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I glanced over where he’d said and sure enough, there was a man inside an open cabana, talking on his cell. He wore drawstring linen pants and a matching button-down shirt, left open at the neck. Two other men were in there with him. As I watched, he lifted his head and looked at me. I closed my eyes and leaned against Kade, running my fingers through his hair.

“I see him,” I breathed in Kade’s ear. My heart was still pounding, but now for another reason. “Are you going to kill him?” I had to force the words out. Yes, I’d always known what Kade did for a living, it had just never been as real to me as it seemed right now.

Kade pulled back until we were practically nose to nose. “What would you say if I said yes?”

I swallowed. “I’d ask you not to.”

“And you think just because it’s you who asks me that I’ll do it?”

“Why would I have any influence over what you do?” It was a valid question. Trying to persuade Kade upon a course of action was like trying to coax a tiger into obedience. He had a mind of his own.

Kade didn’t answer, and after a moment he cocked a half smile.

“He’s paying me to hack him, not kill him.”

“What do you mean?”

Kade’s shoulders lifted in a shrug underneath my hands. “A new business venture I started,” he said. “High-level security penetration testing. They hire me to make sure their business is really secure.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Well if he hired you, isn’t he going to know what you’re here to do?”

“Nope.” Kade’s smirk reminded me of a smug teenage boy who’d managed to steal a girl’s virginity before delivering her back home to her overprotective father. “They don’t know who I am or what I look like. They hire me through a representative, then get notified of the test results.”

“How?”

“If I make it in, I take double my fee.”

“Which is?” Tacky to ask, I know, but I couldn’t help it. Curiosity got the better of my manners.

Kade leaned forward and whispered in my ear a number that made my jaw go slack.

“You like me a little more now, princess?” he said.

I drew back sharply. “It’s been a while since you implied I was a gold digger,” I snapped, hurt.

“What else do I have to offer?”

Kade’s bitter reply made me frown and I wished I could see his eyes behind the dark glasses. His hands seemed to be touching me almost without conscious thought, one grasping the back of my neck while the other settled just above the top of my bikini bottom, his thumb brushing my lower back.

“Why would you say something like that?” I asked. “You’re a good man, Kade.”

“You make me wish that were true.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but Kade had discarded his sunglasses and now his mouth was sucking lightly on my neck. My nails dug into his shoulders, his chest brushing against mine and making the blood heat in my veins. My eyes drifted closed at the soft touch of his tongue against my skin.

“Hit me.”

My eyes fluttered open again. “What?” Surely I’d misheard him.

“My target. He’s been keeping an eye on you. The bruises gave me an idea. So in a moment, slap me as hard as you can.” Kade’s words spoken in my ear made me swallow hard.

“I don’t want to hit you,” I said. “I… can’t.”

“You’ve done it before.”

The reminder made me wince.

“Not a whole lotta time, princess,” Kade said. “Let’s fight. Make it look good. I’ll drag you out of here and we’ll make a nice big scene.”

“I’m not hitting you,” I repeated more firmly. I didn’t care if it was playacting. I regretted the times I’d struck Kade and wasn’t about to do it again.

Kade heaved a long-suffering sigh, his breath warm as it fluttered against me.

“Fine,” he said. “Then I promise I’ll pay you well if you make this look good and forgive me later.”

“What—” The word was cut off on a gasp as Kade’s hand fisted in my hair, tugging my head back sharply. It hurt. Not terribly, but it surprised me.

“Now flinch like I’m going to hit you,” Kade hissed.

I did what he said, cringing away from him. He pulled again on my hair and I made a noise this time, a little cry of pain. A quick glance over and I saw Kade’s target was no longer on his phone and was watching us.

Kade jerked me closer and I whimpered. His lips were at my ear. “Nice job. Is he watching?”

“Yes.”

Then Kade was up out of the water and hauling me none too gently to my feet. He’d grabbed his sunglasses and put them back on, and the look of cold fury on his face would have terrified me if I hadn’t known this was a setup. As it was, my hands still shook as he dragged me to the daybed to get my things.

“Put some clothes on, unless you want everyone to see you for the fucking whore you are.”

Kade’s scathing insult was loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, including the man in the cabana.

I dug my cover-up from my bag and jerked it on over my head, pretending I was hurriedly obeying out of fear.

“What the fuck is that? I hate it, and it probably cost me way more money than you’re worth.”

Kade reached out, grabbing a fistful of the fragile lace and gave a sharp tug. It ripped easily, parting down my front until it hung limply from my shoulders.

I stood in shock. That had cost a lot of money and Kade had just destroyed it. Granted, it wasn’t my money, but still.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” I exclaimed, anger making my voice shrill.

In a flash, Kade had me by the back of my neck and was in my face.

“Don’t think for a second you can talk to me like that and get away with it,” he threatened. His hold on me was firm and didn’t hurt, but I made noises like it did.

“Everything all right here?”

The voice came from behind and Kade abruptly released me. I turned to see the target had come up to us. No wonder Kade had been laying it on thick.

The man looked me over carefully, his gaze pausing on the bruises decorating my torso, before glancing at Kade.

“Everything’s fine,” Kade said, his voice smooth and cold.

“I wasn’t asking you,” he said, turning back to me. “Miss? You all right?”

“She’s fine, too,” Kade said, and now I could hear danger in his tone. “So fuck off, friend.”

Kade took my elbow and steered me back to the hotel. I glanced back once and saw the man staring after us, a frown on his face.

Once we were walking down the hall to our room, I chanced a question.

“How’d you know you’d get his attention that way?” Not every man cared when a woman was being pushed around.

“He has a daughter about your age,” Kade replied. “It was a hunch.” He unlocked the room and held the door open for me as I passed by him.

“Are you all right?” he asked as the door swung closed.

“Well, you ruined my shoes and my cover-up,” I said with a sigh. “If I’d known you were going to do that, I’d have gone to Walmart for them.” I could’ve bought groceries for months on what those things had cost.

Kade tossed his sunglasses on a table and stepped in front of me. “I don’t give a shit about the clothes,” he said. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

My stomach twisted at the look of concern on his face and I couldn’t answer right away, not that it seemed to matter. He was busy inspecting me himself, circling behind me to lift my hair. I guessed he was checking for marks. His hand brushed the back of my neck and shoulder.

“I wish you wouldn’t be so cavalier with the stuff I bought,” I said, trying not to think about his hands on me.

“I’ll buy you new ones.”

“It’s not that,” I said, turning to face him and forcing him to drop my hair. “It’s a waste of money. Your money. And it bothers me.”