Shadow of Temptation (Asylums for Magical Threats #2.5) Read Free Page A

Chaya juice was placed in front of her and she mumbled her thanks, but the tanned hand around her glass didn’t move. She looked up and her heart skipped a beat. She had to be seeing things. There was no way he could be back in Merida, not with the out she’d given him.
    But there was no mistaking the long, black hair pulled back from his face, the broad, powerful shoulders, or the scar running through his left eyebrow. The man she’d betrayed all those months ago was back.
    She managed to get her voice working again and said, “Why are you here?”
    Jorge Salazar sat down in the seat across from her and stared intently with an expression she couldn’t read.
     
     
     
    Jorge hadn’t known what to expect when he saw Sabrina Ono face-to-face again, but as she stared at him from across the table with her almond-shaped, dark brown eyes, an unexpected mixture of lust and longing shot through his body.
    At one time, even just the faintest hint of her scent would’ve gotten him hard as a rock.
    But considering what she’d done to him nine months ago—in addition to the secret he’d learned about her since then—he never would’ve expected the sight of her smooth skin or her short, sleek black hair tucked behind her ears to send blood to his groin. Shit, he knew it had been a long time, but this was ridiculous. Hadn’t he spent months planning his revenge against this woman?
    Remembering his imprisonment and sister’s torture sobered him up again. He had a job to do. The woman in front of him couldn’t be trusted and their past together wouldn’t get in the way, no matter what his dick might want.
    Jorge raised an eyebrow in nonchalance. “You really want me to answer that here, in a crowded restaurant?”
    She whispered, “You shouldn’t be here at all.”
    “That’s what you had wanted, wasn’t it?” He leaned forward on his arms. “Too bad, because you have information I need, and you fucking owe me. Big time.”
    Sabrina narrowed her eyes a second before returning to her practiced neutral expression. That was the bitch of working with someone who had the same training as you—they had all the same tricks.
    She crossed her arms over her chest, and it took everything he had not to glance down at her breasts as she said, “Stop with the ‘I’m such a badass’ attitude. Tell me why you’re here, and make it quick, unless you want me to call in your little appearance to your former employer.”
    “You go ahead and do that, backstabber, and I promise you’re not going to like what happens next.” He swore he saw something flash in her eyes—regret, maybe?—but he quickly brushed it aside. He pushed on. “I told you, I’m here to see you. I saw you scouting that school, and I want all the details.”
    If she was surprised to learn he’d tailed her, she didn’t show it. “You know I can’t tell you that.”
    He studied her for a second and couldn’t help but notice the circles under her eyes, or how her cheekbones were more pronounced than the last time he’d seen her. She clearly wasn’t taking care of herself. For a second, he wondered what was going on in her life, but then he clenched his fist and told himself that he didn’t care. No, make that he couldn’t care.
    Remember, you need to succeed in order to protect Alejandra.
    He leaned back in his chair. “Well, I’m not leaving you alone until you agree to answer some questions. We can either do it here, in full view of whoever might be watching. Or, I can go wait outside and you can wait a few minutes before joining me. Which way will it be, Ms. Saito?”
    Sabrina tensed a second and Jorge knew he had her. She recovered quickly and whispered, “What did you call me?”
    “Oh, I think you heard the first time. So, unless you want me to share your little secret with your superiors, you’re going to answer my questions.”
     
     
     
    Sabrina was having a hard time keeping herself together. Jorge was good at reading people, and she