Page 23 of Being Bold
???
Bo
Bo stared at the petite Asian woman, wondering the same thing because all the pieces of this puzzle weren’t adding up.
Yumi’s voice dropped on her answer. “They let me go.”
Confusion clouded Selene’s sea-mist eyes. “But why? Why would they do that when they came after me?”
She wasn’t going to like the answer to that question. If her friend even gave it to her. But Bo knew. The only reason Yumi would’ve walked away clear is—
“I offered him something he couldn’t get if I were dead.”
“What are you talking about?”
Yumi shrugged it off. “Just a program he wants that I have access to.” She waved her hand. “That’s not important. It’s good he doesn’t know you’re still alive, but you need protection if we’re going to keep it that way.”
“‘We’re’?” Selene’s question made it clear to him that she had no idea of her friend’s background or her apparent ability to use a blade.
There was too much Yumi wasn’t telling her for Bo to feel comfortable leaving Selene’s safety in her friend’s hands.
With a grunt, he spoke up, “That’s my job. I work for a private security firm, and Selene is under my protection.”
Yumi’s gaze fell to his chest as if questioning his ability. Remembering the slice she’d given him, he glanced down with a scowl.
Dammit!
He’d forgotten the injury in his need to protect Selene. Though the cut was shallow, it had bled through his shirt, and he felt it dripping warm liquid down his stomach to the waistband of his sweats.
At Selene’s gasp, his head popped up, senses on high alert, but her surprise was only because she’d finally noticed his blood. “You’re hurt! What happened?”
He stared at Yumi, raising a brow in challenge. Would she tell her friend the truth?
Meeting his gaze, the woman smirked. “I cut him.”
Selene’s head swiveled toward her friend. “What?” she practically yelled. “Why would you do that?Howdid you do that?”
“I don’t just work for Saber Tech, Selene.”
“What do you mean?”
A frustrated sigh puffed from Yumi’s lips. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but since Dao . . .” she trailed off and shook her head. “I work for the Agency. We’ve been monitoring him for a long time.”
CIA.
That explained how Yumi had tracked his phone when it was supposed to be untraceable, but it didn’t make Bo trust her any better. Especially, not after one of TOP’s members, who’d been former CIA, just turned on the team. That fucker was the reason Crane wound up in the hospital with a gunshot wound.
Selene’s gray-green eyes widened with shock. “You work for the C-I-A?” she emphasized each letter, disbelief clear in her voice.
Yumi only shrugged. “I’m sorry, Selene. You were safer not knowing. At least, until . . .”
Either she was an outstanding actress, or that was genuine concern in Yumi’s expression. Bo wanted to believe it but wasn’t ready to let down his guard.
Selene blinked. “Does he know?”
“No. He believes my cover, which is that I have connections to the Yakuza and can provide him with,” she paused as if she’d almost revealed something she shouldn’t, then finished with a vague, “things he finds useful.”
Remembering the blades she’d carried and her skill in using them, Bo had a feeling her connection to the Japanese mob was more than just a cover.
