Page 104 of Javier

I studied Rozina closely. Maybe I wasn’t qualified in interrogation techniques like Javier was, but she seemed genuinely puzzled at the mention of Bekker and his mercs.

“I don’t believe anything that comes out of your lying mouth,” Javier snapped. “Is Missy the reason you kept pestering me?”

“I’ll be honest with you, honey hunk.” Her impertinent smirk was getting annoying. “You were the main obstacle for me to get her out of here. I couldn’t approach her with you and your guards hovering over her like a crowd of high-end nannies. The horny Frenchmen didn’t help. They monopolized her attention, but you were the real problem. Had I tried to make friends with her, I would’ve immediately popped up in your radar as a threat.”

She wasn’t wrong about that.

“You would’ve flagged me and taken me out in a second flat,” she continued. “On the other hand, every horny female in the resort was salivating over you. It was so much easier to get to you without raising suspicions. Since you were always around Baby Princess here, you left me no choice.”

“You needed to get through me to get to her,” Javier concluded wryly.

“You were supposed to be the pleasant part of the job, a perk if you will.” She expanded her grin. “I was looking forward to fucking you. While Baby Princess was getting all her holes serviced, I was gonna ride your dick like a stallion until I got my fill.”

“And, when you were done, you were gonna get me out of the way,” Javier guessed.

“Temporarily, perhaps.” She lowered her chin and batted her eyelashes. “I’m not a killer. You would’ve done the same had the situation been reversed, including the fucking.”

My fingers tightened around the gun. I didn’t know what struck me harder, that she’d planned to “get him out of the way,” or “ride him like a stallion until she got her freaking fill,” or that she had the temerity to keep flirting with him even now, whenwe’d thwarted her plans. The woman had some colossal cojones. I didn’t appreciate her using Javier. I didn’t like her flirting with him, either. The pit of my stomach burned with a flare of fury and insane jealousy.

“If you’re up for it, we could still do some of those things.” She ignored my glower and kept her attention on Javier. To her, he was the deadly one and I was just another spineless girl. “My guess is that she’s paying you to be her bodyguard, with benefits.”

The heat went to my face. She made it sound as if Javier was some lowlife gigolo. The words blurted out of my mouth. “You’re a nasty piece of work.”

“And you’re a whiny, wimpy, spoiled brat,” she shot back.

I’d never had the urge to punch someone in the face, but now I did.

Javier’s rumble was a warning. “Rozina…”

“Don’t be a fool.” She challenged him with a glare. “I’m offering you the opportunity to financially level up.”

Javier shook his head and groused, “Why do all psychopathic assholes and bitches think I can be bought?”

“Do you know who she really is?” Rozina asked.

Javier cocked his brows. “Do you?”

“Of course.” She huffed in annoyance. “She’s Missy Astor, the youngest daughter of the billionaire, Richard Astor.”

Indeed, I was, and the demeaning, mocking way in which she said it got me thinking.

“What do you want with Missy?” Javier asked, his voice rough.

The woman hesitated to give up additional information. I processed everything she’d said so far. She’d come for me and taken a leave of absence to make extra income. She’d called me whiny, wimpy, and a spoiled brat. She’d also taunted me with annoying nicknames like Baby Princess and Mousy Missy.

“When it comes to Missy’s life, I’m not taking any risks.” Javier curled his finger on the trigger. “If you’re not gonna be helpful, then I’m done with you.”

He said it so calmly, so nonchalantly, and yet the steel that glinted in his glare was as true as the fear that widened Rozina’s eyes.

“Wait.” I put a hand on Javier’s shoulder.

He shot me a skeptical glance. “She tried to kill you.”

I realized why her words seemed so familiar. “Correction. She tried to abduct me.”

“Kill you, abduct you, same thing to me.” Javier kept his aim on the woman.

“She’s not a merc.” I strung it all together. “She’s not working with Bekker.”

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