“Hello, Lucian.” With one eyebrow raised, she stopped in front of him.
“I heard they had brought you in. I’m astonished they didn’t slice and dice you considering Collin’s second in command hates you.” Lucian’s British accent made it sound like he was discussing tea instead of her expected death. Did everyone know about Rex’s feelings toward her?
“What can I say? I’m like a cat and land on my feet. Speaking of cats, is this your sixth or seventh life?” She sat across from him with one elbow on a knee and her chin in hand, staring at him with open amazement. Theo had said Lucian was one of the best in the business, never hesitated in killing a woman. The OS was smart to turn him. He glanced at her guards leaning against the wall across from the cubbyhole. The distance was enough to allow Olivia and Lucian time to talk without interference. She hadn’t expected a response but that didn’t stop her from teasing him further. “So, kitty cat, we were told OS had murdered you and dumped your body into the Pacific two years ago.”
“Humph.” His cold eyes narrowed. “The Circle’s days are numbered. If you look around, you’ll see several of their
dead
operatives walking around here.” He lifted his chin. “I’m really surprised they kept you alive considering you’re Theo’s pet.”
She stiffened and straightened in her chair, forcing herself not to turn to see if the guards had heard. “You’re hung up on my death, aren’t you? I might’ve been his pet at one time, but he lost interest in me when I turned eighteen.”
“If you think he didn’t treat you differently than the other operatives, you’re sadly mistaken.” The man’s eyes narrowed.
“Maybe. Maybe not. Luckily, he found another use for me or I would’ve been dead for sure.” She never pretended otherwise.
“Luckily? If you want to call it that. More like smart.”
What? Was that sympathy from him? He actually complimented her? He stood, yanked at the ends of his sports jacket. “Be careful. If The Circle captures you, you’ll be begging them to finish you off.”
“I know.” She wanted to ask him more questions but the way he refused to look her in the eyes, she could tell he wanted to get as far from her as possible.
“You do? Of course.” He smirked and then walked away.
Happy to have seen a familiar face, she’d forgotten how much others had hated her in The Circle. Partly because of her personal time with Theo, but later for her part in punishing those who screwed up. Being an enforcer, the one who carried out Theo’s commands, never endeared a person to those punished. It had been six years since she controlled that type of power, but they’d never forgotten it.
Nor had she. She had frequent nightmares about it.
Collin strode by with Nic almost skipping to catch up. Olivia’s gaze followed the man down the hallway. Her chest tightened with a new thought. Her nightmares might take a new turn.
O
livia’s first time to Phoenix had been with Theo and all she remembered was desert and everything brown and dirty. A few years later, alone, she’d tracked down an assignment to Phoenix and found the place colorful, filled with people wanting to enjoy life to the fullest. Mind-set had a lot to do with it, and this time she couldn’t wait to experience a town she’d grown to love with a man who challenged her at every turn. She was ready for whatever he threw at her.
She turned from watching the golden sun setting over the raised interstate and buildings. Not the best view, but considering the area was packed with stock car fans, they were fortunate to find a room. Of course, she wasn’t complaining. She eyed the man sitting at the desk with his back to her, checking the times of the different events on his laptop.
Before they’d left on their flight, Collin had filled her in on why they wanted Mason so bad. OS needed some information about a valuable missing artifact Mason may or may not have. If the Inferno had it and sold it, they would have enough funds to purchase the plutonium they needed off the black market to complete a bomb large enough to blow up several blocks in Washington, D.C., if not the whole city. By the OS stealing the artifact, they could block the sale and destroy any chance of Inferno from existing. No funds. No operation. Then they hoped the fanatics, defeated, would think twice about crawling out the swamps they came from.
An itch on the back of her neck warned of being more involved.
“We have pit passes. That’ll make it easier to scout out the area near his favorite driver.” He jotted down a few notes on the pad next to him.
After receiving intel about Mason’s planned excursion to the NASCAR cup race the next day in Phoenix, Collin was able to pull a few strings and score some tickets. So it appeared she’d be going to her first stock car race. Actually, she was rather excited about it.
“You think Mason will be hanging with the other groupies in the pit?” she asked.
“He’s convinced several of the drivers he’s a representative for Champion Oil. With the way he flashes money and talks big, anyone would believe it.” Collin clicked on a couple pages, showing the layout of the racetrack.
