The Spy in 3B

by Nana Malone

  You need to cool it with the stalking. That shit is just creepy.

  I wasn’t being a creep. I was just aware of movements in the building. It was part of my training. Maybe she had a treadmill in her flat, which was entirely possible.

  When I finally caught up with them, she’d almost caught up with the assailant, and she wound her arm back and tossed her shoes at him. Her aim was strikingly accurate, and one of the stilettos spiked right into his upper thigh.

  With a grimace, he pulled out the shoe then tried to run again. She stayed on him, but I stopped her with a hand on her arm and I went after the mugger instead. After a brief sprint through the tomato plots, I caught him easily, whipping him around and wrapping an arm around his neck and securing it with my other arm. Lyra was right beside me as I dragged off his mask.

  My gaze roamed over his face. The lower half was familiar, but what I really noted was the tattoo on his wrist. Victus. An Eastern European gang with links to terrorism. What the fuck was he doing here in Los Angeles?

  With one hand, I tried to keep her back, lest he grab for her, because then all bets were off. “Let me handle this.”

  Oh sure, the video game designer knows how to interrogate someone?

  Fucking hell. If I let him go, he might hurt her. I knew his gang well. They were vicious. Ruthless. Deadly.

  She reached for her bag in his hand, ignoring my attempts to keep her out of reach, but he didn’t let it go. “You stole that from me, you dickwad.”

  Dickwad? My lips twitched. Because I was more occupied with trying to get her out of the way so I could get her to safety, I missed the punch coming. It didn’t hurt, but it was surprising.

  That was the problem with women. Distractions.

  Then she squeaked at me. “Jesus, are you okay?”

  I noticed one thing though; she was still holding onto her purse and trying to wrestle it away from him.

  “Lyra, let him have it.”

  “Like hell I will. This is an HD Accra original.”

  Was she serious? “A what now?”

  The would-be mugger was fighting her for it, but Lyra wasn’t letting go.

  I tried to get between them, but she wasn’t having it. And then in the scuffle, Lyra finally managed to get her purse free, after she kneed the bloke in the groin.

  He went down like a sack, clutching his mangled balls and groaning.

  The sudden release of pressure on her bag also caused Lyra to stumble backward and go down. With a quick glance at her, I asked, “Are you okay?”

  She was on all fours then, wincing. “I think I scraped my knee, but I’m fine.”

  Turning my full attention back to the Victus idiot, I reached for him and hauled him up. “You’re going to die,” I whispered in his ear, low enough to convey the proper amount of menace and instill the right dosage of fear but not have her hear me.

  I was aware that I only had one option, given the scenario. The police. In which case, this idiot would either die in lock up, or whoever had brought him here would bail him out before I could get to him.

  But he knew there was another option. One where I’d been so worried about Lyra that I’d failed to pat him down to check for weapons. The deafening click of a safety being released made me freeze as he asked, “Are you sure about that?”

  I swallowed hard as I released him and put my hands up. I backed up slowly, careful to put myself between the gun and Lyra. “What do you want?”

  “Soon you’ll see.” Then he grabbed Lyra’s purse and ran, leaving the two of us to stare after him.

  What I wanted to do was chase him. Find him. Kill him slowly. There were so many ways I could entertain killing him.

  I didn’t know who he was, and I didn’t care. I’d find out why he’d come for me eventually. But I had to get Lyra to safety first.

  Kneeling down next to her, I helped her to her feet. I could feel her shaking, so I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

  She gave me a vigorous nod. “I know I shouldn’t have gone after him, but my mom gave that purse to me. And you almost died because of it.”

  I frowned. Her mother was dead. She’d never told me that, but I knew it from my background check on her. But I couldn’t question her about it now. All I could do was rub her back and try to comfort her. “I’m so sorry, Lyra.”

  She nodded. “She passed away when I was eighteen.”

  I winced. “That’s rough.”

  “Thanks. I just—I don’t know. I couldn’t just let him have it.” She glared toward the direction he’d run like she wanted to go after him and knee him in the nuts all over again.

  I nodded. “It was a part of you. I’m just glad you’re not seriously hurt. Let’s get you home and call the police.”

  She wobbled on her feet. “The police?”

  Not my idea of fun either, love. But that was the thing normal people would do, and I had to maintain my cover above all else. I’d worry about Victus later. “We were mugged, Lyra. We need the police. They handle things like this.”

  “Right, of course. Sorry, I just feel a little foggy.”

  I wrapped an arm around her and led her out of the garden and back toward our apartment building. “Are you sure you’re not seriously hurt?”

  “Nothing a little topical biotin won’t solve.” Even though her voice was steady, her brow was furrowed in concentration or pain. I wasn’t sure which.

  I glanced down and saw that her knee was bloody with thick red rivulets running down her leg. “Jesus, Lyra.” I reached down, but she scooted away from me.

  “Oh my God. I—I’m fine. I would do a lot worse falling off a treadmill.”

  I frowned. After watching her run, I could never see her falling off of anything. “You strike me as quite graceful.”

  “Oh yeah, what part of that fall was graceful?”

  “You took down the assailant with a knee to the balls, which was well played, I have to say.”

