“Am I going to beat you?” I whisper. I can’t see James’s console from where I am, so I have no idea how close we are.
“Just, but you will really have to push yourself for that last mile.” James jabs my speed button up again, and I quit talking from then on in. Concentrating on sucking air into my lungs, I imagine every fucked-up scenario I can think of to keep adrenaline flowing through my body. It’s the longest eight minutes of my life, but when the bleeper finally sounds on my machine and the cool down begins, I want to weep with gratitude. As soon as the belt has stopped, I brace my arms on either side of the machine and just breathe. Air has never felt so good.
When I get off, however, I immediately feel guilty. James is the one that hasn’t eaten for a week, and I’ve just given him a fifteen-mile run to contend with. The poor guy probably isn’t faring any better than me. Grabbing a bottle of water from the mini fridge by the door, I crack it open and pass it up to him.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “You didn’t have to do that.”
James takes the bottle and downs the contents in one, swiping his arm across his lips to take care of the stray drops. “I did,” he replies. “I’m not a monster like some people around these parts.” Once again, we’re back to not looking at each other, and I’ve been firmly put in my place. Nodding numbly, I say, “Is there anything I can get for you?” If he’s running on empty, maybe I can get him a cereal bar or something. I know where the kitchen is now.
“Yes. You can get your ass the hell out of here. I don’t want to be anywhere near you unless I have to be.” The man means every word he says, and each one bites my ass.
Closing my eyes, I turn and walk numbly from the room. There is nothing more to be said.
Chapter Eighteen - James
Lois looks like something out of a horror story as she walks away. There is blood dribbling down her legs, and I hate to think of the damage Adie has wrought upon her body. We will have words when I see him again. I can fight my own battles. Although I knew he would take out some of his temper on her, I didn’t realise he’d be mad enough to get out the cane.
The miles on the treadmill blur into one another, and I’m totally lost in my thoughts. I no longer see the blinking red lights or hear the annoying bleeping noises, all I can think about is her.
I wonder if she’s still in love with Adie after what he’s done. I wonder if Adie even knows? I also wonder if this is all a lie, one which will probably test me to the limits of my endurance. The selfish part of me hopes it is a lie. I don’t want Lois in love with Adie. Even though I can never have her, the thought of her being with Adie churns in my gut. It shouldn’t. If I were any kind of decent male, I’d just want her to be happy. Turns out I’m not that magnanimous.
When I have less than a mile left to run, Adie enters. His gaze is immediately drawn to the floor beside Lois’s treadmill, which is now splattered with blood. He smiles. I ramp up the speed, so I can be finished with this shit. We need to talk. He sits in a chair behind me and waits.
Climbing off the treadmill, I grab a towel and drape it around my neck, rubbing the sweat off my forehead as I do so. I then fetch another bottle of water. I will need a few.
Adie looks up at me, from whatever he was doing on his cell phone, and frowns.
“Why didn’t you make her suffer? She’s just walked all over you. I don’t understand you sometimes.”
Walking up to Adie, I lean over his chair until droplets of sweat fall across his pants.
“Eww, shit, man. What was that for?” Adie jumps up, looking utterly disgusted.
Grabbing him by the lapels of his shirt, I pull him to within inches of my face and then eyeball him. “If you cane Lois like that again, I’ll take out my displeasure with you the same way,” I spit. “We aren’t sure what has happened yet, and I for one, am going to give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure she has her reasons. Your antics nearly drove her straight to your brother’s bed, and however much we might hate her at the moment, we don’t hate her that much - do we?”
Adie pales and shakes his head. “He wanted her in his bed today?”
I nod.
“Already?” It’s a rhetorical question. Adie knows his brother likes to play with his toys, but he generally gets to know them first. He’s not the type to jump into bed with someone after having just met them. He prefers to instil the fear of God into them first.
“How do we keep her safe from Alain?” Letting go of Adie, I stalk back to the fridge and grab another bottle of water. I am so tired, all I want to do is sink into bed, but I need to get plenty of fluids into myself first. Alain will have Lois and I at it again tomorrow, and the next day, and we’ll have to take care of ourselves if we want to keep up.