“So what’s our story?” On the way there, including on the plane, they’d played husband and wife, Joe and Lisa Murphy, on vacation.
“We stick with our story as a newly married couple out having fun and visiting our favorite sport, looking for a good time. We decided the race sounded as interesting as the canyon.” He continued to click on the computer keys.
That was bothering the hell out of her. After he’d been the attentive husband all day, she wanted him to finish it. What had he expected? She’d had so much fun rubbing against him every chance she got on the trip, maybe even becoming a little too amorous on a plane with a large group of people. Not until they reached the hotel room had his jaw unclenched enough for him to speak normally. So what was stopping him? What was so interesting about the fucking computer that made him ignore her?
“There were a couple times on our little trip I had to make up some history. So what’s our story? Met in college, work? Been married three, six months, or a year?” she asked, hoping to irritate him as much as he irritated her.
He stopped clicking, stared at the wall for a moment, and then closed the laptop.
With a shake of his head, he looked over his shoulder at her. “What’s the matter? I gave you the file before we left. It’s not like you’re an amateur.” He pushed back the chair and stood.
Well, wasn’t he snippy? Although he was still sexy.
“For your information, I never had a chance before you swept me out of my apartment. You do know you’re my first partner.” She stepped closer to him and smelled the hotel’s milled soap on his heated skin.
No matter how low of a temperature they set the air conditioner, the room wouldn’t cool off. Her fingers fiddled with the button on his shirt. She liked the feel of his firm pecs beneath the cloth.
“The reports said Theo personally trained you.” His dark gaze appeared to measure her, waiting for a reaction.
Her stomach rolled. She wanted to say the sick feeling was from becoming overheated during the day, but she knew better. With every bit of willpower she worked to keep her breathing steady, her face emotionless.
“Theo taught me many things, but he doesn’t train operatives in their duties.” A slow curl of dread traveled down her spine when she turned away, hoping he wouldn’t ask anything more about Theo tonight.
She moved away, snatching up a dress from her suitcase. The silky fabric slipped back and forth between her hands. The outfit was one of several they’d provided for the trip. The eye- catching colors and styles were the complete opposite of her usual attire: business casual with the occasional femme fatale gown. These screamed white trash a la trailer park. She tilted her head as she held up the tiny slip of shiny material. The edge of the dress would probably curve beneath her buttocks. She’d already thrown barely there shoes with four-inch heels into the closet.
“Who trained you?” Collin asked.
Not sure how to hang the tiny dress, she tossed it on the dresser and looked over at the man bothering her with questions. He was stretched out on the bed, shoes off, and hands behind his head resting against the headboard as he watched her.
“A man named Jason.” She saw no harm in telling him.
“Kastler?” he asked with eyelids half-closed.
“Yeah. How did you know?” How did he know so much? Of course, the man was head of a secret organization.
“You’ll be surprised by how much I do know,” he boasted.
“Why don’t you enlighten me? I heard snippets about the OS but nothing confirmed. Is it true the OS was like the central elite of The Circle?”
“Yes.”
“Well?” she prompted. No way would she let him get away with his Clint Eastwood act.
“Tell me about your training.” He crossed his arms.
“No. First, you tell me about OS breaking away.” She sat on the foot of the bed.
“All right. I guess it’s only fair. What exactly would you like to know?”
Fair? What a rare word to hear in her world.
“What part did you play in it?” she asked bluntly.
“It was my decision.”
Well, he’d said four words that time. Either she needed better questions, or he needed to loosen up more.
“Why did you leave?” she asked.
“No. That’s not how it’s played.” He gave her that half-lidded look again. A tingling swirled through her insides.
“Huh?” How could he burn her brain just by a look?
“You ask a question and I answer, then it’s my turn.”
“Okay.” She pretended to see something on her shoe and turned her back to him, swiping at the imaginary dirt.
Could she tell him the truth about her first few years at The Circle if he asked? Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for him to know, to understand what she’d gone through to become a total bitch. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds. She wanted to escape from him and the emotions he made her feel. Going from one job to another had pushed away the desire to live a normal life, to be loved by a man, to have two point five children, and to own a minivan parked next to the white picket fence.
“How old were you the first time you walked across The Circle’s vestibule?” he asked with deliberation.
Damn! He was good. She could lie or try to avoid the question but he must know something and he’d already proven he could sense a lie. She took a deep breath and straightened.
