Smoke and Shadows (13 page)

Yes, please
.

“Not going commando today?” Marissa teased.

“I don’t feel like it, but you could change my mind.” He shot her a roguish smile that sent visions of her straddling him and riding the fuck out of his cock. What was it about this man that reduced her to her primal instincts? No woman should be enslaved by a man’s dick, and clearly, she was letting herself be led around by it.

She turned the omelette as she allowed the disturbing thoughts to fester.

“Hey, what just happened here?” Viktor asked sharply.
 

“What?”

“You suddenly closed off. What did I say, Iz?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Look at me,” he ordered.

She tried to act nonchalant, glancing at him briefly and pasting a fake smile. His eyes narrowed.
 

Uh-oh
.

“Move.” He grabbed the spatula from her and nudged her out of the way.

“What are you doing?” Marissa asked in annoyance.

“I’ll finish this. You start thinking of an explanation for why you suddenly had an attitude adjustment.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“I read people fairly well, Marissa. I lost you right before you flipped that omelette.”

Who the hell is this guy?

“Don’t you dare try your interrogation tactics with me, Viktor.”

He turned off the fire and slammed the pan to the back of the stove, causing her to jump.

“Don’t bullshit me. What the fuck happened just now?” he growled.

“Oh, so you can keep all your thoughts to yourself, but I can’t?”

“Damn it, Marissa. I’m trying here. What. Happened?”

“You. I’m addicted to you!” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. “You turn me on like no other man. My brain turns to mush when I see your . . . your freaking gorgeous body, and even if my joints are screaming in pain, I think of nothing but having you inside me . . . hav—having you sink into me.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Viktor asked incredulously. His lips were twitching.

“It’s not funny!” Marissa wailed. “No man should have such control over a woman.”

“Yeah, sweetheart, it’s funny.” His chest was shaking with repressed laughter, which infuriated her more, but she didn’t resist when he pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head. “Would it make you feel better if I say it’s mutual?”

“It is?”

“If we didn’t have so much damned responsibilities, there’s nothing more I want to do than fuck you all day. I never get enough of you, Iz. You’re a distraction. I can’t think straight when you’re physically near, and I can’t think straight when I don’t know where you are. I want to fuck you so hard, you’d have trouble walking the next day. Sound like an addiction to you?”

 
“Yes.”

“We good?”

Marissa nodded.

“Good. I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”

“I hate taking a leisurely breakfast. It’s almost 10:00 a.m.” Marissa said, glancing at the kitchen clock. “I told Allison we’d be tackling the data out of Damascus bright and early.” She hadn’t shared her suspicion about Matthews—that he had betrayed the agency to Shadid—and decided to table that discussion for later. There was just too much information to process from the past few days.

“Technically, you did some work over the weekend,” Viktor replied while taking a sip of coffee. “You’re allowed some leeway. Don’t worry about it.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re the boss. I’m just a grunt.”

“Are you fishing for compliments, Ms. Cole?”

“Of course not!” she replied indignantly. “When are we talking to Matsuda?”

“Christ, you’re like a dog with a bone,” Viktor muttered.

“Well?”

“We can’t contact him directly. Too risky.”

“I’ve got any number of people who can approach him. Just give me the go ahead.”

“I’m not about to let a stranger tell him that the United States government is about to fuck up his life again.”

“We just need information, Viktor. We’re not dragging him into an op.”

“That’s what we told him before all hell broke loose and Daliyah kidnapped his wife and daughter.”

Marissa held her tongue because Viktor speared her with a “shut up and let me think” look. She diverted her impatience by drinking more coffee.

“When do you want to meet?”

“The sooner the better.”

“Ain’t it always?” Viktor said. “Her husband’s probably going to kill me this time.”

“Umm. I don’t understand?”

Shooting her an annoyed look, he picked up his phone, scrolled through his contact list and hit “Call.”

When his contact came on the line, he said, “Sophie?”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Sophie had never lied to Derek. Ever. At least, not that she could recall and never after they had gotten married. Okay, maybe she would tell a little white lie every now and then, or omit some information from their conversation. After all, her husband was an unreasonably jealous and possessive man, and it was better to fib about the attentions she was getting from male acquaintances than retrieving her husband from jail for assault. But she had never blatantly lied about her whereabouts.

