Games Girls Play Read Free Page A

the cobblestones on the road were slick.
Late November was brutal. “What do you need?”
    Her handler usually phoned on Sunday, giving her a chance to
put things into her schedule. Rose disliked surprises, especially when she was
working overtime.
    “Nothing. I had someone stop by to deliver you an envelope
at your home. Oddly enough, no one was in and that charming little Goth girl
was cat sitting. I don’t have you as active this week.”
    Huh.
    An envelope.
    “You know I like to stay busy. Besides, I’m visiting an old
friend who I haven’t seen in months.” Her lips twisted and she stepped around a
Vespa that buzzed by. “I assume if I call home, Star will still be alive?”
    “She will.” Shelly sounded as affronted as a British granny
possibly could. Old bat.
    “Excellent. I’ll be home in a couple weeks. Is it important?”
    “Well, it’s not terribly urgent, but it’s an offer you
should consider.”
    “Ah. Excellent. I can do that when I get to the house.” She
turned a corner, pulled her hat down to cover her face.
    “You can. I take it you’re busy?”
    “Not really. Give me two shakes.” She saw her mark, walked
up and injected a pellet of fast-acting poison with a single tap of her
umbrella. Sometimes the classics were the best. “ Scusi .”
    She heard the body fall before she left the alleyway. Rose
smiled when she exited the alley, tickled as anything. Especially when she saw
the glint of a scope from the building three doors down.
    “I’m here now, honey. What else did you need?”
    “I just wanted to make sure you had everything you required.
Planes, trains, automobiles?”
    “I’m going to be heading to Spain for a few days, then I’ll
be flying into Toronto.” Maybe. She had tickets to go on a ship to St. Maarten
too, just in case.
    “I’ll talk to you after you get your next communique, then.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Have a lovely day.” She hung up, texted
Martinique with the location of her mark’s body, smiling all the while.
    Tag, Jane darling. You’re it.
    She got less than another block down the street when someone
joined her, a woman in chunky heels and a power suit, dark-chestnut hair slicked
to within an inch of its life. “Bitch.”
    “Mmm?” She fluttered her long, fake eyelashes. “ Ti conosco ?”
    “You are so not a local, signorina .”
    “No?” She chuckled softly, letting her amusement show, her
joy in their game making her heart pound. “I beat you to him.”
    “You did. Just. I think I’ll beat you.”
    “You managed to catch up quickly enough. Would you like a
coffee? A cappuccino perhaps?”
    “ Americano, per favore .”
    This was so damn fun, playing with Jane. A dangerous game.
    She walked up to a little window, ordering in Italian,
making small talk and flirting casually with the beautiful boy making coffee.
All the while her attention was on Jane, who stood under an overhang, out of
the rain, lean and tall and fierce, and completely unremarkable. No one would
notice her on the street. Rose, they would remember. “ Grazie .”
    They took their coffee standing, like the Italians would,
not willing to pay extra just to sit down. Jane powered down that Americano,
drinking it like a shot of liquor.
    Rose sipped her cappuccino, lapping at the foam and letting
it warm her, all through. Rome could be so wet this time of year. When she
glanced sideways, Jane was watching her mouth over the top of the sunglasses.
    “You visiting Roma long?” She was grateful for her raincoat,
because her nipples were so hard they ached.
    “Just long enough to get a feel for the landscape.” Jane
dipped a finger into Rose’s cappuccino.
    “Ballsy woman.” She let herself admire, let herself imagine
that calloused finger on her clit, drawing lazy figure eights until she
screamed.
    “I am.” Jane bumped her hip. “What about you? Do you have a
villa tucked away?”
    “I do. Here and in Malaga for a week. I needed to go shoe
shopping.”
    “Mmm. Buy some