Renegade (Elite Ops 5) by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

that wasn't a dead man's cock he held in his hand. It forcibly reminded him that his hand was ineffective in stilling a hunger he shouldn't have.
    "Fuck." He muttered the word with an edge of disgust before jerking a cloth from the rack inside the shower and soaping it quickly.
    He didn't have time for this.
    There was always a chance that Maddix would come up with the two hundred and
    eighty thousand dollars that his fee worked out to--with the discount. He should have ignored the call, he thought as he began to wash himself roughly. He should have
    forgotten that he still possessed some measure of honor. He should have denied the debt and moved on to the next mission.
    There were so many things he should have done and hadn't. His biggest mistake
    had been staring into amethyst eyes and forgetting that he was a dead man.
    Shaking his head, Nik finished his shower, dried off roughly, then dressed in jeans and T-shirt before moving to the bedroom and lacing hiking boots on his feet.
    On the off chance Maddix managed to come up with the fee, Nik needed to be
    prepared. He needed more information on the players involved in this little game. There had to be more than Tehya had managed to come up with.
    Someone was lying, Maddix Nelson or Mikayla Martin, and Nik needed to at
    least have a place to start. Maddix had been too damned sincere perhaps, though it wasn't easy for most people to lie to Nik. He'd seen and heard every lie and knew the
    expressions and contradictory reactions that went with them.
    Mikayla Martin had accused Maddix of murdering one of his employees, and
    rather than being enraged, Maddix had been confused. He hadn't struck out at the girl; neither had the chief of police. Maddix was playing a damned good game, Nik had to admit.
    But then, so was Mikayla.
    Moving to the small kitchenette, he was in the process of moving his backpack
    when a firm knock sounded at the door.
    Nik turned and stared at the dark green panel in disgust. It seemed as though
    Maddix Nelson may have come up with the funds after all.
    Nik moved to the green steel door and checked the peephole. Sure enough, the
    other man stood there, his expression stoic as he stared at the closed door.
    Gripping the knob, Nik opened the door slowly and moved back to allow the
    30
    other man to enter.
    Maddix entered, his shoulders straight and tense as he reached back with one hand
    to rub at the tense muscles in tight circles. In the other hand, he carried a briefcase.
    Nik stared at that briefcase, knowing what it contained.
    Hell.
    "Two hundred eighty thousand dollars." Maddix set the briefcase on the small table just inside the door as Nik moved to the other side.
    Maddix stared at the case, sighed heavily, then looked back to Nik. "There it is,"
    he said. "It's yours."
    Nik stepped to the table, laid the briefcase flat, then flipped open the locks.
    He flipped through the stacks of bills. Yep, that looked like two hundred and
    eighty thousand dollars to him. A fee for a favor owed.
    Fuck.
    There were days he wished he hadn't been raised to understand what honor meant.
    To understand what a favor owed truly was. Because standing there now, Nik could feel his gut clenching at the knowledge that he was stepping over a line.
    He clicked the locks back into place and pushed the briefcase toward Maddix with
    a disgruntled glance toward the other man.
    "It's all there." Maddix stared back at Nik in confusion.
    "So hold on to it," Nik growled.
    Maddix stared back at Nik silently, confusion darkening his eyes. "But you
    demanded the fee up front," he reminded Nik.
    That line was staring him in the face, tempting him to cross it, to be the bastard the past was turning him into. To cross it now meant crossing it forever. There would be no turning back.
    There would be no sunlit wheat-colored hair spread across his chest. No amethyst
    eyes staring back at him with true trust. Trust that wouldn't be later marred by the money that now sat between him and a job he