Page 48 of Smoke and Shadows

“Yes, he lives in a fortress.” Not to mention the sophisticated alarm system he’d installed.

“Unlike your little row house that even the most inept burglar could break into.”

“Hey, stop ragging on my house. It’s beautiful and it’s me. Speaking of which, I need to check on it and make sure it hasn’t been trashed.”

“Sure that’s a good idea?”

Marissa furrowed her brow. “I may not have been in the field for a while, but I do have skills, you know.”

Allison snickered, accustomed to Marissa’s snark.

Her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall and she groaned. She had a sparring exercise with Viktor in fifteen minutes. She’d never make it on time because DC traffic was the worst during rush hour. AGS was just outside of Georgetown and it would take at least thirty minutes to get there.

Viktor insisted on updating her fighting skills, which had annoyed her at first. She wasn’t a lethal weapon like Maia, but she wasn’t shabby either. Marissa straddled the line between strategic and tactical. She was in charge of recruiting the best people for an op and then leading them. She didn’t need to do the hard-core stuff, but could back-fill when needed. For Viktor, that wasn’t enough. Marissa knew it was for his peace of mind, and he would always have her back if he could, but that wasn’t practical. So, in his opinion, the next best thing was to make her become like him.

That was a long shot, but who was she to complain? Viktor was the best at what he did and Marissa would do well to learn from him. She suspected that was why Yeager had not commented on her relationship with Viktor.

Her phone buzzed with a text. Speak of the devil.

You’re going to be late.

“Loverboy?” Allison asked with a knowing smile.

Marissa rolled her eyes. “Ah-huh.” She quickly typed back.

On my way.

Marissa hustledthrough the tire obstacle course and cursed Viktor under her breath. Doing this with her hands tied behind her back added to her irritation. But he was unrelenting and insisted that she perform the routine multiple times. She had lost count.

“Enough!” she gasped as she reached her umpteenth round.

“One more, Iz.”

“I’m done.”

“Give. Me. One. More,” Viktor bit out.

“You’re a freaking dictator.”

“I’ve been called that before. Stop whining and get to it.”

“Fuck you!” She glared at him. He only smiled, grabbed her sweaty shirt, and hauled her against him.

“I’ll gladly oblige,” he whispered against her lips. “Later, I’ll fuck your brains out if you want.”

Marissa’s knees wobbled, and she wasn’t sure the wetness between her thighs was due to perspiration or him.

“So, I want to get out of here soon, Ms. Cole, but if you defy me one more time, you’re going two more rounds.”

He let go of her shirt.

“Freaking drill sergeant.” Marissa hopped over the tires with renewed vigor, diverting her energy to the task at hand rather than kicking Viktor in the balls. She liked his balls just as they were, but there were times when he tested her patience.

“Kinetic workouts such as this will build stamina and balance in your lower body,” Viktor informed her through the roaring in her ears. “You’ll develop enough confidence to use your legs even with your hands bound.”

“I can already fight with my hands tied,” Marissa wheezed.

“Probably. I doubt you’re fast enough though, because you’re second guessing your actions. It must be instinctive to be effective.”

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