So Close I Can Taste It

Tommaso

It killed me to leave that place without Paige. But then, Zahur would’ve killed me if I refused, and I was no good to her dead. When I so much as frowned, half a dozen guards poured into the room while he just kept smoking that goddamn hookah. I’d agreed to come back tomorrow, ready to transfer the money, while Zahur did some “looking around.”

Just thinking about him, even across the city in my hotel room, made me violent. Someday, I’d crush the smile off his face. For now, Paige came first.

I paced beside my windows, overlooking Cairo at night and the door, while I nursed a glass of imported scotch I’d pilfered from the bar downstairs. My room had a minibar, but I needed the tumbler in my hand to steady me.

After another long sip, I took out my phone and called Killian. I’d made a number of promises on his behalf.

My best friend picked up the phone quickly. “Good news or bad news?”

Just hearing his voice across the line, sharp and precise, made me a little less nervous. He wo