“Fourteen.”
“The bastard,” he murmured vehemently as he moved away from the headboard, placing his feet on the floor, sitting on the side of the bed. Energy radiated from his body. He acted as if he needed someone or something to hit.
“Why did OS splinter off from The Circle?” she asked, hoping to avoid explaining why she’d entered The Circle’s Main Sector at such a young age.
His forehead wrinkled as if he was finding it hard to shift gears from her answer to his. “Theo’s decisions were becoming erratic after my family died.”
Erratic? What a nice way to call someone loony, crazy, downright nuts. In fact, she could add stark raving maniac. Thus, the reason everyone at The Circle dreaded meeting with him. Then the last four words he’d said sunk in. What did his family dying have to do with Theo?
“What were your duties for The Circle?” His hands on his knees, back straight, he looked at her over his shoulder.
The high tension and see-sawing of emotions she’d endured since her capture sucker punched her at that moment. She sighed. “Listen. I’m tired of the fucking around and playing twenty questions. What do you really want to know?”
He moved off the bed, walked to the dresser in front of her and leaned broad shoulders against it. If she reached out, she could touch his legs. But she remained near the end of the bed and concentrated on the carpet’s pattern.
“What is Theo to you? And why did he bring you into The Circle so young?” he asked, his low voice almost apologetic.
She didn’t need his pity. Shit happened and just because it happened to her more than others was only a fact of life.
“Where do I start? Why not from the beginning, eh? That way you’ll understand . . .” What had she convinced herself mere seconds ago? Oh, yeah, that she was a bitch, and she never believed in whitewashing the truth. “When I turned ten, the orphanage became too crowded and they fostered me out. Carol. The woman’s name was Carol Brinks. She took me in and was kind. For three years I lived in heaven. I worked hard on my lessons. I had a rough time understanding so much, but Ms. Carol was patient, kind, encouraging, loving. I was a good girl for her. Then she died.” She shrugged. “It was a stroke. Her brother showed up the day of the funeral and took me home with him. I knew that first night why he kept me. I ran away eighteen months later.”
Aware of how her voice sounded robotic, all emotions turned off, she still grappled with her guts twisting and churning on each word and memory.
“I’d been on the streets for little over two months, pulling tricks for Sweet Daddy near College Park when a tall handsome white-headed man saw me. Theo promised to take care of me. Sweet Daddy refused to give up a part of his lucrative income. So Theo sliced him up until he bled to death.”
She’d never told anyone about Carol and especially about Theo’s special talent with a knife. That last bit of information could get her killed in the most painful ways.
Wasn’t baring her soul, so to speak, supposed to make her shoulders to feel lighter? Or was that her chest? Didn’t books and movies all claim instant relief, like an antacid?
Well, she didn’t feel better. She lifted her head. He looked as if he was listening to a weather report. Why had she really told him so much? Maybe she wanted him to understand what made her what she was.
“Finish,” he commanded and glanced away.
The son of a bitch was judging her. Let him. She didn’t care. If she allowed what others thought of her to drag her down, she would’ve committed suicide years ago.
“For four years I warmed his bed and was grateful each day I lived.” Never had a more bitter truth been told and she wished everyday she could forget. “Each day with him, I made sure to learn a new weapon or tactic in surviving inside The Circle.” Her chest tightened. Well, there went the feeling of relief. “I wanted to ensure, when he finally tired of me, he would have a reason to let me live.” A clammy chill coated her skin as she began to tremble.
At the time he’d brought her into The Circle, she’d met her predecessor, a pretty little blonde with sad blue eyes. One day she’d been there and then the next she was gone.
Two years later, Theo had threatened sixteen-year-old Olivia by telling her how he’d fucked the girl and then twisted her neck when he climaxed. It had been the blonde’s eighteenth birthday. Theo claimed when a woman reached that age she became boring, useless, like so many other women. So she made sure not to be boring or useless, in or out of the bedroom.
Oh, God, she’d wanted to kill Theo for years but had been too afraid to admit if he deserved to die, she did too.
Even before she entered The Circle, she’d already had her first kill. She’d stabbed Carol’s brother in his fat gut and watched him bleed to death as she grabbed her stuff to leave that last night. Her body shook as it had so long ago. Memories of the terror and the loneliness crashed in on top of her, bringing back those feelings best locked away but never forgotten.