Page 94 of Covert Mission

I never saw this coming. A fucking operative.

My own hand goes to the back of my neck, where I squeeze the strung-tight muscles. “Evan and Truck talked to him. He says he has a message for you from your boss.”

Camile seems to expect something bad. Her eyes close as she shrinks back into the door as if she wishes she could disappear into the wood. “What did he say?”

“Do you know someone named Ralph?”

Her eyes widen. Lips part. She gapes at me for a second as she clutches her chest. “Yes. Why?”

But no matter how prepared, her body jolts when I deliver the bad news. “The man that showed up said he’s here on behalf of Ralph. He said Ralph fired you and he’s been sent here as your replacement.”

ChapterTwenty-Nine

After the initial shock ricochets through me, I fist my hands and shove them into my eye sockets. “No! No!I can’t lose this job.”

I grab the door handle, hell bent on confronting this situation head on.

“Hold it, hotshot.” Lucas’s enormous hand flattens on the door, once again, pressed above my head, stopping me from pulling it open.

“What job is that, Camile?”

I seethe at him. “The team leader job with FamFind.”

He’s bristly behind me. Judging me. I can feel his glare hitting the top of my head.

“I need to talk to this guy. Maybe there’s a mistake. Ralph has no reason to fire me. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Lucas spins me around before I can evade him. Now I can’t avoid his penetrating inspection.

Voice tense and low, he asks, “How long have you worked for the company?”

“For about six months.”

“Undercover.”

My brain shorts out. For a few seconds, I don’t know what to do. In the meantime, I almost choke on the dustbowl in my mouth.

Lucas is dangerously perceptive.

An awful weight sinks into the bottom of my stomach. With it comes a stark reality check. I’m caught. If it was anyone besides Lucas, someone with different intentions, I could be killed…

A cold flush washes over me. PCI forbids relationships for this very reason.

When I can finally speak, I sound like I’m about to lose it. “Lucas… I’m sorry…”

His hand slides into my hair, gently fists, and he tilts my neck back. “Is Camile even your name?”

This hurts to admit, but he deserves this much. “No.”

His exhale is ragged and slow as he looks down at me. Something surfaces in his gaze, but he doesn’t allow it to linger. Then his mouth compresses into a harsh line.

Outside the window, someone calls his name. “Beast, yo!”

“Goddamn it,” Lucas mutters as he drops his hand from my hair.

I step aside, and he jerks open the door.

Truck is standing there with a weirdly cold expression on his face. I don’t know him well, but I’m guessing this is some kind of SEAL masking technique they learn for covert work. He glances at me with unnerving indifference. “A word with you, Beast.”

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