“We don’t. If Alain wants her, there’s nothing we can do to stop him. You know that.” Adie holds his hands up helplessly. He doesn’t seem overly concerned. He still thinks Lois is the bad guy, here. While I don’t trust her, I haven’t written her off just yet. This job is enough to turn anyone crazy, and if she’s headed down that road, we need to get her back.
“You have to do everything in your power to make sure he doesn’t.” Adie looks at me, with his mouth caught in a grim line.
“She won’t recover from that.” I shake my head.
“It’s what she signed up for,” Adie murmurs.
Even though he’s right, it doesn’t make me feel any better.
The next week is particularly gruelling for both Lois and me. Every day we are expected to run a mile further than the one before, and Alain’s assigned us a personal trainer who then takes us for a further two hours in the evening. In the beginning, we both struggled. Lois’s injuries took time to heal, and my body took time to recover from the previous week’s crash diet. He also requires us to go through our back story for the upcoming assignment and get familiar with all the names and faces of the players involved. We won’t have long to get results. Alain’s allowed us three days to complete our mission, but that’s no time at all in our line of business. If we fail, things will get messy.
It’s no easy assignment, either. We’re taking on the mafia. It will be two assassins taking on some of Italy’s smartest and cruellest men. I don’t think Lois realises what she’ll be up against, but in a few days’ time she’s about to find out. I’m beginning to rue the day I ever got us into this mess, although thinking back, Alain would have got his hands on us, eventually. Maybe this is what it’s all been building up to - getting us to do his dirty work for him. It makes sense. Why pay out for hired help when you can get someone to do it for free? I shake my head. The past couple of weeks have been a train wreck.
There’s also the fact that he blames me for Alaina’s death. The man won’t be happy until I’m on my knees. It appears to be his driving force at the moment, and I wonder what he’ll focus on after he’s achieved his objective. I don’t get to wonder for long.
“Morning, Lois.” When Lois enters the kitchen, she almost looks human once again. There’s colour in her cheeks, a glossy shine to her hair, and there’s even a swing in her step. I think Adie knocked the stuffing out of her in the beginning, and not just physically, but she’s slowly coming back to herself. We’ve tried our best to be civil to each other this week, but it’s been a strain. I don’t want to be near her, for obvious reasons, and it’s clear she feels the same way about me.
“Morning.” She sits herself down on one of the white plastic chairs and grabs an apple from the fruit bowl. Her teeth tear into it with a loud crunch.
“Have you caught up with Adie again? He was hunting around for you yesterday.” I keep my gaze on my plate, concentrating on my bacon and eggs. Just looking at the woman is painful.
Lois finishes her mouthful of apple and grimaces. “No, and tell him if he comes near me again, I’ll smack the shit out of him. He’s had his fun.” A half-smile ghosts my lips. There’s trouble in paradise, then. I spend the next ten minutes imagining Lois and Adie going head to head, and I can
’t pick a winner out in my head. While Adie has several obvious advantages, Lois is fast and agile. If they go at each other with knives, my money’s on the girl.
“What on the agenda for today?” I grunt. Small talk is becoming easier. My rage has subsided into something more controllable now, and if we’re about to spend three days posing as husband and wife, I’ll need to keep a lid on things. Lois has been very careful around me this week and rarely speaks unless spoken to. She’s giving me space, and to a certain extent I appreciate it, but there will be no space when we’re sharing a room together. There will be even less space if we’re expected to fuck each other, and I know that’s on the cards. Alain is desperate to grind the heel of his boot into my skull, and Lois and I will need eyes in the back of our heads if we’re to prevent that. This is assuming she doesn’t want to die a slow and painful death, and sometimes I wonder.
“I don’t think you want to know.”
