Page 49

He studies her, then me, and leaves without a word.
She closes the door behind him, brows drawn. “Bad timing?”
“No worse than any other. What do you want, Cherise?”
Her eyes soften, but she doesn’t smile. “Hector and Vallois know, don’t they? That I’m here.”
I nod. “They’ve known probably since Milan.”
She steps forward; arms crossed. “So, I’m what? Bait?”
“Not necessarily,” I say, crossing the room to her. “But you are the reason I’m playing a different game.”
Her breath catches as I stop just inches from her. “That doesn’t sound very professional.”
“It’s not.” I tilt her chin up. “But I’ve stopped pretending that this is about business.”
Her lips part, the air between us shifting. “What now?”
I look at her—really look. “Now we use it. We leak intel. Give them just enough to believe you’re vulnerable and I’m reckless. Let them come to us.”
She leans into me, voice low. “And in the meantime?”
I cup the back of her neck, my grip firm. “In the meantime, you’re going to listen. Obey. Let me protect you the only way I know how.”
She tilts her head back, pulse fluttering beneath my thumb. “Even if I fight you?”
I brush my lips against hers, not kissing—just claiming. “Especially if you fight me.”
And when she presses into me, when her mouth finally meets mine, I know I’m already in too deep... and I don’t give a damn.
We head back upstairs where she paces—barefoot, long legs flashing beneath the shirt. She looks soft, almost delicate in this light. But I know better.
Cherise Pardo is anything but delicate.
“I’m not hungry,” she says, when I set a plate on the small table by the window.
“You’ve barely eaten.”
“I’ve had enough of being told what to do.”
I lean back against the frame of the door and cross my arms. “Have you?”
She freezes. Turns. Her eyes meet mine—challenging, sharp.
“This isn’t the playroom, Nick. You don’t get to bark orders and expect me to kneel.”
I let the silence stretch, let the moment hold until her defiance falters just a fraction.
“You’re right,” I say, stepping toward her. “This isn’t the playroom. And out here, I’m not interested in games. I’m interested in staying alive. In keepingyoualive.”
“I didn’t ask for protection.”
“No, you asked for help. You called JJ. You stepped into Cerberus space. That makes you mine now, whether you like it or not.”
She opens her mouth, but I don’t let her speak. I close the distance, crowding her without touching, letting her feel it—the authority I carry, the control I never truly relinquish.
“You don’t get to spin in circles and ignore what this is. You’re being hunted, Cherise. And it’s time you consider Hector might not just want you dead—he might want youseen.”