Page 84 of Retribution

“Lorcan.” I kiss his cheek, my hair falling around me like a curtain. “There’s this and then there’s that.” Starting a pattern of sleeping in his room, cuddled up, isn’t good. He may not realize it, but I know too well this won’t end happily.

“I don’t care.”

“You might someday.”

“In the moment, Kim.”

With one finger, I trace the side of his face and along his jaw. When we lock eyes, I can’t deny him. “Okay.”

Such a simple word threatens to start an avalanche across my soul. This slope isn’t just slippery; it might bury me.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The next morning when I wake up, my body aches. It’s the good kind of ache, the one you only get from achieving maximum pleasure in a short period. Once we came back to his room, we spent more time exploring each other, releasing the pent-up desire that’s been building for weeks. With one hand, I reach out for Lorcan, but the bed is cold beside me.

Then it dawns on me I’m alone in his room for the first time. Sitting up, I press the heel of my hand to my pounding forehead. On the nightstand are two aspirin and a glass of water. With my headache, I’m not in the mood to search his room. I don’t allow my thoughts to drift to the other reason why I don’t want to snoop right now. Tomorrow, I’ll get my head back in the game. Today, I’ll let it pound away. A note beside the aspirin saysbasementin Lorcan’s familiar scrawl.

With a sigh, I pick up the pills and toss them back, chasing them with lukewarm water. He must have been gone a while. Throwing back the covers, I search the room for my robe and find it hanging on the back of his door. I certainly can’t go to the basement wearing that. I have no idea what I’m going to find there.

At the entrance, I scan his room as I tighten the belt around my waist. As soon as I leave, I’m locked out. Should I take a look around? My temple throbs in response, and that’s enough of an answer for me. Exiting his room, I wander down the hall to my wing. As I round the corner, someone is scrubbing the floor outside my door.

It’s Sunday. The cleaners are here again. Until Dai Qing showed up, I never paid much attention to anyone from the cleaning company. Now I know she has an in to the property through them, I give them all a second glance. When I get closer to the woman kneeling on the floor, she looks up. It’s not her.

“Sorry.” I point to the door next to where she’s kneeling. “I need to get in there.”

“Sure, sure.” She shuffles sideways, hauling the pail with her. “I’ll be here, scrubbing the floor.”

Frowning, I punch in the code. “Okay. Thanks.”

When the door opens, the smell of disinfectant is overwhelming. My head pounds again, and my heart rate accelerates. On the bed, my suitcase sits zipped closed, but there aren’t clothes everywhere. Someone has been here. The hairs on my neck rise in response. I’m not alone.

In two strides, I’m at the bed, unsnapping the gun as someone comes out of the en suite bathroom. Whirling, I point my gun, willing my skull to stop its deep throbs of complaint.

“It’s me.” Her hands are raised. “I put Yichun on the door in case anyone walked in while I was searching.”

“Searching?”

“I came in and saw your suitcase on the bed, clothes strewn everywhere, your phone left charging in the bathroom. No sign of you. I know they’re in the basement. I was getting ready to call it in.”

“Call it in?” My gun is still raised. Something is off with Dai Qing, but my headache pounds so hard I’m having trouble putting the pieces together.

“I was starting to thinkyouwere in the basement. That maybe you’d be the one screaming next.”

“You thought they found out who I was.” I lower my gun and ease myself onto the edge of the mattress.

Her focus flicks over me. “Lorcan’s room or Finn’s?”

Placing the gun beside me, I massage my temples. “Lorcan.”

“You trust him?”

I shrug. “Can anyone be trusted?”

“No. Not right now. I’m not sure you’re being very smart.”

“When was the last time you were in the field?” I narrow my eyes at her.

A few years ago, one of Dai Qing’s agents died a public and violent death at the hands of the people she was investigating. That agent was the person who trained me. I liked her, respected her. The bureau cleared Dai Qing of any wrongdoing. I never did.