Page 27 of Innocent Salvation

Snow placed her phone on the bedside table and sighed. The police knew about Jakub, which meant they’d soon find out he was just a hired gun. They all knew Sebastian was the target, which was why, despite what Titan had told him, Sebastian had a guard twenty-four-seven. She’d spotted Reaper and Duchess, who was still working the Cavendish case with Bishop in London, at the zoo, but thankfully Sebastian didn’t see them, which was their job. Nobody was better than her team at blending in and disappearing.

She’d also spotted Titan and Bein, but they were too good to allow Sebastian to see them. She was grateful for them being there to protect them. Her niece was precious to her, and it was nice to know that others had her back as she walked around the zoo like a normal person just enjoying the day. Her guard was still up, it was as natural to her as breathing but she’d been able to enjoy herself more knowing her friends were watching out for them.

A wave of affection assailed her for the men and women she called friends when, in reality, over the time she’d been with them they’d become so much more. They were a family with Bás as the overbearing and annoying father of the group. With Bein getting hitched to Aoife soon, that family would be extending, and she was happy for him. They were stupidly in love, and it was difficult to be around them without feeling that intense adoration between them both.

Turning on her side, a smile creased her lips as she remembered the look on Julianne’s face when she’d replied to her in her own native tongue. She’d looked like she might pass out from the sheer shock of someone daring to say such things to her. Snow had known who she was immediately, it was in the file she’d read on Sebastian. She’d shared his bed for a while and the knowledge and seeing her try and claim the man had set Snow’s claws to sharpening.

His reaction had been priceless and the sheer joy in his laugh had made her breath hitch. Sebastian was a handsome man. GQ cover model handsome, and with the beard he was growing, he was even more so, but when he laughed with such freedom it was like the world stopped turning.

Flopping back onto her back she felt restless. Although she was bone-tired from not sleeping well, her mind simply would not shut down. She could go down and make some warm milk, but she ran the risk of running into the very man who was keeping her awake. Something had changed the last few days and she was seeing him less as the enemy and more as an ally. She had no evidence to back up her theory that he was a good man, except what she saw with him and Fleur, but her instinct was screaming at her that there was more to this man than what he showed the world. At times it was like he was a wounded animal who still nursed an old injury and wanted to protect it with all his might.

Sitting up she grabbed her phone from the side and started scrolling through social media, finding herself on his Instagram page before she realised what she was doing. There wasn’t a lot of pictures and none of Fleur, which she was happy to see. He clearly valued his privacy, which gelled with what she knew of the man. Seeing he’d been tagged in a few pictures, she clicked through and was rewarded with a drool-worthy shot of Sebastian on a boat somewhere in the Mediterranean if she wasn’t mistaken. His blue swim shorts clung to his wet legs, and it looked like he’d just hauled himself from the sea. His body delivered on everything it promised under those white dress shirts he wore. Tan, warm skin, rippling six-pack abs, leading down to the irresistible V that made her want to take a bite out of him. He had a smattering of hair on his perfect chest and his dark hair was swept back from his face as he smiled at the camera. A stab of jealousy pierced her belly as she wondered who he was smiling at. Noting the date was two years ago, she scrolled through more pictures to see two other men, both with girlfriends or dates but in every picture, Sebastian was either with them or alone. It was irritating how much that made her relax.

Sebastian wasn’t hers to fawn over or get jealous about. He was a means to an end, though even the thought made her feel sick. Deceit was part of her life, she’d grown up thinking lies were normal, that they didn’t hurt people. Only as she got older, and her own moral compass had begun to grow did she realise how wrong her father was.

Lies still formed her life. With the job she did, even she knew some were imperative to save lives and keep people safe, but this felt wrong to her. She was lying to Fleur too and she knew Sebastian wouldn’t forgive her.

On a whim, she sent a text to Duchess asking if she was awake. Her phone rang in her hand, and she smiled as she answered.

“What’s wrong?”

Snow shook her head even though her boss and friend couldn’t see her. “Nothing is wrong.”

“You sure? I can come over and kick the hot judge’s ass for you.”

Snow laughed at her friend. “The hot judge hasn’t done anything.”

“Well good, because I’ve been walking around on four-inch fucking heels all day and my feet are killing me. I swear a man invented them to torture women.”

“Wear flats then.”

“Can’t. Heels make my ass look great in a pencil skirt and Carter Cavendish likes to ogle me.”

“Isn’t he the one you’re trying to bring down with his brothers’ help?”

“Yes, Gideon and Damon are helping but Damon is being a pain in my ass.”

“How?”

“He keeps getting all overprotective and trying step between me and what I need to do to get Carter talking.”

“He likes you.”

“Hmm, well he needs to stay out of my way.”

Duchess was beautiful on another level, with long dark glossy hair, warm tan skin, and a plethora of tattooed artwork on her arms, thighs, and chest, even up her neck. Her green eyes popped and were winged, giving her a constant sultry look. Men literally fell around her like flies and she didn’t even seem aware half the time.

Half Italian, Duchess, real name Nadia Benassi, spoke six languages and was learning more constantly. She had a fiery temper to match her Italian roots and had links to the original Sicilian Mafia. More than that, Snow wasn’t sure of. Like her, until now, they all had personal secrets that only Bás and most likely Jack, who’d recruited them, knew of.

In a fight, she’d always bet on Duchess though, against anyone, man or woman no matter how big. She was deadly and sexy, which was a combination that was priceless in their job.

“So enough about me, what’s got you calling me at this time of night?”

“Technically, you called me.”

“Whatever.”

Snow heard a horn beep and music in the background. “Where are you anyway?”