Page 55 of Fatal Temptation

“Oh, hi.”

“He told me to watch you while he’s at the police station,” she said and motioned at the door.

He stepped aside to let her in, asking, “Did he find out who the mole is?”

Gemma nodded, a wistful look in her eyes.

“Is it…” he swallowed hard, the words stuck in his throat. “Is it someone he’s close with?”

Gemma turned her head to the side, eyes going vacant for a moment before she looked back at Akio and said, “You could say that.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, it fucking sucks,” she said with a sigh.

“He’s gonna be so torn up about it,” Akio said, turning to make his way to the living room. He sat down on the couch and leaned forward, elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands.

Gemma sat down on the couch across from him.

“You really care about him, huh?”

A longing sigh passed his lips, and he offered her a slight smile.

“Ah, it’s like that?”

He cocked a brow at her. “He didn’t tell you?”

With a shake of her head, she said, “He just told me to go here and keep you safe with that warrant out on you and, you know, the mole looking for you, too.”

He nodded.

“This thing between you is new, right?”

“Yeah, it is. I mean, we’ve known each other for years.”

Gemma arched a brow at him, her lips quirking up at the corner. “So, you’re his boyfriendandhis CI?”

Akio shrugged. “I guess? I haven’t really thought too much about the CI thing. I just told him what I knew.”

The buzzing of his phone had Gemma tensing, and a rush of dread came over him. He could tell that something wasn’t right.

“That’s probably him,” he said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

He reached for his phone on the coffee table and just as his fingers wrapped around it, Gemma stood and pulled her gun.

“Nuh-uh,” she said, motioning with the gun for him to put the phone down. “That’s not how this is gonna go.”

He blinked up at her, eyes on her face instead of the gun aimed at him.

“You’re the mole?”

She shrugged. “Call me what you want. The only thing that matters is that you’re coming with me. Kuroki wants to know how Lucas’ CI knows so much about his operation. He’s not happy which means… doesn’t matter. You’re coming with me.”

His heart skipped a beat, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

The box with the GPS bracelet was on the coffee table right next to his phone. That hopeful part of him wanted him to believe that Gemma wouldn’t shoot him if he reached for it. The realistic part of him knew better than to put his faith in someone who was betraying everything they had sworn to protect.

“Let’s go,” Gemma said, motioning for him to stand.

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