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“Wait, what?”
“Is that why you’re acting so strange? Are you imagining this as a love nest for you and Schön?”
My eyes scrunched. Where in the bloody hell had that come from? “Something like that,” I muttered, winking after deciding it would be better for her to believe I was pining after Schön rather than admit to Verity how attracted I was to her.
The truth was, just the few minutes we were with the other agent had left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I had no doubt she was a decent intelligence officer, albeit an entitled one. It was just that, next to Verity, the woman felt…soulless.
When Nem eventually asked me about Schön joining my task force, I already knew I’d decline.
Verity got up and stood by the windows almost in the same spot I had earlier. Her arms were folded, and when I approached, she turned so her back faced me.
“Ver…”
She reached up with one hand as though she was brushing away a tear. “Apologies. I know this is terribly unprofessional. It’s just that Z…”
“You’re worried,” I commented. However, her reaction did seem a little overblown. “Um, was there something between the two of you?—”
She spun around on me. “Have you lost your bloody mind? Of course there was nothing between Z and me. God, you’re such an arsehole.” She stalked away—not that there were many places to go other than the lavatory—which was precisely where she went, slamming the door behind her.
Moments later, there was a knock at the chalet’s entrance. I checked the time. Perhaps they were delivering dinner early, not that Verity or I would feel much like eating until we receivedan update about Z. I pulled the door open without looking, a testament to my distraction.
“Hello,” said Schön. “Is everything all right? You appear a little, err, frazzled.”
As much as I would’ve preferred not to, I motioned her inside. “Received a brief from the team with an update about an, um, op.”
She raised a hand. “Don’t worry, I understand you can’t tell me more than that.”
Whether she understood or not, I had no intention of divulging anything else.
When she took a step closer, I walked over to the window.
“Where’s the female agent?” she asked.
The female agent?I’d no doubt she knew her name. That she could be so condescending made me like her even less. “Come again?”
“Your, ahem, wife?”
“Oh, right. Taking a shower.”
Schön raised a brow. “I don’t hear water running.” She walked from near the lavatory door over to where I stood, again too close for comfort.
“She’s just finished.” I’d no more than ended my sentence that we did hear water running.
“Is that so?”
I didn’t owe this woman an explanation and was getting irritated she seemed to think I did. “Look, this isn’t a good time.”
“Actually, I wanted to apologize for my misstep earlier. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Before I realized what she was up to, her arms went around my neck and she leaned up as if she meant to kiss me. At the same time, the water went off and the bathroom door opened.
“Bloody hell,” I muttered when I heard the door slam a second time.
5
VERITY
“That fucking bastard,” I muttered to myself in the mirror. “Didn’t take him long.”