Stateless, Book 1 by Meli Raine

Author:Meli Raine [Raine, Meli]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Meli Raine

Chapter 17

Callum

* * *

“Yes, sex club,” I echo, wondering why that's such a shock to her. “You know we operate wherever we need to.”

Did she just blush? She’s gorgeous. No make-up, hair pulled back, her cheeks are pink and her face somber. Kina has changed for the better in nine years.

Have I?

“Right,” she replies quickly. “Of course. Best location for gaining an advantage.”

“In this case, Romeo thought so. He was wrong.”

“What happened?”

“Taken out by a smarter operative on the other side. You know how it works.”

“Mmmm,” is all she says.

“Where are you stationed?” I ask, knowing time is running out.

“Stationed?”

“I'm based in Pittsburgh, working cybersecurity for a multi-national tech company. They bring me to DC when needed. You?”

Eyelashes fluttering, Kina's face goes through an extraordinary change, the morph from intense curiosity to guarded suspicion so rapid, it's like watching someone flip masks.

“I, um–”

“Callum!” Angelica and Smith appear with Hokes and Stratton behind them, both in suits that make it obvious they're some kind of security team, even if I didn’t already know. Having them assigned to me puts my teeth on edge. They're typically used for high-level private citizens who are part of The Mission.

Not for the true Stateless.

“What?” Careful not to arouse suspicion, I slide my chip blocker into my pocket. No one knows I have this. No one knows it exists.

That's because I invented it. You don't spend four years earning an electrical engineering degree, and two more in a robotics lab, without gaining some exceptional skills.

Specialized skills I never told my Stateless supervisors about.

“Leave,” Angelica snaps at Kina, who turns with an obedience that grinds my soul.

“Kina!” I call out as she leaves. Coming to a halt, she just stands there, not turning around.

“Yes?”

“We're not done.”

I can feel her smile.

“Go do your job, Kina,” Angelica practically snarls. “This isn't your assignment.”

She turns to me, cold eyes hiding what I know must be a vicious panic. “You shouldn't have left. Svetnu and Josephs just arrived.”

“A short wait won't hurt them.”

“Who do you think you are, Callum?”

Towering over her, I use brute threat to intimidate. I'm not a cowering eighteen-year-old boy anymore. Nine years have turned me into a man.

A man who knows exactly how full of shit most of the people running this place really are.

The Mission itself remains the single most important goal of mankind.

But these people? They don't know what they're doing.

“I think I am Romeo's protégé, Angelica. I'm the one he trusted the most. I’m also the one who knows his methods best. I know how to replicate them, and I know how to improve on them.”

A bitter sound comes out of her.

“And I know all the kompromat I need to have on every single person here,” I whisper, leaning in like a lover telling a dirty secret. “All the dirty secrets about everyone. Because Romeo kept those files. Except he wasn't as good at computer security as he thought, now, was he… Stacia?”

The use of her real name, which I know she knows, makes her chest seize, the muscles of her diaphragm climbing up, breast wall tightening.

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