Read Online Bodyguard: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (Snake Eyes Book 1) by Tabatha Kiss - Free Book Online Page B

disappear.”
    “Why would they do that?”
    “Because they were competition.” He shrugs. “A hitman can’t make any money if there’s someone better above them on the call list. The only issue was the encryption. I told him up front that I had no way of decrypting it but he just laughed and insisted he had a guy that could take care of that. He sent me packing with a bandaged arm and a new passport and I left…” he pauses, “after a few hiccups.”
    “Hiccups?”
    “It’s a long story,” he says. “But it ends with me making it back here.”
    “How long have you been home?”
    “Six months.”
    Six months. He’s been back here for half a year now and he never said a word.
    “Dani, I couldn’t come back to L.A.,” he says, reading my eyes.
    “Why not?”
    “Because if Mercer ever realized I was still alive, he’d go after my family first.” He looks at my cheek. “Looks like I was right about that.”
    “How did he find out?”
    “I’m not sure…” He runs his fingers through his beard and scratches an itch. “I’m guessing the Russian’s plan didn’t go so well.”
    “So, he finds out you’re still alive and he comes after me ,” I say. “Why?”
    He takes a breath. “He knew how I’d react.” I say nothing, waiting for him to explain. “Mercer was… Friend might be too strong a word, but I guess it qualifies.”
    “You were friends with the asshole that shot Lamb and cut up my cheek?”
    “You make some interesting acquaintances when you work for an underground assassination squad,” he jokes.
    I don’t laugh. “So… he knows that you have feelings for me?”
    “Had,” he says with quickly, without the slightest hesitation. “I don’t anymore.”
    “Oh…” I swallow a lump in my throat. “That’s good.”
    He shifts on his feet. “Long story… still kind of long, but… I know someone that can probably decrypt my copy of the file.”
    “Probably?”
    “He’s the best chance we have. I’m hoping I can use it as a bargaining chip.”
    “Bargaining chip with who?”
    “Whoever will solve this Snake Eyes problem so I can take you back home.”
    Home . Back to movie sets and the paparazzi.
    “Get some sleep,” he says. “We have a long drive ahead of us.”
    I glance around. “There’s only one bed…”
    “I’ll take the floor.”
    “You don’t have to,” I offer. “There’s plenty of room.”
    “I’d prefer it.” His voice is firm, almost cold, but I’d rather not draw attention to it.
    I nod and lower myself down to the pillows, kicking the blanket off my burning legs. My heart won’t stop racing. That black ink, those rock hard abs. The way the cobra tail swished across them, curling left and right before stopping just above his navel. I can’t get it out of my head. My fingers have been vibrating since the moment I touched him. It’s taking everything in me not to reach between my thighs right now and—
    “Dani.”
    I jerk out of my trance. “What?”
    “Do you mind?” He points to the other side of the bed at the unused pillow.
    “Oh — yeah.” I grab it and hold it out to him. He takes it and drops it to the floor at the foot of the bed. “Need a blanket?”
    “No,” he says, disappearing below.
    “Goodnight then…”
    “Goodnight.”
    I reach over and flick the lamp off, casting the room into total darkness.
     
     
    ***
     
    Holy shit.
    If I don’t touch him again soon, I’m going to explode.
    I honestly can’t remember the last time I spent so much unsupervised time with a man other than my father. Even when Fox and I lived under the same roof, we rarely ever spent time alone together. I thought he hated me back then. I guess he was just hiding what he really feels.
    Or felt . He doesn’t feel like that about me anymore. It was all just a teenage crush, apparently. Nothing more.
    Why doesn’t he feel that way anymore?
    I grab a pair of shoes, a package of socks, a few shirts, and some jeans, and walk straight to the