Page 55 of Ghost

An unfamiliar sensation tugged at her gut.Was she doing the right thing?

Geez.She was having second thoughts about quitting her career as an assassin—what kind of person did that make her?

She huffed an irritated breath, grabbed her hair elastic from the counter, and wrapped her locks in a braid.She quickly dressed and made her way downstairs.

Ghost stood at the island packing ground beef into patties.

“Can I help with anything?”She needed to keep her hands busy.

“Sure.Can you throw some potatoes in the oven?”He nodded at the bag on the counter, beside his phone.

“No problem.”She fished out a few potatoes to prep.

Ghost’s phone rang.He cursed, his hands hovering over the bowl and coated with meat.“Can you answer that on speaker?”

“Yup.”She reached over and tapped the icon to answer then put the call on speaker.

“Hey, Rami.Thanks for calling.”

Mila meandered toward the living room.She didn’t want to interfere with Ghost’s conversation with his boss.Ghost caught her eye and jerked his head toward the kitchen.“Stay.”His tone was reassuring, but she couldn’t help but feel she was intruding.

“Yeah,” Rami said.“Got your text to call.Sounds like I’m on speaker, though.You going to continue being a douche or should I introduce myself?”

Ghost snorted.“No one’s douchier than you, but I’ll do the honors.Mila, this is Rami.I mentioned him.He and Toth own Backcountry Protection Services.”

“Hi, I’m Mila.I tried to kill your employee a couple days ago.”

Rami roared with laughter.

Ghost grinned, and his eyes lit with amusement.

“I’m sorry to hear you failed,” Rami retorted.“Kidding.I’m sure things are working outjust fineover there.”His comment was loaded with innuendo.

“Fuck you,” Ghost said, but his tone lacked bite.“Believe it or not, I wanted to talk to you about something, not just hear your stupid voice.”

“Go ahead.Some of us have work to do.”

“I know who hired Mila.”

“Who?”Rami barked.

Seeing another side of Ghost was...interesting.He was short with his friend, but also funny.He didn’t mince words, nor did he sugarcoat how abrasive he was.

She’d always been intrigued by friendships.Probably because she’d never really had any.Well, not since she was nine anyway.Once upon a time, she’d been social, although when she wasn’t at the studio, she’d been happiest at home.But she’d played with the kids in the neighborhood and had had several close friends at the studio.

For so long, it’d just been her.

“Hunter Emmett.Trident Securities.”

“No,” Rami said, his voice rising an octave.“How the fuck’s that possible unless he rose from the dead?You shot him in the head.”

Ghost chortled.“Taschen got shot in the head, too, and that fucker’s fine.”

Mila cocked her head with interest.She remembered the name from earlier.Taschen was one of the guys who worked with Ghost.

“So what you’re telling me is I’ve gotta find Hunter.”

“’Preciate if you could do it quickly.I’m driving back tomorrow if the roads are clear.”