Page 55 of Bastard

“No.”

“It doesn’t require a lot of skill.”

He takes me by the elbows and tugs me into him. “Where do you want my hands?” he growls.

I’m finding it difficult to speak.

He places a hand on my hip and another on my ass.

“On my back,” I sputter. “Your right hand goes on my back.”

The hand on my hip shifts to my back. “Better?” he asks.

“Yes. But pull me in tighter.”

He pulls me into him, so close I can feel the warmth of his well-muscled chest as I settle against him.

“Now we move as one to the music, one tiny step left and one step right. You guide me with pressure from your hand.”

My cheek rests against his shoulder as he follows my direction and we begin, ever so slightly, to sway back and forth, a small step here and a small step there.

I inhale sharply, overwhelmed by everything about this situation.

He smells like he looks.Sofisticado.Delicioso.

“You’ve got it,” I murmur.Dios, he moves like he looks—in total control.

“Do I?” he gruffly replies.

I relax against him, deciding to steal this small moment between us.

Nighttime settles in peacefully, the air filled with the chirping of insects balanced by the singsong of birds quieting for the evening. The occasional call of a hyena rings out across the tundra. Nature combines with Mozart, as Hayden’s heartbeat falls in unison with my own.

We don’t speak. Just sway from side to side, the wondrous connection between us ever present. I feel him now. Maybe feel him more in this moment than I ever did because I know what I lost.

“You had me followed and kept track of my life since we separated. What about you? Tell me what it’s been like these past few years.”

Have you been happy? Do you regret what you gave up?

“You really want to know?” he murmurs.

“Yes.”

“I briefly relocated to Rome and officially took over the family business. A few months into TORC’s inception, a Pentagon official hired me to terminate a militant leader, someone on their terrorist watch list. Several men and I traveled to Iraq and did just that. Six days later, we returned home. TORC took off after that.”

“Did you ... do it? Assassinate him?”

“Of course.”

“In six days? Isn’t that quick work?”

“We did our homework ahead of time.”

“Plan for the minor things along with the major.”

“Correct. The minor bit of information we collected was passed on. From there, TORC grew. I bought a ranch in Shelby, Oklahoma, and quietly set up a training facility there.”

“That’s why Diego spent so much time in Oklahoma.”