Power Play - Tiffany Snow Page 0,117

that was in the front,” he replied. “The one who scared you.”

“Of course he scared me. He’s an assassin for Viktor.”

Parker looked up from my leg at that. “Not really. He’s actually a CIA agent.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“The CIA contacted me after Hinton was killed. They’d been following Bank ZNT and Viktor, knew what they were trying to do. They wanted me to help.”

I was confused. “Wait…the CIA wanted your help? Why would they need your help? They’re the CIA, for God’s sake.”

“Yes, but the accounts held by ZNT were beyond their reach. The public sale of shares gave them an avenue where they could freeze all the US-held assets of ZNT, which totaled over fifty billion dollars.”

I stared at him. “So you were doing this…working for the CIA…the entire time?”

He nodded, putting my ankle down and reaching for my wrist. Squeezing more ointment out, he began slowly rubbing it in.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“No one could know. Plus, I was under the apparently mistaken belief that not telling you would keep you safe,” he answered. “If they knew I was working for the CIA, they’d have killed me and anyone else associated with me.” He looked up then and our gazes collided. “What I didn’t count on was Viktor seeing how much I care about you, and him using that against me.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Parker had been transparent about keeping me safe, but those words—how much I care about you—seemed laden with meaning that was more than his instinctual protectiveness. I didn’t want to dare hope that he meant more. He’d disappointed me twice already. I couldn’t handle a third time. Not tonight.

Finishing with one wrist, he laid it down and picked up my other, beginning the process again.

“I can do that,” I said, suddenly self-conscious about him taking care of me in such an intimate way. I tried to tug my arm away, but he tightened his hold.

“Let me,” he said. “I want to. Or need to, I should say.”

Silence reigned for a few moments as he worked assiduously on my wounds.

“Why were you at my apartment?” I asked.

“I had a gut feeling he might go after you,” he said. “Sasha was keeping a lookout. I was going to talk to you inside, away from prying eyes and ears. I didn’t realize you knew Sasha’s undercover identity and would run when you saw him.” His face hardened. “I’m guessing Ryker told you that.”

Ryker.

“I need to call him,” I said, sitting up. “Viktor hung up on his voice mail when he grabbed me. He’s probably worried.”

“Relax,” Parker said, gently pushing me back down onto the bed. “Let’s take care of you first; then we’ll worry about Ryker.” Getting up, he went to the closet, returning with a faded T-shirt with the word “Marines” emblazoned across the front.

“I don’t have any women’s clothing,” he said, “but you can wear this if you’d like to change.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I took the shirt, then looked expectantly at him. He’d seen me naked before, but it was different now, and not just because I was sober.

“Oh. Sorry,” he said after a moment, seemingly just realizing why I was waiting. “I’ll just give you some privacy.”

He turned and left the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind him.

I was glad to get rid of the dress, and after a brief hesitation, shucked my bra, too. I wanted to be comfortable and curl up in Parker’s bed, under his sheets, and go to sleep.

Grabbing my phone, I dialed Ryker, but it went to voice mail immediately.

“Hey,” I said. “It’s Sage. I’m so sorry for the voice mail earlier. Something…bad…happened.” An understatement. “But I’m fine now, so just call me, I guess, when you get this, okay? Bye.”

Going into the bathroom, I found a brush and ran it through my hair. My face had seen better days. Viktor had split my lip and there was a cut on my swollen cheekbone. Nice.

I heard a noise and frowned, putting down the brush. Coming out of the bathroom, I heard voices shouting.

Panic flooded me and I wanted to hide, but Parker was out there…alone.

But I had no weapon, nothing to help him with. I glanced frantically around the bedroom, but before I could decide what to do, the door was suddenly flung open.

I screamed.

Chapter Nineteen

My scream was abruptly cut off when I saw Ryker standing there, gun in hand.

“Holy shit!” I exploded. “I thought you were…you were…” But I couldn’t finish the sentence, too overwhelmed