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  Without moving so much as a muscle, his entire demeanor shifted. A shrewd observer one second and a lethal predator on alert the next. His voice was deceptively smooth. “Has that happened?”

  Not exactly. Not to her anyway, but it had happened. “Once. A collection company wanted to locate a man past due on his car payments. He was living at his ex-wife’s address in a town only thirty minutes away. The company secured the car, but the collector inadvertently mentioned who had located the debtor’s new residence.”

  “And?”

  She shrugged, recalling the none-too-pleasant altercation that had happened only a few months after she’d gone to work for JJ. “People who lose their possessions tend to be very angry. They also want someone to blame for their misfortune, and this man in particular wanted to voice his displeasure. In person.” She paused for a minute, looking for the right words to help him understand without exposing too much of her own predicament. “I don’t want to experience that again. I want to create something. To build a career where my success will be limited only by my abilities.”

  He pulled in a slow breath, sighed as though he questioned having scheduled the appointment and sat up in his chair. “You realize there’s a lot more to this than syntax and technique, right? Even with persistence, you need damned good ideas and a hell of a lot of luck if you want to be more than just a hired coder.”

  “I will make my luck.”

  His eyebrows hopped high and his lips curled in a sly grin. “You quoting me because you believe it, or to let me know you’ve done your homework?”

  “Because I believe it. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken risks, and I doubt it will be the last, but every person has to make their own way. If the path doesn’t exist, it’s up to every individual to make one. You took your love of music and movies and made a niche for yourself. I can do the same.”

  “You use my app?”

  Her and everyone else eager to find new leads for their playlists or Netflix binges. Lystilizer had originally focused on music only, but had been expanded to include movies a little over a year ago. The algorithm behind it was amazing, evaluating each user’s individual libraries and making spot-on recommendations for new purchases. “I use it all the time.”

  “Music or movies?”

  “Both.”

  “Favorite band.”

  That drew her up short. “Can you actually narrow your favorites down to one?”

  One corner of his mouth twitched. “Fair enough. How about your top favorites in the last six months?”

  “Poe, Eve to Adam and Chris Stapleton.”

  He cocked one eye and crossed his arms across his chest, but his grin was playful. Clearly, he not only loved music, but he was familiar with a broad spectrum of genres. “Alternative, rock and country. That’s a heck of a spread. I’d have pegged you as a top forty girl.”

  She shrugged. “I like music that fits my mood. Why limit yourself to only one format when you can explore many?”

  “True.” He cocked his head. “So, what about movies?”

  For a second, she ducked her head, then remembered who she was talking to and shook off her embarrassment. What difference did it make what he thought of her burning through pop culture classics? “The Princess Bride and Always.”

  His smile deepened. “‘Wuv,’” he said, imitating the clergyman near the end of the movie. “‘True wuv.’”

  “‘You killed my father!’” she fired back with her own impression of Inigo Montoya. “‘Prepare to die!’”

  He laughed loud enough to fill the room, the rich rumble of it soothing away the remnants of her fears. “A classic. I’ll bet I could drop at least twenty-five quotes inside of five minutes. Maybe less.”

  “I’m watching Airplane next. Jason says it has just as many, if not more.”

  His laughter died off slowly, and while none of the suspicious tension she’d picked up on before returned, he studied her through slightly narrowed eyes. As if she were a puzzle he couldn’t quite put together. “How long have you lived in the States?”

  Every time someone asked that question all she wanted to do was bolt, but denying her heritage wasn’t an option. She’d long ago accepted her accent was too prominent to eradicate it without serious training, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable opening doors that might lead to more questions.

  The tattoo on his forearm drew her attention. Bold and drawn only in black ink, it resembled a tree but with a tribal style and surrounded a rugged H in the center. A mark with purpose, yet nowhere near as sinister as the tattoos she’d become all too familiar with in Russia. Was Knox dangerous? Absolutely. Her instincts with people were seldom wrong and for Knox they insisted he had an intellect not to be trifled with. She’d even uncovered rumors of he and the men he called brothers having ties to criminals. But sitting with him now—watching him and interacting with him—she sensed fairness. Honor and determination paired with an indomitable courage. If she expected him to take a chance on her, he at least deserved the same willingness in return, even if it gave him a lead toward discovering who she really was.

  She took a deep breath, straightened her spine and fisted her hands in her lap. “I left Russia about two and a half years ago.”

  Don’t miss TEMPTED & TAKEN by Rhenna Morgan.

  Coming soon in 2017 wherever Carina Press books are sold.

  www.CarinaPress.com

  Copyright © 2017 by Rhenna Morgan

  ISBN-13: 9781488024481

  Claim & Protect

  Copyright © 2017 by Rhenna Morgan

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