Damn Viktor Baran. This was the second time he had lassoed her into his “brilliant” plans. The first time, she was excited because it involved using technology she had developed. She had officially become AGS’s advanced boutique weapons designer if there was such a title.
 

However, on this second go round, she was supposed to act like a spy, relay information and set up the meeting. Did they not learn from her debacle in South Africa? Not a day on the field yet, and she got made. Obviously, Viktor’s faith in her was stronger than her faith in herself.

Jiro Matsuda was her sensei and kendo instructor. After her classes last Monday, she informed him that Viktor Baran wanted to set up a meeting. An operative with the CIA would be present. Her sensei had not acted surprised—he almost looked resigned, as though he had expected something like this to happen.
 

So here she was at the Japanese cultural center’s main dining room on a Wednesday evening. After their class ended at 7:00 p.m., Jiro and another classmate, David, left with Sophie for the cultural center. That wasn’t the plan. David was not supposed to tag along. This was bad for two reasons.

One, the meeting was in regards to highly classified information. Sophie wasn’t sure how a seemingly genial man like Sensei Jiro could be mixed up with someone like Viktor. But they appeared to trust each other. Sophie discreetly texted Viktor about the slight chink in the plans. His response?

“Fuck!”

Which brings about the second reason. David used to have a thing for her, and judging from his actions, past and present, he still did. Sophie wasn’t naive. Every opportunity he had, he’d whine that she should have given him a chance. If she didn’t love her kendo classes so much, she’d stop attending. And now she was alone in the dining room with him.

Right after their main course, and before dessert, Viktor walked into the restaurant. Hardly acknowledging Sophie, he proceeded down the hallway to another exit that led to several tea houses scattered throughout the center. After five minutes, Sensei Jiro excused himself and said he had to talk to the cultural center manager about the upcoming cherry blossom festival.

Sophie smiled. That was months away.

“So how’s married life?” David asked with a hint of sarcasm. Sophie frowned. She wasn’t in the mood for this.

“It’s good.”

“Derek Lockwood, huh? You know he has quite the reputation.”

“He’s changed.”

“If you say so.” David shrugged.

Sophie fumed. Derek didn’t deserve all the doubts heaped on him by the media. Though it was admittedly still awkward to be running into his past liaisons, she wasn’t jealous anymore. Because he had proven time and again that he loved her to distraction and would risk everything for her.

“So, do you have a girlfriend?” she asked to deflect the subject back to David.

“No, the woman I was hoping to fill that position married someone else.”

Okay, this is getting aggravating
.

“David—”

“You never gave me a chance, Sophie.”

“We’ve been over this. Don’t make it awkward.”

His face finally softened and he reached out to touch her face. Sophie fought the urge to flinch. She owed him this at least.

“Sorry, Sophie. It’s just that—” He smiled sheepishly. “Never mind. I hope you won’t let my dumbass behavior prevent you from coming to class.”

“Anytime you need my kendo stick to knock some sense into you, let me know.”

“My, you’re a bloodthirsty vixen.”

They both laughed as the tension eased.

As they were perusing the dessert menu, Sophie’s phone rang. It was Derek.

She had a moment of panic, but decided to answer. Knowing her husband, he would continue calling until he’d actually talked to her.

“Hey, honey, what’s up?”

“Hi, Angel, how are drinks with Beth going?”

Sophie fidgeted in her chair and shifted away from David to mumble into her phone. “It’s okay. I don’t think I’ll drink another martini.”

“Where are you? Maybe I could join you?”

“Ah…we’re bar hopping.”

Silence. And then, “Sounds a bit too quiet to be at a bar.”

“Um, you caught me at the ladies room.”

Another uncomfortable pause.

“I guess I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Okay.”

“I love you, Sophie.”

“Love you, too.”

Sophie blew her bangs out when she ended the call. She was a terrible person.

“Lying to the husband?”
 

