Page 78 of Stealth Mission
It was a gamble, calling him. I hoped he wasn’t a hotline to my father. And thankfully, up until now, he promises he hasn’t told him anything.
I shake myself mentally and find Vik still looking at me.
“Vik, you can’t keep taking off from work to stay over here.”
His right eyebrow gets a kink in it.
I blow out a breath. “I’m sure that Evan’s not a problem anymore.”
His scowl deepens and the stool groans again.
“They should call you Tank.”
“Good name. So is The Assassin.”
Gulp. There’s a race going on inside my veins from the rate of my heart. “Is thatyourcode name?”
One side of his mouth tucks in. “You’re so easy. You should see your face.”
The devil.
I shake my head and lean against the counter, the cool tile pressing my cotton dress against my hip. While I want him to leave, Vik does make me feel safe. There’s an arsenal of weaponry on every surface of my house.
Two arctic blue eyes are still on me when I swing my gaze back his way. “He’s already forgotten about me. I’m sure. I was… it was nothing.”
“Spoken like a woman.”
I’m affronted. Straightening, I cross my arms. “What does that mean, exactly?
“You can’t understand a man’s obsession. It is… how do you say this in English?” He thinks for a second, then nods. “Next level.”
“You’re wrong. I do know what obsession is. Maybe I’d call it greed. Because that’s what Sylvester is about. And my father too. They only care about getting this farm. None of it is about me.”
“I wasn’t talking about them. Or greed. I was talking about love.”
Screech.
He said the L word.
I snort in a very unladylike way. Maybe I should rub my eyes too, because the word love and the big, hulking bodyguard seem to be from two different planets.
Shaking my head, I reach for the handle on the fridge door. “Love. That’s ridiculous. There is no way that man loves me. He onlyknewme for a couple of days. I was a…conquest.”
Ick. I shudder as my stomach flip-flops. “Conquest is such a gross word.”
I try to ignore the weird sensation and pour a glass of juice even though I’m not sure I want to drink it now.
I turn and find Vik scowling at me with his beefy arms crossed over his equally beefy chest.
“Conquest is a good word. Especially in battle.”
See.Different planets.
“I don’t even want to think about that. But related to this situation. I mean we had sex. That’s all it was. I was a willing participant.”
Vik clears his throat as his face tenses for a nanosecond.
Oops. “I’m sorry, I can’t believe I just said that. Or that I said anything about my sex life. I might be losing my mind.”