Page 15 of Explosive Vengeance

Chloe laughed. Some things never changed. “Still bossy. Okay, hang on.” When Megan got something in her head, she was like a bulldog until it was dealt with.

Pulling her tablet out of her backpack, Chloe booted it up and searched for major news stories in London back in September. “All right, I see two busted terror plots, a couple murders, lots of political stuff, and an unsolved mystery concerning a bunch of dead guys in a sewer. Which one do you want me to read about?”

“Guess.”

It wasn’t a hard decision. “Okay, sewers it is.”

She quickly read the first story she pulled up on it. Five lines in, she could see why Megan had wanted her to read about it. Everything about the situation described screamed Valkyrie involvement. All the dead guys were connected to the Russian mafia. No one had a clue who’d done it, and investigators suspected organized criminals.

Chloe smirked. “You’ve been busy.”

“You could say that. But the point is, it wasn’t just me this time. There are others. We’ve got a damn good team here, and I want you to be part of it.”

Chloe was intrigued enough to meet with her to discuss it further—and to make sure this wasn’t some kind of trick or trap. She was ninety-eight-percent sure it wasn’t, but that two-percent suspicion had kept her alive through some dangerous times. “I look forward to hearing more about it.” She glanced at her watch. “When will you be here?”

“Three hours, give or take. I’m bringing Ty.”

“Sounds good.” She paused. “One thing though, Itch.”

“Yeah?”

“No matter what you’re going to tell me, I can’t come in right now. I’ve got something I need to take care of first.” She needed to get this shipment of trafficked women to safety. She’d also killed a lot of high-profile people and had a long list of enemies that would love to come after her. So she had to play this carefully.

“Maybe you’ll tell me about it later,” Megan said.

“Maybe.” She shut down her tablet and put it away. “I’d better get back out there and keep Heath company.” Gruff hottie was understandably confused and not happy with her. “Maybe I’ll kiss his owie better.”

“If he lets you, sure. But no more knives to the gonads, okay? He’s Tyler’s closest friend.”

“No promises,” she said with a grin. “See you soon.”

Chloe tucked her phone away, excited and happier than she had been in months. No, years.

When she walked out of the room, she found Heath standing in front of the open fridge, his back to her. She leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb and took a moment to admire the sight of him, all broad shoulders, strong back and tight ass in those jeans he filled out real nice. The man was nicely put together, fit and hard in all the right places. “Just make yourself at home.”

He shot her a scowl over his shoulder. His broad, muscular shoulder. Yum. “I’m hungry. I was in the middle of eating my dinner at a nice café when I got the call from Ty. And what the hell is this?” He gestured to the contents. “Seriously? What adult woman has nothing but a case of energy drinks—which is shit for your body, by the way—and a box full of Pop Tarts in their fridge.”

“I like caffeine. And Pop Tarts give me energy.” She didn’t care if it was bad for her, the chances of her living long enough to die of diet-related issues was pretty much nil.

He gave her a sardonic look. “Based on what I’ve already seen, more energy’s the last thing you need.”

Oh, that was cold. So very chilly.

She walked over to him, enjoying the way he straightened, his expression turning back to gruff. “I need your phone again.”

He edged away from her with a suspicious scowl, turning his body as if to shield his phone in his pocket. “What for?”

She smothered a laugh. “Because I need it, that’s why.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What are you going to do with it?”

With an impatient sigh, she held out her hand. “Quit being a baby and just hand it over.”

“No.”

“Fine.” She pounced.

He jolted as she jumped on him and wound her legs around his waist, turning even as he snatched the phone from his pocket and held it high over his head, out of her reach.

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