Adverse Possession (The Anna Albertini Files #3) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,3

my eyes had her smile sliding away and awareness finally filtering into her gaze. The shake was quick. “If you don’t mind, I need to speak with Aiden alone.”

“I do mind.” As my equilibrium returned, my feet settled, and I focused on her instead of the Irish hottie I wanted to kick in the knee.

“Aiden?” She turned back to him, and the way she said his name with her accent was…intimate.

He looked at me. Tall, broad, and possibly about to break my heart. “Nope. Anna can stay.”

Sasha sighed, and even that sound was feminine. “We need to speak alone. It’s dangerous.”

His bark of laugh was unexpected but eased something deep down inside me. “I’ve learned the hard way that when I try to protect Anna at arm’s length, I end up getting shot. Or she gets something blown up. Whatever is going on, she knows the full story. Period.”

Sasha glanced at me again, and there was surprise on her face this time. “I see.”

“That’s good,” I said evenly. “How about you start with your lie that you’re Aiden’s wife?” Now my voice was all sugar and sweetness.

Her smile was catlike. “Ah, good times. We need to reprise the role, Devlin.”

Aiden leaned back against the now dry primer we’d painted on the wall two days before. “Sasha is ATF, and we worked an undercover operation a few years back.”

“I already figured that out,” I said calmly. I would not panic. If this very sexy woman wanted to go undercover as Aiden’s wife again, I would not panic. Nope. Not a chance.

He eyed her. “How did you find me?”

“Official channels,” she admitted. “Finally caught wind of Saber and he gave me your brand new address.” She looked at the far screen with its several rips. “Are you already undercover?”

Saber was one of Aiden’s ATF SRT members, and until now, I’d liked the guy. A heads up would’ve been nice, or perhaps he didn’t figure Aiden needed one with Sasha. Just how close had they been? From the way she was eating him up with her gaze, pretty darn close.

“No,” Aiden said. “I just moved home.”

The way he said the word home made my stomach squishy because it felt like he included me in that statement. Maybe I just wanted that, but by the stiffening of Sasha’s shoulders, she reached the same conclusion. Not that my mood depended on a man, but still. I felt a lot of things for this one, and I also felt no need to delve into those feelings quite yet. Right now, my curiosity began to filter into the irritation of the day.

“What’s the case?” Aiden asked.

Sasha took one more look at me and then apparently gave up trying to get rid of me. “How blown is your cover with the Lordes motorcycle club?”

Aiden frowned. “Most members were arrested and I replaced members with my ATF team, but we busted a gun trafficking operation undercover after that, and I’d say the cover is shaky. Not blown and no public record tying me with the ATF, but anybody trying to connect dots would be suspicious if they had half a brain.”

I thought the Lordes were in the past. Wishful thinking.

“Why?” Aiden asked.

“I have a line on Barensky,” she said.

He pushed off from the wall. The tension in the room heightened. “Barensky went under after we busted most of his organization. What kind of a line do you have?”

“I met with his representative in Denver, and I hinted that I had connections to a motorcycle club that would carry out a campaign for a lucrative payment,” she said. “I knew about your investigation with the Lordes, and the location is perfect. Barensky’s client is going to hit certain locations in Seattle, and Barensky doesn’t have the manpower to deliver because of us.”

Aiden rubbed the scruff across his rugged jaw. “Has the Op been sanctioned by headquarters?”

“Yes,” Sasha said. “The director wants to meet with us in Seattle Wednesday, but I thought I’d speak with you first.”

I bet she did. I’d tried to be patient. “Who’s Barensky?”

Aiden was taking the op. I could tell.

“He’s a terrorist who likes bombs. A lot,” he said.

Great. Just when things were calming down. I knew that shoe would drop, but I had no clue it’d involve bombs and arrive in the form of a sexy Louboutin wedge worn on the foot of Aiden’s ex.

There wasn’t enough pineapple on the pizza. I sighed and looked out at Lilac Lake from sitting on the edge of Aiden’s