THE PERFECT TARGET by Jenna Mills Read Free Book Online

tattoo."
    She froze, like an exquisite dragonfly captured in amber, wings forever in flight. Just like the one imprinted on her upper arm. Her face drained of all color, all expression.
    And then she started to shake.
    Regret hit hard and fast, but he shoved the useless emotion aside before it muddied the waters any further.
    "Don't look so confused, bella," he told her, his voice deliberately husky. He kept his hand on her arm, his fingers tracing the tattoo. "A woman like you doesn't go unnoticed. A woman like you doesn't just fade into the shadows or melt into crowds. A woman like you cannot hide, not even from yourself."
    She backed away. "What do you mean, 'a woman like me'?"
    The way she spat the words, Sandro would have thought he'd accused her of something hideous. He looked at her standing there, green gypsy eyes too big and dark against her pale face, that lush mouth he wanted to taste again still swollen from his earlier mistake.
    "Beautiful," he said. "Intelligent. Full of life. Living, breathing sunshine."
    She lifted a hand to her mouth, but said nothing.
    "Why the games?" he asked, steering the conversation to safe ground. The questions rattling through him didn't bear answering. "Did you really think I'd just let you waltz out of here?"
    She shoved the hair from her face, managing to look alarmingly provocative as she did so. "Maybe I'm just playing the same kind of game you are. The same kind of game he is."
    Game? "What are you talking about? Who is he?"
    Resentment flashed in her gaze, bringing color back to her cheeks. "Look, I know who you are, okay? I know what this is all about."
    "Of course you know who I am. I told you."
    "Not your name—names don't matter. I know what's going on here, why you were on the promenade, why we're here now. I know who you work for and what you want, and I can tell you right now it's not going to work."
    Sandro went very still, all but his heart. It slammed against his ribs. She spoke with fire and conviction, making his blood run cold. She couldn't know. She couldn't. Only a handful of people did.
    And only that handful knew he was still alive.

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    Chapter 3
    « ^ »
    F or the first time since they'd met alongside the ocean, Mr. Confident didn't look quite so sure of himself. He stood unmoving, his midnight eyes wild, his mouth a hard line. Even the shadow against his jaw seemed darker. He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, arms at his side, hands curled into semifists.
    He looked like a man ready to pounce.
    The breath stalled in Miranda's throat. She'd only been playing him, testing him, gauging his competence. She hadn't expected him to react so strongly. She hadn't expected the air in the small dank room to thicken, her heart to start hammering.
    "Who am I?" he asked in a chillingly soft voice. "Who do I work for? What do I want?"
    Her mouth went dry. Suddenly, she wasn't quite so sure herself "You tell me."
    "I already have. I'm the man who's not going to let anyone hurt you."
    The take-no-prisoners words curled though her like an ominous mist rolling in from the ocean. She held his inscrutable gaze a moment, then glanced at the nasty scar slashed across his throat, then over to the briefcase he'd finally set down.
    "You're the backup," she said.
    "Backup?" He spoke slowly. Quietly. "Backup for what?"
    "Not what, but who. My father. He's a very careful man. He knew I'd try to give Hawk the slip the second I saw him, so he sent a backup." The mere thought caused her chest to tighten. Betrayal slashed brutally. She'd believed her father this time. She'd believed that for the first time in eleven years, he was willing to let her live her own life.
    Now she knew everything had been staged, just like so many times before. Hawk was probably throwing back a cold one somewhere, congratulating himself on a job well done, indifferent to the trauma he'd caused.
    Just like he'd done with Elizabeth.
    "You casually come on to me, then I see Hawk, run, shots are fired, and