Page 4 of One Secret

'Ugh, do you have to?' Lily-Anne pulls a face, clearly enjoying my presence as a form of procrastination. She eyes a haphazard pile of textbooks on her desk with contempt.

'Of course,' I remind her with a grin. I yank open her apartment door and set a string of bells along the doorframe jangling. 'I'm looking forward to having a personal lawyer on speed dial.'

Lily-Anne's expression is one of tickled disapproval as I step out into the hall.

'For the next time you punch out a groping idiot, you mean?'

I roll my eyes and hold up my hands in innocence as I head off backwards down the corridor, keeping her in view til the last minute.

'That was one time!' I insist, with only a little bit of untruth.

* * *

Eighteen months.

A new record.

I grind a few pistachios between my molars, then suck the salt from my thumb.

Eighteen fucking months.

No one's been able to hide from me for so long.

Then again, I think, most assassins don't just fucking retire for over a year. They continue to work, make contact with clients, and leave minute traces of their presence.

Like a trail of bloody breadcrumbs.

But this guy? The killer known as "Gabriel"?

Yeah, no breadcrumbs, bloody or otherwise. No signs, no clues.

Just… Poof.

And, after a year and a half, what had started as professional friction has grown into a personal vendetta. A barb needling beneath my skin that I can't seem to get rid of.

My phone vibrates against my chest.

I don't have time for a phone call. The guy I'm here to meet will arrive any second…

Cursing, I whip it out from my inside pocket anyway.

'You sure you don't want something else?' Jaime De Luca says by way of a greeting.

'What do you want?' I growl. Damn burner phones and their lack of Caller ID. Jaime was not who I'd been hoping for.

'Whoa. Tone much?'

Naturally emotive, Jaime sounds personally offended by my rudeness. But I know it's a lie. His shield of charm is more impenetrable than Kevlar. All friendly "aw shucks" on the surface. Deadly cool beneath.

The charade probably helps him with his other interpersonal relationships but, with me, it just itches. I like efficiency. I like rawness.

I like truth.

'I was expecting another call,' I explain without apology.

There's a pause, until…

'Aah...' Jaime muses from his end. I don't like the perception in his voice. 'You just got back into the country, right? Say no more, say no more...'

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