Page 12 of Renegade (The Santini Assassins #2)

He dropped another soft kiss on her lips, slowly withdrew, and went into the bathroom. She pulled up a corner of the blindfold, leaned onto her elbow, and glanced his way. Though the light was set on low, she got a great view of his naked backside as he removed the condom.

Ohmygod.

A stripped-down Grey Stone was even better than him in his fancy work duds.

She soaked up the image of him—his broad shoulders, his stunningly beautiful back, olive skin glowing in the light, but it was his muscular ass and massive thighs that had her biting back a moan.

She wanted to rip off her blindfold, run to him, and climb him like a tree.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Someone rapped on the door and she startled. Grey strode out of the bathroom, cracked open the door to their suite.

“Why don’t you answer your phone?” asked the man on the other side.

That’s Tank from the restaurant .

Caroline tipped up the blindfold to get a better look, but Grey’s massive body blocked her view.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Grey whispered, the bite in his voice front and center.

“We gotta go.”

Rather than lie there, Caroline pushed out of bed and pulled on her bra.

“I can’t,” Grey pushed back.

“Jet’s gassed up and ready.”

“ What ?”

Caroline tugged up her panties.

“I’ll explain on the way.”

“Fuck. Two minutes.” Grey shut the door.

Caroline lowered her blindfold. “Looks like you’re out.”

He tipped her chin toward him, dropped a panty-searing kiss on her lips, then kissed each of her cheeks. When he let her go, she turned away, adjusted the blindfold so he could find her sweater.

She wasn’t sure what to say, so she said nothing, and they dressed in an awkward silence. On went his pants, up went the zipper.

After she pulled on her sweater, he clasped her hand and kissed it. Then, he pulled her close, pressed his mouth to her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry. ”

He let her go, a chill filling the space where he’d once been. The door opened, then shut. He was gone.

Damn .

She tore off the blindfold, went into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she emerged. She pulled her phone out to check the time. It was after twelve-thirty.

They’d been going at it longer than she thought.

Clearly there was more going on with Grey than he’d let on. I got laid. It was fun. Grey delivered, and isn’t that what I was looking for on my birthday?

With her phone in hand, she left the suite, made her way back downstairs. The first floor was packed, the dance floor flooded with costumed people. Unsure if Sydney was still there, she texted her.

Are you still at the club?

When no dots appeared, she pushed up on her toes, but even in her stilettos, she wasn’t tall enough to spot her sister in the crowd. After walking around, and coming up short, she went the bar. Addison wasn’t working, so she squeezed in, ordered a glass of sparkling water.

As she stood there sipping it, she glanced around.

“You can share the seat with me,” said a woman next to her.

“I’m okay.”

“I’m here with my friends,” the woman said. “Everyone went upstairs to do a group thing. I love hanging here, but I’m not into acting out a scene or the orgy that’s gonna follow. I’m don’t want to have sex with my work friends.”

Caroline’s guts churned. “I kinda just did that.”

“Yeah, I’ve been there and things got weird after. I hope that doesn’t happen for you.”

“We used to work together,” Caroline explained.

“Hey, how’s it going?” asked a man behind them .

The women turned. It was Stan.

Ugh.

He was the last person she wanted to see on her birthday. “Hey, Stan.”

“I’m surprised to see you here,” he said as he waved down a bartender.

“Why?”

“Well, you kinda dumped me, so I figured you’d be laying low for a while.” He regarded the other woman. “I’m Stan. What’s your costume?”

“I’m an attorney, dressing up like an attorney.”

Caroline laughed. “I like that.”

“Why aren’t you in costume?” Stan asked. “I’ve never seen you in street clothes.”

Her phone buzzed. Caroline read the text.

I’m at home. I thought you’d be a while. How was it?

Caroline took one more sip of the bubbly water. “It was good to meet you,” she said to the woman. “I’m gonna take off.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Stan said.

“It’s okay,” Caroline protested, but Stan went with her.

Outside, the cold wind whipped through her as she paused on the sidewalk near the entrance.

“Whatcha doing?” Stan asked.

“Calling for a rideshare.”

“I can drop you off,” Stan said. “I was leaving anyway.”

She hesitated. “I’m good.”

He shot her a smile. “Look, I live with my parents in Fairfax. Unless you’re way out the toll road, I’m probably passing by your house. It’s no big deal.”

She shivered. “I’m not inviting you in.”

Stan chuffed out a laugh. “I didn’t think you would. We’re friends, even though I don’t know your name. We had fun, but I’m over you. No offense. Why don’t you text someone that I’m driving you home, you know, for safety.”

“What’s your number?”

He gave it to her. She snapped his pic and texted her sister.

Grabbing a ride from Stan

…

“I’m in the Carlyle Towers in Alexandria,” she said. “Ten minutes from here.”

On the ride home, Stan said, “I don’t know anything about you. What do you do?”

“I’m a manager.”

“Cool beans. Do you work in the private sector or for a government agency?”

She wasn’t about to tell him she worked for the CIA, so she said, “I work for a cosmetics company. How ‘bout you?”

She half-listened as he drove her home, her thoughts on her evening with Grey. She suspected that his job at the restaurant was a cover, and her gut hadn’t been wrong.

What’s he up to, and who’s he working for?

“That’s the short version of my job history. Pretty eclectic, huh?” Stan pulled up to the horseshoe entrance of the Carlyle Towers, stopping beneath the overhang in front of the glass doors of the twenty-one-story building.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said.

“So, what is your name?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

As she closed the car door, he blurted, “It does to me.”

After swiping her keycard, the locked clicked open, and she walked inside. On a hunch, she turned back. Stan was still parked out front, his attention glued to her. A shiver skirted through her as she made her way to the elevator bank.

Stan doesn’t know my name or my apartment number, and I’m not going back to the club… not for a while.

Why would she? She’d been with Grey, and there was no getting that man out of her system anytime soon.