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

knew better than to take.
    "Take your money and get the hell out of here." Nik injected enough ice in his voice to ensure there was no chance of detecting the conflicting emotions raging inside him or the choices he didn't want to make at the moment.
    "What . . ." Panic reflected in Maddix's face.
    "I owe you the fucking favor," Nik stated coldly. "No fee required. Keep your money, Maddix. Maybe you can try to pay me off if I find out you're lying to me." He made certain his smile was colder than his eyes. "But I doubt it would work."
    He'd hoped Maddix couldn't access the funds. Nik knew, despite Maddix's alibis,
    that there were indeed federal eyes watching for large withdrawals of personal funds that would hint at a hired killing.
    He'd stared into eyes that hinted at dreams, at innocence. If he found out the
    innocence was true, then heaven help anyone daring to harm her.
    Where the fuck had that come from?
    "She gets to you, doesn't she?" Maddix shook his head. "I knew that picture would do it. It's the eyes."
    Nik stared back at him, realizing now, as he had instinctively suspected earlier
    that day, that he was being played.
    "I'll call you if I need to talk to you," Nik informed Maddix. "Until then, get the 31
    hell out of my face and pretend you don't know me. Or I'll walk away, Maddix. Right after I help her string your ass up."
    And he could do it. He would do it. It wouldn't matter how many alibis Maddix
    had; Nik could destroy every damned one.
    "I don't have to worry about that, Nik." Maddix picked up the briefcase and moved for the door. "And I can honestly say I have no damned idea who you are."
    Nik stood back and watched as Maddix moved past him to the door. Maddix left
    the room, pausing only long enough to throw Nik one last confused glance before
    leaving.
    Nik kicked the door closed, a curse escaping his lips as he raised his hands and
    linked them behind his neck before pacing into the bedroom.
    The wildness burning inside him was only growing as the years passed. He
    managed to hold it back most days by throwing himself into a mission, by becoming the cold, unemotional robot he'd turned himself into ten years before when Jordan had
    offered him the chance of a lifetime.
    A chance to walk away. To fight without rules. To make a difference.
    Had he made a difference?
    Not enough of one.
    He still couldn't sleep at night. He still awoke to the sounds of gunfire, of his
    daughter's screams before he could reach the car she had died in.
    If he had made enough of a difference, wouldn't those nightmares have left him
    by now? Wouldn't he be able to sleep in peace?
    He stared at the bed, perfectly made, large, comfortable. The Suites had near-
    perfect beds. And he knew from experience he would find no sleep in them.
    He left the helmet lying on the couch as he grabbed the keys to the Harley and left the room. Closing the door tight behind him, Nik made his way from the hotel to the shadowed back lot where he'd parked, and quickly checked the bike over before
    straddling it and giving the key a quick twist.
    If he couldn't sleep, that left work. And he had plenty of work to do here. If he
    was going to figure out if Maddix was lying, then the place to start was with the girl.
    All good girls had their secret little vices. There was no such thing as innocence or purity. Mikayla Martin might have a lot of good in her, but Nik was betting she was hiding a lot of bad as well. The key to getting past the good girl's defenses was to find her vices.
    She might not party, but she did like to dance. She didn't have a steady boyfriend, but she was prone to date quite often. She was definitely a mystery.
    Pulling from the parking lot, Nik hit the brightly lit streets of Wesel Boulevard
    while heading for the Cancun Cantina just minutes away.
    Tehya's initial investigation into Mikayla showed a girl who loved her job, her
    family, her friends, and having fun in general. She was serious when she had to be, but she enjoyed