She nodded. “Oh, right. Of course, I’ll just go get ready for work. I’ll, uh, return your dish later. Thanks again, Marcus. Have a good day.”
“Yeah, you too, Lyra.”
I watched her walk into her flat, and I had to grip the doorframe to keep myself from going after her.
You do not have time for this. You have a mission. And until you catch Stannis, getting any closer to her just puts her in danger. Stand down, motherfucker.
I did not want to fucking stand down. But I forced myself backward, closed my door, and leaned my forehead against it. To be safe, I locked it.
Yeah, as if that will keep your dick locked in.
It would have to, because for the time being, I had bigger fish to fry.
Chapter 8
Lyra
I wished I could explain the feeling that had come over me. The clawing, acrid, bitter bile in my throat. It felt like… jealousy.
Someone was in there with him.
I could tell. His caginess, the unwillingness to even open the door. Christ, was she naked and laid out on his coffee table?
Nope, I did not need to think about that. It wouldn’t help. He was well within his rights to have someone over. We weren’t a thing.
Weren’t you the one who told him you didn’t want to pursue anything?
That was until I saw him with someone else. Not that I’d seen anything. But I knew that he was hiding something in his apartment, and the only thing that made sense was another date.
If I really wanted to, I could find out who was in there. Do a little background check on her. Make sure she wasn’t a psycho.
You sound like a psycho.
I did sound crazy. What the hell was wrong with me? It wasn’t that I didn’t want him; it was that I was trying to keep him out of the fray. Did he find someone else who wanted him more, or was it someone already in his life?
As I chomped on my own doughnut and took swigs of coffee while packing up for work, I called Addie. “Hey, can you get me eyes and ears on 5F West Harrison Street?”
Addie laughed. “Good morning to you too. Yes, and thank you for the coffee you’re going to bring me after being in all night.”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot that you weren’t off last night.”
“No, I wasn’t. And you’ve got a job tonight.”
I groaned. “Fine, brief me when I get in.”
“Will do. But who are we spying on? That sounds like your address.”
I wrinkled my nose. “It is my address, but it’s Marcus’s flat.”
Addie laughed. “Oh no, we don’t spy on civilians.”
“We do if they’re cheaters.”
“A cheater?”
I sighed. “Fine, I’m not dating him, per se, but he kissed me. So if he’s kissing me, why is he kissing other sexy women?”
Addie inhaled a deep breath as if she was preparing to talk, to explain something very complex to a small child. “Sweetheart, is this the same guy you swore to stay away from because it was too dangerous for him?”
“That’s beside the point. If he’s put himself in danger of catching a fucking STD from some hoe, then he’s on his own.”
Addie just laughed. “Calm your tits. You don’t want him, remember?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want him. I just said I can’t have him.” I stepped into my Stuart Weitzman stilettos.
“Look, you recognize that you sound jealous, right?”
“I’m not jealous. I just thought he meant it when he said he was into me.”
She laughed then. “Yes, but didn’t you say that he was boring?”
“That was before the kiss. If I’d known he could kiss like that, I’d have kissed him on the first date.”
“The one that got interrupted by your mission?”
I frowned. “Okay fine, I would have kissed him on the second date.”
“The one that got interrupted by his food poisoning?”
I tried to curb my impatience. “Addie, can you just do it? I just need ears in his place.”
“Oh boy,” she hooted. “You do like him.”
“I do not like him. I am just concerned. You’re hearing my voice of concern.”
“Sure, it is. And no, I’m not going to spy on him. You have traffic cams pointed at his apartment, and you can check those yourself. I’m not logging in on that for you. Roz will shit a brick when she finds out that is your plan. And I’m assuming you don’t want her up your ass about this.”
“Fuck, no.”
“Right. So, I’m not going to spy on him unless you think he needs to be spied on for some other reason. Do you think Prochenko has any reason to be after him?”
I laughed. “Marcus? No. He is your general good guy. Nothing special about Marcus except the way he kisses and the love affair he has with our elderly neighbor.”
Addie laughed. “Rose?”
“Rose.”
“I love that old lady. She’s cool.”
I chuckled. “You would, because that’s who you’re going to end up like when you’re in your eighties.”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Addie agreed.
“Except, you’ll have a lot more weapons.”
“Hell yes, I will. Now get your ass in here. Mission brief in thirty minutes.”
“I’m out the door now.”
As I left, I tried to linger in the hallway, hoping to see whoever the hell was going to come out of his flat. But nothing happened.
I glanced at my watch. If I didn’t get moving, I was going to be late.
You’re not allowed to like him. Like someone else. You liking him isn’t going to be good for his health.
Then I forced myself to get to work and to put thoughts of Marcus’s piercing deep blue eyes out of my mind.
Lyra
Thirty minutes later during the mission briefing, Roz was pacing back and forth as she clicked buttons on the remote, showing
