Joker by Sofia Aves

Author:Sofia Aves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Quail Press
Published: 2022-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

JOKER

I caught Ana’s hand, dragging her from the fresh hell she’d subjected herself to. One look at the sister told me Ana had no hope in hell of extracting the girl from her suicide venture, but she was keen on trying anyway. I admired her tenacity in the face of adversity; there was a damn fine chance I wouldn’t have been able to do the same if our roles had been reversed.

“Are you okay?” I asked her softly, turning us to face the lift we’d had our first encounter in. That seemed a lifetime ago already.

Her face flushed, presumably with the same memory that pervaded my senses, hardening me in an instant.

“I’ll be fine.” Ana tossed her head back, an act of defiance that crumbled only slightly at the edges.

I squeezed her hand in mine as the elevator doors opened. “You were magnificent.”

“Me?” she squealed. “I think you mean you. Is your job—mission?— done now? You’re military, right?”

“Like I said,” I held the door for her, ushering her into the empty space, “I’m the ‘can’t share it about’ sort, but what you just saw me do in that room—well... Don’t talk about it to anyone, yeah?” I scratched my jaw as she turned to me with wide eyes, her unspoken question clear in them “otherwise some nice men in black suits might come knocking.”

“Oh.” The lone word came out on a sigh. “I don’t have anyone to tell, anyway. Not without Na—” Ana swallowed back what I thought might be a sob and rallied herself. “I work, dance, and go home. Rinse and repeat.”

“Sounds a lot like my life,” I murmured ruefully. A little too much. “You should have a life. You’re beautiful, young…” I berated her, running my mouth. It closed with an audible snap, sliding my arm around her waist to draw her back against my chest as the doors pinged closed.

“You’re not?” Ana tilted her head back, laughing, though she stopped at whatever she saw in my face.

“I’ll tell you a story sometime,” I murmured, catching her jaw between my fingers to tilt her head back a little farther, “but not right now.”

“Oh.”

Those sighs.

If she did that often enough,we wouldn’t make it back to our—my—room. My mouth claimed hers, her scent of raspberry and calla lilies seeping around me, winding me in an enchantment that was all Ana. Hell, I was in serious trouble if I kept thinking about her like that.

She was a fling—a fun fling, and at the end of the night, we would part ways, hopefully friends and with some damn fine memories to keep the lone nights warm. There was no way Ana could be a part of my life, despite the place she’d managed to etch out for herself deep inside my shuttered heart.

I palmed her stomach, kissing her brutally, letting out every inch of the rage, the fear and desire pent up inside me for this mission. The few hours in that gaming hell ruined a part of me, but

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