Page 20 of Toxic Vengeance

“Are you okay?” his dad demanded.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“We haven’t heard from you in a long time. Where are you?”

“On a job.”

“You still coming back for a visit soon?”

“Everything’s on hold at the moment. I’ll know more in a few days. Call you later, all right?”

“You actually going to follow through with that promise this time?”

Zack couldn’t help but smile a little at the dig. “Yes, promise. Say hi to Paula.” His stepmom worried about him, but she was the calmer, more levelheaded one in the marriage.

His dad gave an irritated sigh. “Okay, son. Take care.”

“You too.” He ended the call and started eating his breakfast.

Why did Rycroft want to meet with him here? Zack had been in Frankfurt when he’d received the call yesterday, so it had been a short flight here. Rycroft was flying in from the U.S. and coming straight to the meeting from the airport.

Based on their short conversation Zack was hoping this had to do with Eden, but even if it didn’t, he still would have come. When Alex Rycroft called and asked you for a face-to-face meeting, you showed up.

At this point he needed all the help he could get if he was going to have a prayer of tracking Eden. The woman was like a damn shadow. It bothered him that he hadn’t been able to find out anything more about her, though if Rycroft was involved with her somehow, he would only divulge as much intel as he wanted Zack to know. At this point, however, anything was better than nothing.

Eden had made him a desperate man.

He looked up when someone approached his table, expecting Rycroft, and nearly choked on the sandwich when he foundherstanding there instead.

His heart stopped beating for an instant, then went into double time while the food turned into a hard lump he had to force down his throat.

“Morning,” she murmured, pulling out the chair opposite him and sitting.

She looked amazing as usual, but edgy in a pair of snug jeans that molded to her hips and thighs, a turquoise top that hugged her breasts, and a fitted black leather jacket. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, little black curls framing her face. She wore no makeup except for a light pink lip-gloss that made it hard to look away from her mouth as he recalled the way those same lips had parted beneath his. How they had made him delirious with pleasure as they wrapped around his cock.

With effort he got the lump of bread, egg and bacon down his throat. “Morning.” He glanced around, searching for Rycroft.

“He’s not here. It’s just us.”

Zack eyed her, wary and hopeful and heartsick all at once. It was still hard to believe it had come to this—that they were essentially strangers now, and suspicious of each other. “Did you set this up?”

“No. He did.”

He waited a beat, then held out a hand. “Hi. I’m Zack. Nice to meet you finally,” he said, all sarcasm.

She shook it, cool and unreadable.

“What’s your last name?” he asked.

“Foster.”

Strange how that surname hadn’t come up once in all the digging he’d done on her. Not that muchhad. The first time he’d heard it was yesterday during the brief conversation with Rycroft. “Is that your real name?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t know if she was being honest or not, but that honey-brown gaze was damn near hypnotic. If he wasn’t careful she could easily pull him back under her spell. The impact of her mere presence was a jolt to all his senses, and sitting this close had him itching to touch her. Grab her and take her face between his hands, make her tell him the truth. She smelled incredible, a mix of vanilla and musk he wanted to breathe in.

Shit. He was every bit as attracted to her as he had been the first time they’d met. His whole body was amped. “Why are you here?”

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