironic, since I just walked away from a gunfight that barely got my heart racing.

The others had been reassuring Cat that we would protect her while I'd been lost in my thoughts. They all fell silent as we considered the position we were in.

We'd come over here with the upper hand against the Raleka. Now we were exposed and worse, we had the woman they were currently hunting in our possession. No matter which way I examined it, I knew this wasn't good. All the plans we'd made were fucked. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to feel too badly about it. At least we kept Cat safe.

With one more quick glance at her, I got back to work, typing away on my computer. It was Brando's job to decide where we'd go next. Mine was to find out everything I could about Semyon, Boris, and even Cat herself. I tapped a few buttons, zooming in on the man's face on my screen. Pulling up a new screen, I ran it through several facial recognition programs.

Tensing as Cat crept up behind me, I looked at her out of the corner of my eye as she studied my screen over my shoulder. Her breath danced over my skin.

"That's so cool," she said. "The CIA lets you into all those databases?"

She was talking about the programs I was running, which were searching through different databases inside the US and here in Russia "Not exactly," I admitted.

"Weaver's a genius with all that computer stuff," Suave muttered from where he was still standing by the window. As far as he was concerned I was a dark wizard practicing black magic. His understanding of computers was…lacking.

Brando had already stepped into the back room. It was supposed to be a bedroom, but it was where we were stashing all our gear, weapons, and the like. It kept it out of view and a bit more secure. Brando was extremely protective over his stash. It was amusing, especially since with a single call he could replace it within twelve hours. Brando was the kind of guy everyone liked and respected immediately. He garnered admiration in a way I envied. Everyone wanted to work with him. Everyone wanted to party with Suave. And they all mostly ignored me. I had a few friends here and there outside of my team, but there weren't many.

I knew most people wondered why Brando chose me to be on his team. He could have had anyone. Literally. And he chose two nobodies. Suave had more than lived up to the expectations. I had, too, for the most part. I did my job well. I just never could seem to fit in with the others in the CIA.

"A genius, huh?"

I heard the smile in her voice, but I was already fixating on my computer again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I tried to control the raging hard-on I suddenly had. She was entirely too enticing to be standing so close to me, speaking in that sexy voice right next to my ear.

My fingers twitched as I waited for the program to signal the end of its action, or for her to move away from me. Some soft floral scent wafted over me and I breathed it in. She wasn't wearing perfume, so I guessed it was from her shampoo. An image of me, buried inside her while I ran my fingers through her long dark hair, burned itself inside my mind.

I tossed a quick look over at Suave and found him watching us. His lips were tilted up into an amused smile. I wasn't sure what that expression on his face was, but it wasn't jealousy. He wasn't really the type. Neither was Brando. They loved sharing women. Hell, I'd even joined in with them before, but that didn't mean Suave would be willing to share Cat.

Tightening my hands into fists on the table, I tried to focus on the task at hand. The screen started filling up in front of me with information, and I breathed a sigh of relief. With the results of my search available, I could ignore the beautiful woman behind me. Or so I thought. Then she moved forward, her breasts pressing against my shoulder as she leaned even closer so she could read what was on my screen.

Jesus Christ. My dick twitched in my jeans as I forced myself to breathe normally so she wouldn't notice the impact she was having on me. I looked to Suave for help, but the asshole was too busy laughing at me. So much for having each other's backs. He was enjoying watching his gorgeous woman torment me.

CHAPTER 8

Catalina

Icouldn't seem to help it. Weaver was standoffish and appeared, at first glance, to be cold, but I'd caught him watching me more than once. He had a habit of blushing, which I found very endearing. He was different from the other two, and it spoke to me in a way that I couldn't explain, but made me want more.

Not that I didn't find him as attractive as the others. He was, just in more of a hipster kind of way, with his glasses and his slightly long hair on top that always seemed to be tousled. It wasn't on purpose, none of it was. He seemed to be completely unaware of how gorgeous he was.

And he was definitely doing his best to stay away from me. So here I was, teasing him. Just a little. Not that I needed all these men to be attracted to me. Though, I sort of hoped they were…because I was lusting after them, even though it was completely inappropriate.

My breasts were flattened against his shoulder as I read over the information popping up on his screen. Most of it was in Russian, so I huffed out an irritated breath. "How are we supposed to read this?" I may have been living here for a few weeks, but picking up new languages wasn't in my wheelhouse.

"Weaver speaks, and reads, Russian," Suave informed me, though as soon as I'd turned around he'd gone back to staring out the window.

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