The Temptation Read Online Free PDF

an assassin. With him holding me, those dreams had become less frequent. Now other nightmares plagued me and I wished Nick and I were still together.
    No. I’m strong. I don’t need Nick.
    I braced my hands on the small porcelain sink and stared at my reflection. I had my father’s green eyes and dark hair and had been told I look like a pixie. A tough, deadly pixie. Those who lived after calling me a pixie never did so again.
    It was beginning to drive me crazy, how my thoughts kept going back to Nick. Even if I did have strong feelings for him, he lived in Arizona now. I wasn’t leaving Boston, my home, and my family. So what did he want from me?
    My heart felt like a tight fist was squeezing it and I couldn’t get Nick out of my mind. All of the times we had spent with each other, what we’d been through together, had made us close. With him gone I’d felt like a part of myself was missing.
    But love?
    And now it was Monday morning and I was going to have to face him again.
    With a deep breath I forced the thoughts away. I was tough, disciplined, and I could handle this.
    I splashed cold water on my face, which seemed to chase away remnants of my nightmare. I headed for the kitchen for some Captain Crunch and found that all I had was maple and brown sugar oatmeal. I mentally added cold cereal to my grocery list, which consisted of Guinness, Mountain Dew, pecan sandies, and a few other random things. The phone was my best friend, food only a dial tone away.
    Once I managed to drag my butt out of the house, I headed to HQ, driving from Southie to Boston in my black Jeep Cherokee. I usually listened to the news while I drove, but today I just didn’t feel like it.
    RED, the Recovery Enforcement Division, was a clandestine branch of the NSA. Only a few bureaucrats knew it existed, including Senator Jeanette Shelton and the President. Not even the VP knew of RED, much less the President’s cabinet members.
    The rest of the list of those aware of RED included a federal judge, a federal prosecutor, and the head of the NSA. No one else should know about it.
    During the drive my thoughts wanted to return to Nick and I had to keep telling them to shut the hell up.
    When I arrived at RED’s HQ, I guided my Jeep into the parking lot of the five-story building. It had an interpreter services sign outside, serving as the agency’s cover. I wore jeans, athletic shoes, and a white T-shirt with a white eyelet blouse over it that hid my shoulder holster and Glock.
    Once I reached the lobby, I nodded to the receptionist who gave a slight smile of acknowledgment. Past the doors behind the receptionist was administration where Special Agent in Charge Carter was probably playing solitaire, counting away the days until his retirement.
    Carter was ultimately responsible for every aspect of RED but I doubted he had a clue as to what the hell happened on a day-by-day basis. Our SAC let the ASACs—Assistant Agents in Charge—for each department handle everything and then our SAC took credit for all we did.
    At the elevators I placed my hand on a fingerprint scanner and within moments one of the elevator doors opened.
    Would Nick be here already? Nerves bounced around in my belly. Damn it. Since when did seeing Nick make me nervous?
    The elevator passed the second floor—narcotics and weapons trafficking; the third was technology theft; the fourth, terrorist activity and organized crime. And then the elevator stopped on my floor, human trafficking and sex crimes.
    Outside the elevator was a black tiled catwalk above a chrome and glass control center. A blue glow reflected off the shiny surfaces from the countless screens and monitors in Command Central, CC, which was below the catwalk.
    Directly in front of the elevator was a set of metal stairs that led down to the CC, which was outfitted with the highest level of technology in the world. That included technology that no one outside RED had a clue about. We employed the best developers