Page 110 of Hit Man

Even the smell of fresh manure coming from behind me and deep inside this working barn points to a sense of normalcy.

Everything is neat and orderly.

Aubrey would love this place.

With a sigh, I focus on the dried mud caked onto the wheels of a tractor, a warning I need to be up early and out of here before the groundskeeper finds me. Using my duffel bag as a pillow, I roll onto my back and stare up at the rafters above.

What would it be like to live in a house like this? Settle in one place? Come home to . . . her.

Dios mío, my heart fucking hurts.

I squeeze my eyes shut and block out the pain along with the impossible.

It takes a long time for sleep to pull me into her comforting embrace.

32

Aubrey

“Leave it to Diego to fall for a kickass. Next time we meet, I demand a rematch.”

I laugh at the charming man with the overgrown beard, bad fashion sense, and wicked gleam in his eyes. “That was the rematch. From last night, remember?”

He takes a corner and I swear the small Fiat goes up on two wheels. Antonio drives like he plays video games. Reckless. Daring. Pushing his lime-green Fiat with its black-racer-striped frame to the limit. I feel lost after all the side streets he’s navigated down. At this rate, I’d never find my way back to his apartment for a rematch. “Slow down. The flight isn’t until later.”

He speeds up, then offers me a smug smile.

I sigh. Figures this maddening man would be friends with the most exhaustingly infuriating man I’ve ever met.

“Diego talk about us?”

“No.” I roll my eyes. “He’s led me to believe he does security work. Not CIA.”

His eyes light up. “As much as it hurts me to say it, Diego is a good man. A goddamn hothead. Impatient to a fault. A keen competitor.”

“Sounds more like you’re insulting him.”

“Easy there. What I’m trying to say is he’s a passionate man.”

“You think?” I raise my eyebrows.

Antonio chuckles before growing serious. Patting my hand, he says, “He’s passionate about you. I’ve never seen him smitten. Never seen him go out on a limb like this. And trust me, Aubrey, when I tell you, if he humbled himself enough to ask me for a favor, the man’s a goner.”

I smile to myself. Could what he’s saying be true? Have Diego’s feelings for me grown into something deeper than friendship and more meaningful than sex?

“I predict this isn’t the last you hear from him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He shrugs and changes the subject. “Did you put the card I gave you in a safe place?”

I roll my eyes. “Listen, just because I let a little boy steal my passport doesn’t make me absentminded. Are you sure your business card and scribbled note is enough to get me through security?”

“Relax. I made a few calls. Check in with Melanie, she’ll be expecting you. But save the money I gave you for the second security checkpoint.”

“I suppose CIA work comes with its perks,” I murmur. I hope his calls and this business card is enough. Evidently, another colleague will be contacted to meet me in Sacramento and help me through immigration.

“Maybe it does.”