Page 67 of Steel Vengeance

She slipped her arm back into her sleeve, buttoning up her shirt as fast as she could. He studied her, without saying a word.

Was he thinking about last night, too? About how he’d ripped her shirt open? Maybe, because his gaze grew heated, and his eyes drifted back up to meet hers.

She refused to look at him. She couldn’t.

“Sloane, I?—”

He didn’t get to finish because Blade walked back into the room.

“Lilly says hi.” Blade nodded at Stitch. “She was really sorry to hear about Soraya.”

Sloane slipped the sling back on.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

If Blade noticed the tension in the room, he didn’t comment on it.

“So, you gonna fill me in on this lead?” Blade asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Stitch leaned against the dresser. “Yeah. My contact said a guy matching Jeremy’s description was spotted at the basement bar in the Serena Hotel. It’s a hidden expat bar. He drinks there several times a week.”

“Are you sure it’s him?” Sloane asked.

“Yeah, I showed him that photograph I took at the graveyard.”

“He didn’t tell me his last name.” She frowned. “Not even his fake last name.”

“Yeah, that’s the name he’s travelling on. He obviously has fake identity documents too, probably issued by the Agency.”

Sloane shook her head. Obviously, she was important enough to know those kinds of details.

“I’m guessing he didn’t want you to know his full name so you couldn’t track him,” Stitch explained. “Hotel bookings, flights, and so on.”

The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.

So much deception. She really wasn’t cut out for this spy stuff.

“When are we going to check out the bar?” she asked.

A look passed between Stitch and Blade—just a flicker of an eyelid, something subtle, but she picked up on it.

“What?” she asked.

Blade looked a little surprised, but Stitch grinned.

“She’s good at reading people,” Stitch said. “Knows what you’re thinking before you do. Not much gets past her.”

Blade raised his eyebrows. “Nice skill to have.”

“I guess it is,” Sloane replied. “But it kind of ruins the fun when you see everything coming.”

Blade chuckled. “I can see that.”

Except last night. She hadn’t seen that coming—his gentle words, his protective tone.

I’ll never let anything happen to you.

She’d wanted to believe he was talking to her. She’d wanted to believe it was real.