She squeezed his wrist. “Yes, you do. It’s not just sex—it’s the connection between us, the one that says we shouldn’t be doing this. It turns you on. It turns me on. Because it’s not wrong, but it kind of feels like it should be. Your father is my stepfather. What if we’d been doing this as teenagers in Tyler’s house? That would have been crossing a line, and I think we both think about it when we’re together. It’s naughty, right? And naughty feels good.”
His grin was all kinds of sinful. “Yeah, naughty feels damn good. I’ve got a few naughty things I’d like to do to you, but we’ve got a mission and time is not on our side.” His grin faded. “This isn’t wrong, Sophie. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. The only connection we have is on paper—your adoption certificate and my birth certificate. And if I heard you right, he wasn’t much more of a father to you than he was to me.”
She frowned. “You didn’t hear me wrong. Tyler and my mother… Well, it’s a good thing they never had kids of their own. They aren’t abusive or anything, but they just aren’t equipped for dealing with others’ needs.”
“I hate to tell you this, baby, but neglecting a child is abuse. It might not seem like it, but it is. They should have put you first.”
She sucked in a breath. She could feel her chin quivering, feel herself on the verge of losing her shit. He cupped her cheeks in both hands and kissed her, staving off the breakdown. It was such a tender, sweet kiss that her heart clenched tight in her chest as other feelings assailed her.
No one had ever treated her like her feelings were important. Part of that was her fault because she hid them so well—but not with Chase. He had a way of digging deep, of forcing her to show her vulnerability.
“You okay?” he whispered against her lips.
She pulled back and looked into his green eyes, her stomach flipping at the intensity and tenderness she saw there. She wanted more of that. Wanted to wake up and see that look on a man’s face every day of her life.
Sophie nodded, but he didn’t remove his hands from her face. “So what happens next?” she asked, needing to escape the feelings swirling in her heart. “When are we going to get the flash drive?”
He ran his fingers down her throat, dropped his hands. “You’re going to call Madame Renard, and you’re going to tell her I’m coming to get the package.”
She started to protest, but he anticipated her.
His hand covered her mouth. His eyes flashed hot. “This is not up for debate, Sophie. I’m going alone. Sergei Turov is almost certainly watching Tyler’s building, and he won’t be doing it alone.”
She pulled his hand away, determined to have her say. “He didn’t recognize me. How will he know it’s me if I go with you?”
“He saw us in Baltimore, and he can put two and two together. We can’t take that chance.”
Sophie’s stomach churned. She wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right. There was no reason for her to go. They’d come this far and that was enough. Far safer to let him go on his own.
“When are you going?”
He let out a breath, as if he’d expected more argument from her and was surprised she didn’t offer it. “I had a text from Hawk earlier. The package should be delivered anytime after two tomorrow afternoon. That’s as specific as the carrier gets.”
“What about the tracking number? Doesn’t that help?”
“Not much, which is probably good considering Androv has access to the same information. The location scans aren’t showing up immediately in the system. By the time they do, the package has moved on. The most specific the information will be is when the package is loaded on the van for delivery. Turov could intercept the van, but that’s not easy to do when there are hundreds of delivery vans in the city. He won’t know which one is the correct one until it pulls up in front of Tyler’s building. He could guess before that moment—but if he’s wrong, it’s risky to storm random delivery vans and demand packages.”
Sophie dragged in a frustrated breath and turned away from him. God, it was all so complicated. “Why did I mail it? Why didn’t I just take it with me and hand it over when I reached you?”
His hands were on her shoulders. She liked it much too much.
“You were scared. Getting the flash drive out of your possession wasn’t a bad thing to do.”
“But now all we can do is wait for it to show up—and hope Turov doesn’t get it first.”
“No plan is without flaws.” He pushed her hair aside and put his mouth to her neck. Softly. Gently. His tongue caressed the love bites, and a shiver slipped down her spine. “If we have to wait, I can think of a few things we can do.”