My head snaps up. “If you’re about to say we have another training session on top of what we already have, I might have to kill you,” I threaten. I’ve run twenty odd miles today and I’ve had enough. If I’d known the rules of engagement before we began, I might have thought twice about letting Lois win our initial ten miles.
Lois gives me a wan smile. “Today we’re expected to spar. Should be a great opportunity for anger management. So yes, you might have to kill me.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Alain is a bastard. I’m expending more calories than I can eat in a day at the moment, and Lois can’t be far behind me. She’s lost all the weight she put on before I sent her into Carte Blanche and has nothing more than a slight curve where her stomach should be. She’s too thin, but I don’t have any say in the matter. These days we are not friends.
“Great. Any more good news?” I mutter.
Lois offers me another tight smile. “Yes. You get to have fun at my expense this afternoon.” She then hides behind her apple and I have a bad feeling about this.
My eyes narrow. “Out with it.”
Lois takes a deep breath and fires the apple core against the swing bin in the corner of the room. She hits it the first time, and it drops neatly into the bag. That’s an impossible shot. I bet she can’t do it twice in a row. Shovelling in another mouthful of bacon, I wait for her to respond.
“Clothes and lingerie.” My eyes aren’t on her face when she says it, so she can’t see the look of horror that wants to escape. Carefully schooling my features, I look up.
“Alain wants to parade you in front of me wearing wisps of lace and satin, that about sum it up?” Lois flattens her lips and nods. “Do I get to lump you before or after the event?” My mouth takes on a cruel edge. I am in no mood for this today.
“After,” she whispers, looking down at the floor.
“Well, that’s good news, at least.” There is a rare spark of dark humour lurking behind my eyes. I finish the last few bites of my breakfast and slide my chair sharply backwards. “For God’s sake eat something, Lois. You’re wasting away. If Alain is pitting you against me, you’ll need all the calories you can get, and then some.”
Lois pulls her chair back and grabs a cereal bar from the cupboard above her head. Taking a bite, she brushes past me and heads back to her room, making sure our gazes do not cross. Do I feel bad for being mean? No. If it got her to eat something other than an apple, it was worth it.
Two hours later and we’re battling it out on the treadmill. We’re getting better at it. Although it’s fair to say Alain has pushed us to the limits of our endurance this week, the cardio helps take my mind off things that I cannot have. I don’t understand why he is so keen for us to smash our fitness goals yet, but I’m guessing there will be a reason.
Lois finishes first and hands me a bottle of water as she always does. I think it’s her way of saying thank you as I saved her ass at the beginning of the week. Although I have to run five miles more than her every day, my pace is faster than hers, so I’m never far behind her. When the machine comes to a stop, I turn around to find her waiting for me with a towel. Somewhere along the line we have reached a truce of sorts.
Alain chooses that moment to saunter in, and he looks between us, his gaze sharpening with interest. “Getting into character already? I applaud you both.” He nods at us when we give him a blank look and don’t say a word. He’s not bothered by our lack of regard, though. “So, you’re off to pick out some outfits and lingerie for Lois, and a little while after that we’ve got you sparring in the main courtyard. I figure it’s my duty to make the fight a little more entertaining, so what say the loser gets to spend an hour with me?” Alain blinks and looks at Lois, an evil little smirk creasing his face. Lois doesn’t say or do anything in response, but her face immediately loses all the colour it’s gained this week.
“Alain,” I warn, “you can’t cover Lois from head to toe in bruises before we begin this assignment. We’re trying to pose as man and wife. The men there will try to lynch me if it looks like I’m beating her up.”
Alain throws his arms up on either side of his body and pouts prettily. “Not my problem. Besides, you could always lose again, James. You know how I like to watch you suffer.” He gives me a meaningful look, and then glances at his watch. Pointing to the face of it, he says, “Right darlings, you’ve got one hour before you need to be in meeting room four for Lois’s fitting. Have fun.” He winks at us and then turns on his heel. Glaring at his retreating back, I open my mouth to say something, but Lois is already at the door and is pushing her way past it. I run to catch up with her.
“Don’t say a word,” she cautions.