  “But did you see me falling in the process?”

  “I’ll show you how to do that, so you don’t lose your balance.”

  She lifted her brows. “You took a punch, too.”

  I waved her off. “Stop it. I have a brother. I barely felt that.”

  “I’d love to travel to London one day and meet your brother.”

  Yes, travel was on her list of things she’d always wanted to do but never seemed to have time for. That phrasing always irritated me, because when people really wanted to do something, they somehow managed to find a way to do it. Not Lyra, though. “Well, I offer to be your tour guide.”

  “That would be really fun. Guaranteed to be more fun than getting mugged on a date.”

  When we reached our building, instead of walking her to her door, I led her to mine. The designers of the building had a quirky design aesthetic. None of the numbers were sequential. And none of the doors matched. Every single one was designed for uniqueness and individuality. “Let’s call the police from my place and we’ll get you cleaned up. Besides, he has your wallet, so I’d love to get the police at least watching your place before you go home.”

  She hesitated.

  All I wanted to do was get her behind the titanium plating of my door to protect her, but obviously she thought I wanted something else.

  I wanted her, but now wasn’t the time. I didn’t want to scare her away though. I wasn’t going to give her a chance to entertain that thought now that I’d detected some actual spunk in her. Tonight she’d been on fire.

  The things you find sexy are ridiculous.

  “Come on. Let’s go in.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Um, Marcus, I-I think you’re great. I just, uh—”

  I spoke slowly. “I just want to take care of your knee. Eventually, I do want to continue that kiss, but you know… at some point when you aren’t bleeding all over yourself.”

  She blinked rapidly. “Oh. It’s fine, honestly. I’m just going to clean it up and take a show
er—”

  “Right. But it’s a lot easier when someone else does it for you.”

  “No, you don’t really need to—”

  I pushed open the door and waited for her to enter before following.

  She sighed. “Okay, then. I appreciate the knight-in-shining-armor duty, I do, but this is completely unnecessary.”

  “Let me decide what’s unnecessary, would you?” I led her down the hall to my loo. I knew my loft was a mirror image of hers. “Come on in here. It will be easier to clean up, and you won’t get blood anywhere.”

  “I’m not bleeding that bad.”

  With every step, she left a few drops of blood. I hoped she didn’t need stiches. “Yes, you are.”

  She glanced down at her knee and winced. “Ugh. No more skirts for a while then.”

  “Don’t worry, with a little vitamin E oil, your legs will still look amazing.”

  Her gaze flickered up to meet mine. “Oh, you think my legs look amazing?”

  I grinned then. “Your legs are amazing, but you know that already.”

  “Do I?”

  I cocked my head up. “You’ve never struck me as one who needs flattery.”

  “I am still a woman.”

  I chuckled. “I had noted.”

  Her whole demeanor had changed. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were a little wide. She looked energized. Invigorated. Sexy.

  “Hop up here.” I patted the counter, and she frowned.

  “You know I can do this myself.”

  “Yes, but I can also do it for you. And wouldn’t that be nice?”

  She blinked up at me and then gave me a nod. “Okay, bossy.”

  “You’re not the first person to tell me that.”

  “No? Are you always this bossy, and why haven’t I ever noticed it before?”

  “I never had an occasion to boss you around before. But if you like to be bossed around, I can manage that.”

  Her nose scrunched, and I wanted to press a kiss to the gently wrinkled skin. “I don’t usually like it.”

  I cocked my head and stared at her. “Well, if you ever need someone bossy, I’m open for hire.”

  She laughed. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.”

  It struck me how easily I could be this person. Flirt with her. Be this other version of me. I gently cleaned the scrapes on her knee. I was amazed at her ability to withstand pain, because most people I knew would be screaming their bloody heads off. She just merely looked on, wincing once or twice. When she was all clean, I took her hands and cleaned those off too.

  “Honestly, this is overkill.”

  “You keep saying that. And I keep telling you that it’s not.”

  She winced. “I probably should not have chased that idiot.”

  “It was really brave though.”

  “Well, my aunt calls me impetuous. Always diving in headfirst.”

  “You get mugged often?”

  She laughed. “No, thank God.”

  “Well, we survived.”

  “Thank you for the doctoring,” she said hurriedly.

  “That’s okay. I told you it’s better if someone else does it. Don’t you agree?”

  “Sure, I guess. Well, thanks for everything.”

  I lifted my brow. She wanted to be rid of me. Why was that?

  “Lyra?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I’m getting the impression that you want to be rid of me. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  * * *

  Lyra

  He wasn’t wrong. I did want to be rid of him.

  Because I wanted to go kick some ass. Stannis Prochenko’s ass to be specific. I’d recognized him immediately when Marcus tore off his mask. What was he doing in LA? Why was he after me? That son of a bitch had taken my purse, but for what reason? The ID was fake. The address was fake. It led to a bait house in Koreatown, but Marcus didn’t know that. He’d been very heroic, but I knew he was lucky to still be alive.

  He’d had no idea who he was trying to protect me from.

  I was surprised, actually. He’d been remarkably capable. Fast. Well-conditioned. And the wrestling move he’d used to get Stannis in the chokehold was impressive.