“Shut up, David. Order your dessert,” Sophie groused.

Outside the Japanese cultural center, Derek Lockwood stared disbelievingly at the woman who meant everything to him, who at the moment, was having dinner with another man. The scene wasn’t incriminating by itself, except she lied to him. Why would she lie to him? He once wondered what people meant when they said their world was ending. Now he knew. Devastated didn’t even begin to describe what he was feeling.
 

Sophie said she was having drinks with her best friend Beth, except he saw Beth at Rooster Bar. Sophie’s friend didn’t know he saw her. He felt bad that he immediately got suspicious. He wouldn’t have if Sophie hadn’t been acting strangely all of yesterday and this morning. She was jumpy and she’d been avoiding him, unable to look into his eyes. Now, he knew why.

So he used her phone to trace her location and here he was.

He wanted to charge in there and reclaim what was his. But some Karmic force was staying his rage. Was he to blame? Had he failed her somehow and driven her into the arms of another man? Was he being punished for his past hedonistic life of sex and women?

His hands were shaking when he started his car. He needed some perspective. He needed a drink.

*****

“It’s been a while, Viktor,” Jiro Matsuda said in greeting as he motioned Viktor to take a seat, or rather to sit cross-legged at the low table.

Three tea rooms were situated amongst rocks and low lying shrubs in the Japanese garden, just beyond a bridge over a small stream. Viktor waited in the shadows, entering the tea house only when Matsuda did.

“Yes, it has, old friend.” They regarded each other with unspoken regret. The door to the tearoom slid open and a woman wearing a kimono with a face painted like a geisha stepped in with a tray of tea. Marissa. Viktor’s brow shot up, although, he had known she had planned to go incognito. He couldn’t help imagining taking those layers of silk off her body. He smiled wickedly at her. She smiled back coyly. Too bad she was not a hundred percent healed and ready for some rough sex, but he’d be sure to file this away: his own personal geisha.

Jiro cleared his throat. “I presume she’s your associate.”

Marissa lowered the tray and held out her hand. “My name is Cole.”

“Ms. Cole, how can I be of assistance?”

“Viktor?” Marissa gave him the go ahead as she poured the tea into the tiny cups.

“Stuart Kwon and the NKUF. Have you heard anything at all?”

Jiro pursed his lips and nodded a few times before replying, “I have. You have to understand, Viktor, that Stuart was once a good man. He had no plans of following his father’s footsteps to force a united Korea by means of violence.”

“What changed?” Marissa asked.

“The death of his sister,” Jiro said sadly, glancing at Viktor. “They were devoted to each other. Despite being half-siblings, Daliyah always took care of Stuart and shielded him from his father’s wrath. Even when Daliyah’s mother and Min separated, Daliyah stayed behind and took over responsibilities that should have been Stuart’s.”

“So I’ve created a monster,” Viktor said, exhaling deeply.

“No, Viktor. Circumstances happened.”

“Are Stuart Kwon and his nephew Rafiq Shadid working together?” Marissa asked.

“I have no doubt. They’re united in their hatred for you, Viktor, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg,” Jiro said.

“What do you mean?”

“Stuart wants revenge, but not as much as he wants money. He means to start a war in Syria so he can supply the Ba’ath Party with weapons.”

“Supply them with weapons? How? All we have on him is Petrech Labs that could be classified as a defense business.”

“That lab creates chemical weapons,” Jiro said.

“You know this for a fact?” Viktor asked.

The kendo master nodded. “He also has another company that manufactures weapons.” Matsuda mentioned the name and that Kwon was not listed on the board, but had a significant investment in the company.

“It’s a Russian defense company,” Marissa added. “It has been on the CIA’s radar for a while.”

“Keep an eye on Petrech Labs,” Jiro said. “I have a feeling that Kwon will bring the war to our land.”

“What?” Viktor and Marissa said in unison, the thought never occurring to either of them.

“How do you think Stuart is going to get his war in Syria?” Jiro asked. “Attack the homeland—make it appear that it was sanctioned by the Ba’ath Party. The U.S. will have no choice but to declare war on Syria.”