“I can handle Al…”
“No. You are not fighting my battles for me. Alain wants you to lose. This has always been about you. There is no way you are playing right into his hands for me.” She hangs her head and looks at the floor. “If I have to take another caning, I will.” Something inside me snaps.
Slamming her against the wall, I keep her pinned there by pressing my body weight forward and fisting my hands in her hair. She smells of salt and sweat, and there’s never been a sweeter perfume. Tipping her head up towards mine, I angle her lips so they are mere inches away from mine.
“I want to hate you, Lois, but so help me God, I can’t.” My erection presses into her stomach, and all my cool, calm control is lost. I need to devour this woman. Once will never be enough where Lois is concerned, and far from getting her out of my system, my desire for her has increased tenfold. I’m fucking insane.
Lois obviously thinks so, too, because she shoots a knee up towards my groin. I’m not expecting it and it sinks into its target hard with eye-watering accuracy. Gasping out loud, I bend over as pain shoots through me. Fucking hell.
Lois puts her hands on her hips and gives me daggers. “Hate me, James. I work for the enemy. I’m not unreasonable, but I wouldn’t test me if I were you.” Taking a lock of my hair, she tugs it hard, bringing my face close to hers. “I’d get some ice for that if I were you, else it might give me an unfair advantage later.” Patting my cheek, she then strides off, leaving me doubled over in agony. It’s a sad day when I realise the woman I love has more self-control than I do.
An hour later, and I’m sitting in a leather reclining chair in the meeting room, waiting for the peepshow. The room is nondescript magnolia, and there’s a raised wooden dais at the rear. On the far back wall is a large white board, which has been scrupulously cleaned. The lights above me are tiny halogen spotlights and they’ve been turned down low, although I can still feel their heat upon me. It’s a rather clinical setting for what’s about to happen, but that’s probably a good thing. Maybe I’ll be able to remain my cool, calm, collected self when Lois graces us with her presence. It’s a possibility, but a slight one.
My temper, after the knee in the groin incident, is fizzing away nicely. It’s like one of those dissolvable headache tablets - it takes a little time to get going, but once I’ve had a good think about things, it bubbles up an
d explodes everywhere. One moment I think Lois is blameless in all of this, and in the next, I wonder if she isn’t already in bed with Alain. The thought makes my blood boil. I go from wanting to kiss her, to wanting to take her head off in the space of ten seconds. I have no middle ground with this woman. She’s clouding my judgement and focus, and I can’t wait to get rid of her. She poses a direct threat to my sanity every time she’s near me, and I’ve got to spend three days with her soon - in the same damn room. It’s the last thing I’m going to do for Alain. One way or another, it ends here.
Speaking of the devil, he’s sitting right next to me. Maybe he wants to check out the package he’s hoping to receive this evening. More likely, he’s looking to goad me because I suspect Lois is right. This is all about me.
Grasping his coffee mug, Alain takes a sip and places it carefully on the black Formica table that’s between us. Stretching his arms above his head, it looks like he’s preparing to get comfortable. Good for him. I am so tense I can barely move, but I refuse to let him see that. Slouching in my chair with my head upon my fist, I do my best to appear bored at the day’s antics.
“Looking forward to your weekend, James? I think you and Lois are going to have lots of fun together.”
I snort at that. “Not too much fun, Alain. You made sure of that.” I give him a slow, measured look across the table that’s formed a no-man's-land between us and try to figure out what he’s up to. Just lately my head’s been a mess, but I need to get back in the game.
Alain gives me a crafty look. “I will have some fun with her this evening, even if you’re not, James.” There it is. The man is goading me.
“Who says you won’t be having fun with me?” I give him a wink. “I’m much better in bed than she is. After I’ve tied you down and given your ass a good paddling, you’ll be begging me for more, Dumortier.” Alain nearly chokes on his recently swallowed mouthful of coffee, which gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling of satisfaction. I hope the stuff gives him heartburn.
Fire (A Special Agent Novel Book 4) Page 20