  But as capable as he was, he was no match for Stannis.

  Besides, Stannis was my kill.

  Easy does it. You can’t kill every idiot who comes for you.

  Under normal circumstances, I would have let a random mugger go. But there was a gun in my purse. The last thing I needed was for some idiot to find the gun and use it. It was untraceable with the serial number filed off, but still, I didn’t want to be part of him killing someone with a gun he’d stolen from me. So I’d had to go after him. And then, of course, Marcus Black stepped in with his stupid sexy shoulders and uncanny way of dealing with the mugger.

  Since when do you think his shoulders are sexy?

  I frowned at that. Something had happened in that fight. He’d just taken that hit to the jaw that would have crumpled half the agents I knew. I supposed he was lucky and hadn’t taken the brunt of it. He’d been paying attention to me, worrying about my safety.

  How was I supposed to tell him I was the last person on earth that he should be worried about? I was more than capable. And it’s not like I didn’t have a knife strapped to my thigh. Honestly, I could have dispatched that idiot Prochenko in seconds.

  But Captain America over there had wanted to do the right thing. But now, if he would just let me leave, I could go after that idiot.

  I scowled. There was a part of me that thought maybe the mugging had been something untoward, something other than what it was. But what if it had just been an ordinary mugging? They happened all the time. We lived in the States, for the love of Christ. Still though, it was harder to just accept that idea knowing who it was. I wanted to go out and find him. Remind him why it wasn’t nice to take things that didn’t belong to him.

  That is vengeance. We don’t do vengeance.

  Marcus was speaking. His voice was lower than I’d ever heard it before. There was something sexier about him that night. And God, was that stubble? He was always so clean shaven, looking extra Boy Scout-like. I didn’t like a mountain man beard, but a little five o’clock shadow? That was hot. What else was different about him?

  “Hmm?”

  “I was saying it seems like you were trying to get rid of me.”

  “I’m not. But I think you’ve done enough for one evening. You were my knight in shining armor. I don’t want to take up any more of your time.”

  “Ah, the brush-off.”

  I sighed. He was very cute. So good looking. But if I was being honest, he was a complication. And I didn’t need complications.

  “Marcus, I like you. You are—well, you know what you look like.”

  “I think I would probably like it more if you told me.”

  I grinned at that. When had he gotten so…I don’t know…sexy?

  Maybe that was the adrenaline talking. Or was it because I watched him pick up that mugger by his shirt like it was nothing? His shoulders had bunched, and he was decidedly less nice. Was that it? Just a hint that there was something under the façade, and suddenly my blood was boiling?

  “You’re great, Marcus. Honestly, you are. But maybe I’m just not ready to date right now.”

  “Uh-huh,” he said.

  “I just got out of a thing a while ago.” I used a line that I’d built my profile with on the site. “Maybe I just need more time.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And thank you. Did I ever say thank you? You saved me. I just—” My gaze flickered to his lips.

  “You think we should be friends?”

  I nodded. “Yes, friends. Friends sounds good.”

  He could be my friend.

  Except none of your friends have shoulders like that.

  “Lyra?”

  I lifted my head, blinking and hoping I was giving him a demure I’m not trying to run out on you look. I just wanted to leave so I could go cha
se that whacked-up mugger.

  “I have enough friends. I’m not really looking for any more.”

  I frowned at that. I didn’t want him to disappear; I just didn’t need any sudden complications.

  Maybe you don’t like that tingle low in your belly that you haven’t felt in practically forever.

  “Right. So, can we just—”

  “Lyra?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You keep looking at me like I’m dinner.”

  And then I kissed him. A tingling buzz and hum drifted over my skin, making me alert in the kind of way that worried me. I’d never felt that before. I’d been kissed of course, usually on jobs or for practice. So I’d only kissed marks and other operators, but nothing had ever felt like this.

  His lips were a slow, silken caress and a complete surprise. One I hadn’t been prepared for. I gasped into his mouth, and all that gentleness, all that tentativeness was gone. He deepened the kiss. Not pushing me. More like coaxing me. His tongue delved in, and I caught a spear of need into the center of my core. I tried to clamp my legs together, but since he was standing in front of me where I sat on the bathroom counter, all they did was clamp around his hips. He groaned and then cupped both of my cheeks in his hands and angled my head just how he needed it to stroke his tongue against mine, making me want things I had never needed. Sure, I had wanted, but I had never needed before. Holy hell. Where had this man been hiding?

  A tingling need unfurled low in my belly, turning into a wildfire, then an inferno. He changed the angle and the pressure again, teasing me into playing, into being part of the game. Taking the dare, my tongue slid over his, falling into his mouth, exploring tentatively but ready to run. But the spell he wove around me made it impossible to run because I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anything.

  And then the alarm bells rang in my head.

  Too close, Lyra. Too close to danger. Back down.

  I retreated, and he let me, the kiss slowing as I drew back slightly.

  He cleared his throat. “See, I don’t think we’re friends.” And then he backed away. “I know you said you wanted to shower, so I will walk you home. When the police get here, I’ll give them a statement and arrange for you to give them one in the morning.”