Page 3 of Tempting Tessa

Tommy had learned how to see the cracks. He’d honed his ability to sense danger. It was the only way he’d been able to survive so far.

“Who are you talking to?” His voice came out rough and groggy from sleep. He wondered if she noticed the suspicion layered under it.

She disconnected the call. “No one important,” she replied, slipping out one earbud. She didn’t explain further, which meant the answerwasimportant, probably someone she didn’t want him to know about.

Not tough to guess. Meg Carson.

He was running for his life, every step shadowed by the CIA and dangerous terrorists. All of them playing games.

But it was one of the reasons he’d come to her. She was used to dabbling in these kinds of games. Not dabbling, per se, but never genuinely invested in undercover work. He wondered if she ever invested all of her interest in anything. Yet, here he was, relying on her.

The one person he shouldn’t trust.

What has she told Meg? That he was here? That she’d stitched his wound and was letting him sleep in her bed?

Nothing had happened between them, and a part of him was sorry about that. Under different circumstances, he would do just about anything to strip her naked and get her under him, but right now, he had too many killers breathing down his neck. There was no way he had time or energy for a relationship.

Besides, she would become one more weakness. One more person he needed to protect.

“You talk in your sleep,” he said, pushing off the doorframe and sauntering into the kitchen. He ran a hand through his hair as he found a mug to fill with coffee.

“No, I don’t.”

He turned, inhaling the dark brew, and braced a hand on the counter as he leaned against it. “You didn’t know? I suppose it’s a bad attribute when you’re a spy—spilling secrets to lovers without even knowing it.”

She cocked her head, feline-like. Unconcerned but curious. “What secret did I reveal?”

“Nothing actionable.” He dropped into the chair at the island next to her. The aftertaste of coffee sat on his tongue, as bitter as the thought she might have betrayed him. “You were muttering about Hager and Jessie.” He gestured with his chin toward her phone. “I’m guessing this early morning call wasn’t about a recipe swap.”

Her gaze flipped to her Sig Sauer, then back to him. He could almost see the calculations going on behind those beautiful eyes. Should she deny calling Meg? Deflect his question? Come clean?

He’d been around plenty of spies, including his sister, but Tessa was the one that consistently fascinated him. She seemed to walk between worlds, never committing fully to any.

Setting aside her cup, she picked up the cloth and wiped nonexistent grime from the gun barrel. “Do you think Jessie knew something about the EMP attacks?”

Deflection it was. He’d overheard what she’d said to Meg. He also understood where that suspicion about his sister came from. He’d been wrestling with it himself.

Saying it out loud and discussing it, even with Tessa, somehow made it real. His gut tightened, but he pushed past the hard, unforgiving lump. There would be no relief until he confronted it directly.

He wasn’t one to shy away from unpleasant and disturbing revelations. “It’s the only thing that makes sense: that she was investigating the possibility, searching for proof, and following leads.”

Or worse, something far more sinister.

That was one revelation he wasn’t ready to divulge yet, though. He’d never known Jessie to be anything other than upstanding and loyal to the Black Swans and The Agency. To even suspect her of wrongdoing went against every fiber of his being.She would never do such a thing.

He hoped. Prayed. Insisted to that nagging voice inside his head.Never.

Staring at her gun but seeming lost in her thoughts, Tessa nodded once. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

What she really meant was,Why didn’t you tell me?

He hesitated, then pushed past the heaviness of betrayal again. “It’s not every day you discover your sister might have had knowledge of such a devasting event being planned and realize she didn’t trust you enough to share it.”

Her gaze shot to his, locking on him like a laser. “Jessie trusted you. Out of all of us, you were her best friend. Her confidant.”

The question she had been wrestling with echoed her earlier one. “So why didn’t she tell me?”

Tessa reached for his hand, resting beside his cup, and squeezed it. “She was brutally logical. Maybe she didn’t have enough evidence to proceed, so there was no reason to burden you with it.”

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