Page 9 of Fallen Hero

It took longer than I was proud to admit to pull up my self-control and will my body’s reaction to her to recede.

Much calmer, I told her, “Your text said you needed backup.”

“Right. About that.” She blew out a breath. “I didn’t send that text. Atlanta did. And I doubt my phone is disconnected, though I don’t use my personal cell when I’m on a job, so I can’t verify.”

“Who’s Atlanta?” Pete asked before I could.

Calista glanced around the small room. “Would you like to sit down?” She motioned to two chairs in the corner.

I’d do jumping jacks if it meant she hurried this along and answered Pete. Instead of a smart-assed comment, I stepped aside, allowing my teammates to maneuver to the chairs. I kept my feet . . . and my distance from Calista.

Both men sat. Calista leaned her hip against the dresser and crossed her arms over her chest, shoving her already impressive cleavage to new heights. I bit back a groan and the string of obscenities that were begging to break free and tore my gaze away from the woman next to me.

Before I could prompt Calista, Pete repeated, “Who’s Atlanta?”

“My . . . assistant.”

Calista’s pause gave me, well . . . pause.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Sure, I’m sure,” she snapped, drawing my attention back to her.

“Well, you don’t sound sure,” I pointed out.

“So your assistant has your personal phone and texted Mase?” Fallon inquired skeptically.

Her eyes darted to the phone on the dresser, then back to Fallon. For a woman who had dubious ties to the CIA, and those included undercover work, she sure did suck at thinking on her feet—and not giving herself away.

“Seriously?” I grumbled.

“Seriously, what?”

My gaze shot to the phone before returning to Calista. “Christ, woman, you don’t look at the phone in question when you’re trying to convince someone it’s not in your possession. Or did you skip that chapter in Spies for Dummies?”

Her beautiful blue eyes narrowed. No, they narrowed dangerously.

“This is good,” she mumbled.

“What’s good?”

“You being a dick. It knocks you down a few notches on the hotness chart.”

“Only a few?” I quipped.

Calista smiled sweetly before her eyes swept down my body. “Actually, you barging in here acting like an asshole knocked you down a few rungs. You being a dick just makes you flat-out unattractive.”

Ouch.

I heard Fallon snort. Calista went on like she didn’t hear him. “No, Atlanta doesn’t have my phone, but that doesn’t mean she can’t send texts from my number since obviously she did. And it’s not disconnected, she just made it so when Mason called, it’s disengaged.”

“And Pete and Fallon and Aiden and Ryan and Jack and Catarina?” I asked, naming all of my teammates.

With a shrug, Calista answered, “She’s thorough.”

“Your assistant’s a hacker,” I surmised.

“Among other things,” she vaguely confirmed. “I only found out about the texts a few minutes before you knocked.” With a tilt of her head toward the phone, she continued, “I got my phone out of the safe to read the messages.” Calista’s lips pulled up into another deceptively sweet smile. Her eyes roamed my face right before she went in for the kill. “You must’ve skipped more than a few chapters in Seduction for Dummies if that’s your idea of flirting.”