Sure as Hell by Julie Kenner Read Free Book Online Page A

finish this job. Her last job.
    She heard him say something about how he’d handle it, and she forced herself not to smile as she passed by—on her way to retrieve the purse she’d left amid the tumble of clothes by the door. She found her little makeup bag and headed back to the restroom, her thoughts turning to fantasies of making one last use of the bed that he looked so good pacing in front of.
    No.
    This was over, and that was good. If she was smart, she’d get dressed and leave while he was still on the phone. Direct. To the point. Clean.
    But she couldn’t quite do it.
    Instead, she concentrated on her eyeliner.
    After a moment of concentration, she heard him step onto the bathroom tile. She turned, and couldn’t help but flash him a smile.
    Then she turned quickly back to the mirror and covered the gesture by returning to her makeup. “Your boss?”
    “My father,” he said. “And my boss. Kind of makes life more interesting, you know?”
    “Actually,” she said, “I do know.” And there was another little tightening of the rope around her heart. That familiarity she’d felt with him was real. They truly did have things in common.
    Get a grip, Lucia .
    “You work for your dad?”
    “Mmmm-hmmm.” She kept her face still, her focus on the millimeter-thin line of green liner she was applying.
    She expected him to respond with commiseration. An anecdote. Anything but what he actually said.
    “Right,” he said. “Well, as it turns out, I’m staying here. More work.”
    The pencil slipped, and she ended up with a green streak marring the soft skin under her left eye.
    “Oh.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t quite manage it. “Oh.”
    She watched him in the mirror, saw something shift in his face. After a moment, he took a step backward, then disappeared into the bedroom. She moved that way, too, then stopped, unsure of what she should do.
    He was staying. And, so help her, even though she knew he’d be the distraction from, well, hell, she couldn’t deny the fact that she wanted him to.
    A little surge of anger burst through her. This was part of the test. That had to be it. It made perfect sense that her father was trying to up the ante.
    After all, hadn’t her father offered her the keys to his kingdom in exchange for one simple assassination? Never mind that it wasn’t nearly as simple as it had been decades, or even centuries, ago. The point was that he’d placed in her lap a test that she couldn’t help but win.
    And although she might be his favorite, she knew that her father didn’t work that way. It simply wasn’t in his nature.
    Which meant that this man must be part of the test. That was the only explanation. Her father knew the kind of man who could distract her, and he’d thrown him directly into her path. Of course a simple assassination would be too easy. Hadn’t the old devil said he’d tested the boys? And as much as she liked to believe that Jack, Nick, and Marcus had failed because they were incompetent playboys, Lucia knew the truth. They were all very competent in their own ways. If they’d failed, it was because they’d been faced with a true test of their worth.
    Clearly, that was what was happening here.
    Well, that was just fine. She could handle whatever he threw at her. She was a professional. She could work in the face of distraction.
    She moved back to the mirror, inspecting her reflection as she tried to calm herself down. She used the edge of her thumb to fix the stray bit of eyeliner, but really it was all distraction. A delay before she turned back to look at him. At the man that, just hours ago, she’d wanted gone from her life.
    Now, she had to admit that she wanted him to stay.
    Dear Hades, could her father actually be doing her a favor?
    She considered the possibility, then tossed it aside. No. That wasn’t like her father at all. For that matter, maybe her father had nothing to do with this man at all.
    Maybe, instead, it was a gift. Not from her