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PAYBACK  by Rose Middleton

Copyright © ROSE MIDDLETON, 2008
All Rights Reserved, RED SAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

 

EXCERPT FROM PAYBACK

“What the hell are you doing here, Alexis?”
She huffed. “Me? What am I doing here? Oh, you ask because I’m not rotting in some prison cell in Argentina.” Her frozen smile pinched his heart. “That’s where I should be, right? I mean, you did leave me handcuffed for the cops to find so why wouldn’t you think I’d be in prison?”
He frowned, wanting to ask what had happened after he left but he didn’t. She was right. He’d handcuffed her to the railing of the exhibit and left when the alarms rang out. Not only had he lost the precious gem they were hired to obtain but he’d lost his lover, his friend, his partner in crime. No matter how hard he tried, he’d never been able to find out what happened to her. There was no recorded arrest, no reported escape. It was like she hadn’t existed at all. Vanished into thin air.
Which, considering it was Alexis they were talking about, was probably right on the money.
“What? No apology?”
He shrugged and shook off the desire to do exactly that. “You wouldn’t accept it anyway.”
Alexis stepped passed him. “You’re an ass, Lorenzo. I’m glad it happened. I’m out of the lifestyle thanks to you. Clean as a whistle. Free as a bird.”
He didn’t believe that for a second. “Me too.”
“Bullshit.”
The flash of fire in her eyes kicked him into gear. Powering into her space, he backed her up to the door, paused and then pressed his body against hers. The familiar shape of her made him grin. She might think him an ass but she was just as hot for him now as ever. The spark in her eyes and the glow in her cheeks said so. The question was whether he gave in to the urge to kiss her. Ruby red lips made the choice too hard.
His hesitation undermined him. She laughed and licked the very lips he couldn’t take his eyes off. Far from intimidated, Alexis seemed confident and ready to kick his butt.
“Well, well. Look who’s lost for words.”
“Screw you.”
She laughed louder. “You wish.”
Lorenzo’s hands moved, clasping each side of her face and in the exact moment before their lips collided, he saw what he needed. That tiny spark of vulnerability in her gaze, the one that called her bluff.

 

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