Chapter 12

Mancini

She was staying in a townhouse in the heart of the city as part of her cover, which was as an up-and-coming socialite. Her background check looked pretty good: a young woman of means from a high-powered family. Of course it's one of those obscure families that no one ever heard of who just happens to be loaded. She's an alum of Vassar, at least that much is true, guess they had to keep some things as close to the truth as possible. But as for the pseudo family, that was all fabrication. The ride downtown in my Ascari on the deserted streets took less than twenty minutes. I parked a few blocks away and took the back street sticking to the shadows. I had no problem leaving my million and a half dollar car on the streets of lower Manhattan because the shit was secured tighter than Fort Knox. Her place was on the end with a balcony and a privacy fence, which made gaining entrance easy for someone with my particular skills. I left my shoes on the balcony as I picked the lock that led into the living area, my nifty little device made easy work of her alarm system and I was in being as careful as possible as I made my way through her temporary residence making sure to stick to the shadows once more. I scanned for any hidden cameras or other detectors with this nifty little gadget Jace had built that was perfect for not only detecting but jamming those things as well. I didn't know if her people had her under surveillance or not but I wasn't taking any chances. It was one thing for me to accept that she was fast becoming my weakness and quite another for others to know.

I couldn't forget after all that I was dealing with a trained federal agent here. One other thing I hadn't taken into account was whether or not she would be alone, that thought brought me up short for a second. Nothing that I had uncovered hinted at a love interest but that didn't mean it wasn't a possibility. I folded my fists at the surge of emotion that overcame me at the thought I'll have to deal with that later. Right now I have to see her, be sure she was here alone, what the fuck I planned to do if she wasn't I had no idea I just knew I would punish her in some way if that's what I found. Fucked up I know but there you have it, I never claimed to be the most rational motherfucker out there.

The moonlight coming in through the bedroom window cast a shadowy glow over her perfect skin, her face serene in slumber looked even younger; my fingers itched to touch, to stroke her hair where it laid spread out over her pillow. Thank heavens she didn't sleep in the nude or else my control might've failed me; it was a trial as it was keeping my distance as her chest rose and fell with her easy breathing the T-shirt she wore to sleep in stretched taut across her breasts. I don't know how long I stood there but I felt the tension of the last few hours just drift away as if by magic, something that it usually took days of hard training to do. She slept like the dead, that's one of the things I noticed in my midnight vigil that and the fact that she made the sexiest fucking noises in her sleep. I didn't look too closely at the sense of peace I felt standing there looking down at her. By the time I crept from her place in the wee hours of the morning after making some changes to her place I was hard as a rock and suddenly full of energy.