begin to imagine. So if you ever say it so casually again, I will end this association. And just so we’re both on the same page, a Company assassin does that one way.”
“You’ll kill me?” he asks, as serious as I am. “For uttering words?”
“They aren’t words. They’re threats. You think you know me?” I stare hard at him as he tries to ease back by taking another sip of his drink. “You want Sasha Cherlin? You want that child killer back as a means to your end? Well, you’ve got her full attention. You have no idea how ruthless I can be, and if you cross me, I will not hesitate and I will not miss.”
He sets his glass down with a clink of ice and leans back in his seat, trying to feign relaxation. “Well, Miss Aston, thank you for your honesty. Point taken. And now that we both agree who you were, maybe we can try to figure out who you actually are.”
I take a deep breath as Sasha smiles thinly at Essie as her plate of lobster tail is set down before her. “Thanks, Essie,” I say. “It looks fabulous, as usual.”
She bows her head and retreats, pulling the burl wood pocket doors closed as she exits the main cabin.
Sasha is already poking her food with her fork. Trying to calm down, I suspect.
That was a moment I didn’t expect. I mean, I was trying my hardest to get her to bare her soul to me, but I hadn’t counted on the venom that came out with her threat.
She’s wrong though. I do know what it means to be a Company kid. Maybe not as intimately as she does, but I know more than most. I’ve seen the way they deliver their misplaced justice. I’ve been on the receiving end of an attack. I’ve lived with the horror they leave in their wake.
I know a little.
Maybe not enough, though, my inner voice counters.
And I have to agree with that voice. I need to stay alert with Sasha until we are both working towards the same goal. Because I do not need another Company assassin as my enemy right now.
“Are you excited to see your aunt, Sasha?”
“No,” she says, just before taking a bite of her lobster. She chews slowly for a few seconds, and then swallows and takes a sip of her martini. “If I have another living relative, then I’m angry.” She looks me in the eyes and holds my gaze. “Pissed off, actually. Where the fuck has she been?”
“Well,” I say, taking my own bite of food and chewing slowly. I wipe my mouth with my napkin and then take a sip of my drink. “I guess the formalities are gone now? You want to say fuck and threaten to kill me?”
“You have a problem with my language? Ha,” she laughs. “That’s funny. I’m sure you FBI guys are all about manners?”
“I’m just saying I enjoy treating you like a woman. I’d like to continue to treat you that way. But if you want to act like an assassin, I’ll have to change my tactics.”
I get nothing but silence.
“I get it,” I say, trying to delete the edge from my voice. But she’s dangerous. I knew this going in. I just forgot. She was so in control during most of our interactions. She lost a little of that control tonight, and even though that’s my main goal for taking her out, I don’t want to shoot myself in the back, so to speak, by drawing out the instincts the Company honed in her as a child. She is lethal. They are all lethal. “I have a tendency to overstep. I didn’t understand some things. The title, I guess. I’m sorry I upset you. I really do want you to like me and I really did plan all this to try to make that happen.”
“By reminding me my family used me?”
“Is that what you think your aunt has been doing?”
“She left. Just like all the rest. She left me there to figure it out on my own. So when you insult my choice of friends and tell me you know what it means to be me, well, I get offended.”
“I didn’t mean it that way, Sasha. Truly. I thought your aunt would make you happy. I thought you could use a friend like me.”
“What kind of friend are you, Agent Jax? The kind who comes to my house with an ultimatum and calls it a