Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(75)

He stared toward the door, needing to move.

Sasha jumped in front of him.

“Get out of my way, Sasha.”

“Make me.”

His breath came in short pants. “Move!”

“Fuck you.”

He grasped her shoulders, lifted her to the side, and opened the door.

He made it three steps and she was there.

“Where’re you going? Walking around Virginia without a shirt on in November is bound to capture attention.”

“Do I look like I care?” he challenged.

“No, you don’t.” She moved right up next to him. Chest to chest. “You look like you’re running from demons.” She pushed him. “This is why I work alone.” Another push. “This.”

AJ stumbled back, held his ground.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on inside your head.”

“Something you don’t know. I didn’t think that was possible.” He was picking a fight with the wrong person, knew it as the words were coming out of his mouth but couldn’t stop them.

Her nose flared. He swore if he looked hard enough, he could see steam blowing out the top of her head.

“You want to piss on me?” Her words were harsh, right in his face. “Pull it out and let it go, but you don’t have the luxury of running off half-dressed in the middle of the night because you’re having some kind of crisis. If you wanted to do that, it needed to happen before you followed me down a deserted road in the middle of Germany. We’re in this together, whether you like this or not.”

His chest heaved.

Her breath came in pants.

Tempers cooled and Sasha drew her arms over herself.

He realized then that she wore a T-shirt. Ass hanging out, bare legs.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He reached for her.

She flinched, backed up a step.

“Let’s go inside,” he said, his voice soothing.

She walked in front of him, looked over her shoulder.

Back inside the fifty-dollar-a-night motel room, he closed the door behind him and locked it. He moved to the thermostat and turned it up.

She stood between the bedroom and the bathroom, rested her hands on the door frame.

“Sasha . . .”

She held up a hand. “Save it.”

An hour later, after they’d both crawled under the covers with a good foot of distance between them, AJ stared at the ceiling, completely aware that Sasha had yet to fall asleep. He found the words to say what he needed to. “The only redeemable thing I’ve ever done with my life is find you and chase down the truth behind my sister’s death.”

She rolled onto her back, joined him in studying the stains above them.

“I’m a politician’s son with a trust fund. I don’t have a respectable career or even a direction to follow to find one.”

“You make it sound like you drive around in a Ferrari and treat people like crap.”

“Not that extreme.”

He heard Sasha exhale. “My biological father was a murderer, kidnapper, smuggler, I even found arms deals. He did drive around in the flashy car and eliminated anyone that got in his way, including my half brother. I, too, have a trust fund . . . of sorts. I don’t have a career either.”

He twisted his head to look at her. “You work with Neil.”

“No. I help Reed out. Reed works with Neil.”

“You say tomato . . .”

“We’re not all that different, AJ. I just have a slightly different skill set than you.”

He hissed out a laugh. “Yeah, right. Half a dozen languages, mad computer skills, master of disguises. I haven’t seen you fight, but I heard you rival Catwoman.”

That put a smile on her lips.

“I’m not sorry I have the training I do. Not that it’s completely useful in the outside world unless I worked with someone like Pohl.”

“Or Neil.”

She sighed.

“But you don’t like to stay in one place for long. Keep moving, avoid routine.”

“Kept me alive so far.”

“Keeps you alone,” he said. “What happens when no one is after you, Sasha?”

She looked at him in the dark. “Apparently I return to my old school and run into trouble.”

AJ rolled to his side, reached for her arm, and tucked her palm under his cheek. “I can’t be sorry about that. You’re the best thing that has happened to me in . . .” Forever.

“See, this is why I work alone, why I don’t sleep with my lovers.”

He kissed her fingers, tucked them away again. “What?”

“Pillow talk. That’s what this is, right?”

“Yes, that is indeed what this is.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, removed her hand from his, and rolled over on her side, offering her back. “We need an early start tomorrow.”

He waited a good minute before rolling on his side, reaching around her waist, and pulling her up next to him.

She froze but didn’t move away.

It took a half an hour for her to thaw and sleep to settle in. AJ finally closed his eyes and allowed himself to join her.





Chapter Twenty-Seven



Sasha walked out of the drugstore and dropped a package into the blue mailbox on the corner.