looked. You were truly a ghost in those years you worked for you-know-who.” He pulled at the top button of his shirt. “According to my people, you’re nothing.”
“That doesn’t change the facts.”
“No. It doesn’t. As Neil pointed out . . . you and I know a lot of people who might have ended someone else’s life. Half of Neil’s team saw combat.”
“Not the same.”
“Are you telling me you took joy in killing?” He narrowed his gaze.
She blinked a few times. “Like plucking birds from the sky.”
He grinned.
She wanted to slap him. “Why are you doing this?”
“I told you my feelings,” he said slowly. “When you love someone, you don’t sit back while they self-destruct. You try and stop them. In fact . . . that’s kinda what you’re doing right now.”
She swallowed, his words too close to the truth.
He took a step closer.
She held her ground.
“Me loving you will not get me killed,” he said. “You loving me—”
“I don’t love you.” Her words were sharp.
Again with his smile. “That’s fine. Not going to change anything.”
“Is that right?”
He nodded. “My objective is the same. Find your classmate from Richter before you do.”
It was annoying that he was neck and neck with her intelligence. “And do what?”
“Same as you. Find out who hired him or her.”
She turned away from him for the first time since he entered the room. What now? Race him to Budapest? Him or her . . . Leo didn’t have a name. And even if Charlie had given them the same information, she had the advantage.
Olivia moved her head from side to side as she turned. “I’ve warned you. My conscience is clear.” She started to walk by him.
He laughed.
She stopped in front of him, her glare directed to his eyes. “What do you find so amusing?”
“Assassins don’t have a conscience.”
She needed to leave.
One step and his hand shot out and grabbed hers.
She was out of his grip and had him pinned against the wall, her elbow to his neck, in two breaths. “Don’t.”
Both of his hands came to her waist. His eyes softened.
Her hold faltered.
Leo grasped her hips and brought them flush with his.
“You’re an idiot.”
He held her in place and gently removed the arm she had to his throat. “I know.”
She stared, breath harsh, and Leo crashed his lips to hers.
She let him . . . for a moment. How she missed him, wanted him even with all the risk. Push him away. Show him you don’t care.
Olivia followed her inner voice, tried to shove.
He didn’t budge.
She closed her lips, denying him.
Leo’s hand moved to her neck, her hair, and not so gently pulled it back.
Her eyes opened to find him staring, his thumb stroking her jaw, and when she gasped, he kissed her again.
And she was drowning. The feel of him on her, the taste of his lips . . .
Use him and kick him out.
She could do that. One night.
The second her mind decided, she swept his tongue with hers and pushed against his erection with a fever that matched the stupidity of the moment.
Clothes flew and hands moved. Neither of them said a word. This was raw and physical, the kind of sex Olivia preferred.
His fingers pinched.
Her nails dragged over his skin.
Need. Just need, she chanted in her head.
The second Leo pushed her onto the bed he was inside her and everything stilled.
And just like that, he intertwined their fingers before he started to move. The raw became tender, the physical became more. The more that lingered in her chest as he brought her closer to completion.
Only she knew how this man worked. She wrapped her legs around his waist and gave in.
Olivia took what he offered, over and over.
He told her she cared.
She called him a fool.
And with every insult, he made her cry out his name again.
Hours later, they gave in to exhaustion. And somewhere in the middle of the night, she pressed her lips to his chest before sneaking out of his room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“You have me on a tracker,” Leo told Jax as he hoisted his bag up on his shoulder.
“I’m not sure about this.”
“You don’t have to be. You’re going to Amsterdam, I’m following Olivia. I told Neil I’d call for backup if I needed it. I might be a fool for doing this, but I’m not stupid. The fewer faces seen with her the better.”
Jax leaned in, placed a kiss to his cheek. “Be careful.”