“I don’t want to imagine living with him.” A shiver passed through me when I even thought about what it must be like. “I think he has a TV, though. He probably spends every night in an armchair with a hairless cat on his lap, laughing maniacally at old videos of recruits he broke physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true,” Eden said. “He probably even has a highlight reel.”
Solid carved mahogany doors loomed ahead of us. The party would be in there. I turned and walked sideways, grabbing the handle of one of the doors when we reached it. “Remember to keep your head down when we get in there. We need to keep a low profile until we’ve been seen by the right people.” Eden jerked his head in agreement.
Unfortunately, that plan went up in smoke the second I twisted the knob and threw the door open, striding into the venue like I didn’t have a care in the world. On the other hand, we got seen by almost everyone right off the bat.
Confidence was key, after all. Or at least it would have been had the entire room not had their heads bowed in prayer when we busted in.
An older, ex-commander I recognized from the photos at the training center stood behind a raised podium. His head snapped up when the door banged against the wall, and his eyes opened as his blessing of the hands that had prepared the food trailed off.
My feet slammed to a stop when all the pieces suddenly clicked into place. This was why there was no one outside, no one in the hallways to use the bathrooms, and no music or chatter. Fuck.
Eden sucked in a sharp breath behind me. I heard him let out a string of whispered curses, but I didn’t think anyone else was within hearing distance.
The retired commander’s spine straightened, and his eyes narrowed. It was suddenly very clear that he must have been one of Charles’ mentors. The glower he gave me was definitely familiar.
Every other eye in the room had opened by now as well. And every one of those hundreds of eyes was on us.
Slowly realizing that the man was waiting for us to move before he continued his prayer, I smirked and gave a little wave before hauling ass to the side of the room. Eden gave an awkward wave of his own as he hurried to follow me.
Once we joined a group of our peers sitting near the bar, I caught a thumbs-up sent to me by Anderson James. He was one of our team members and had suffered under Charles with me and Eden years ago.
Generally, Anderson played by the rules. But like many others, he’d both gone with and been saved by my supposed harebrained schemes many times. I knew he had my back on this one.
A very distinctive, exaggerated huff from one side of the room prompted me to look toward Charles’ table. I met his hazel-eyed glare straight on, but as soon as he’d shaken his head and bowed it again, my gaze landed on the girl sitting next to him.
Unlike Charles, she hadn’t closed her eyes again. She looked at me, her full pink lips tugging into a mischievous but slight smile.
Shoulder-length jet-black hair brushed the tops of her bare shoulders. Instead of the sleek, formal look most of the other women in the room had favored, her hair had soft, messy waves in it.
Similarly, her dress didn’t quite match the others’ either. It was a striking emerald green that brought out her eyes, cut in a way that revealed cleavage I’d love to bury my face in.
No straps marred the smooth, golden-tanned skin of her shoulders. Which meant the only thing keeping her dress up was likely a single zipper. Easy enough to undo.
She had dainty, beautiful features, but the smile and the way she lifted her chin just slightly when she caught me looking hinted at a bold personality wrapped up in that delicate package. I hadn’t come here with the intention of bagging someone, but I wouldn’t object if she wanted to fuck me in the coatroom.
I had no idea who she was, but I was going to find out.
Chapter 6
Sofia
A loud bang made my eyes fly open in the middle of the prayer. Like most other people around me, I looked up to find the source of the noise.
Unlike most others, I almost started drooling as soon as I did. Not because the plate of food in front of me was mouthwatering, but because the guy who had just walked into the party was.
Having grown up around a place famed for being the training grounds for the toughest sons of guns around, I was used to seeing prime specimens of masculinity on display. A little muscle and a nice butt were nothing new to me.
What was new, however, was the devil-may-care smirk on this guy’s handsome face and the way he didn’t appear at all fazed by having just busted into a superior officer’s party. There was a momentary flare of surprise that disrupted the supreme confidence he was exuding, but it disappeared so fast I doubted many people would have caught it.
Short, light brown hair stuck up in all directions. It had to have been styled that way, but it didn’t look it. It was more like he’d driven here with a window open or had messed it up when it had still been damp.
I remembered reading an article for class once about which features scientifically made for the most appealing faces. The researchers found the most attractive males were characterized by several defining attributes, all of which this guy seemed to possess in spades.
There was the square, defined jaw, a strong brow with heavy, straight eyebrows. Oval-shaped eyes framed by thick, long eyelashes. He had a prominent chin and a slim,
