Free Lie to Me by Tori St. Claire

up from his gut and tighteneda fist around his throat. He’d known she belonged to Saeed, had even delivered her to the life of private consort. Now, jealousy was another thing he could add onto his list of hatreds. In thirty-two years, he couldn’t say he’d ever felt it. But as it burned through his veins, there was no denying that the idea of Kadir fucking Sasha made Alexei want to put a bullet between his fellow operative’s eyes.
    “Well that was brilliant,” Sasha muttered. “Why don’t you broadcast it over the news that I’m with you? Maybe then we can have all of the UAE chasing us.”
    Alexei arched one golden eyebrow. “Thinking a little highly of yourself tonight?” He let out a dry chuckle. “Your precious little mouth might drop a man to his knees, but I doubt many would hunt you down.”
    Anger turned Sasha’s pretty blue eyes into shards of glass. For a minute, Alexei thought she might reach across and give him the slap that insult deserved. Instead, she answered in a disturbingly level tone. “No. Just him.”

Seven
    S ounds to me like she knows our Kadir.” Grigoriy’s gaze caught Sasha’s, seeking confirmation.
    She gave him an affirmative nod before fixing her scowl on Alexei once more. He was out of line, and she was sick and tired of his attitude.
    The slight, momentary widening of his eyes gave her a measure of satisfaction. When he opened his mouth to speak, then quickly snapped it shut, she almost gloated. Would have, if the night hadn’t been such a crazy combination of topsy-turvy emotion.
    Grigoriy voiced her satisfaction with a low rasp of laughter. “She’s full of surprises, Alexei. What did Kadir call her? A treasure? I’m thinking I agree.” He tossed Sasha a wink that made it difficult to retain her boiling anger.
    The man could have been downright likeable if their circumstances were different. If he wasn’t carting her off to her father. If he weren’t paired up with the damnably sexy Alexei, who seemed to have earmarked the word
asshole
for his exclusive use.
    So much for longing to see Alexei again. She’d be glad to get the hell away.
    “Sasha, kitten, why don’t you tell us how you know Kadir?” Grigoriy suggested quietly.
    She couldn’t hold back the sharp remark that had been budding since Alexei shot Saeed. “I thought Alexei had everything all figured out. Plan A. Plan B. Hail Mary.” A scoff slipped free. “Kill the sheikh.”
    Warning flashed behind Alexei’s eyes, hard, cold, and dangerous.
    She held his gaze, meeting him challenge for unspoken challenge. “If you’d done better research, you’d know Kadir bin Imran’s been playing both sides of your little game.”
    Both men visibly tensed, their posture stiffening.
Damn it.
She hadn’t meant to let on that she understood what had happened with the human trafficking ring so intimately. Doing so risked revealing the years she’d spent employed by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. As a senior defensive weapons engineer, her job with the FSB hadn’t related to undercover operations—not technically, at least—but she’d been through enough training to understand the intricacies that were required to expose Amir’s human trafficking ring. Her familiarity with the
Bratva
and how deep the organization ran filled in the remaining holes.
    All things she couldn’t risk revealing unless she wanted to spend the rest of her life in jail. If she even made it that far before her father and the
Bratva
found her.
    “What do you know about Kadir?” Alexei asked with frightening calm.
    Sasha winced as she tried to straighten her legs, only to have her swollen ankle protest the movement. She bent over to gingerly massage the rapidly purpling skin. “He’s been trying to buy me from Saeed for the last year and a half.”
    She waited long enough for the meaning to sink in before she looked up at Alexei. He exchanged a wary glance with Grigoriy, then turned a narrowed frown on