Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 109640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
It fluttered onto his lap.
Fuck! Crew grabbed the memo, folded it up and stuffed it into his back pocket without even reading it. “How soon does she start?”
Williams’ rounded his desk, opened his office door and poked his head out, calling, “Cabrera.”
Cabrera? Why did that last name sound familiar?
And Crew hadn’t noticed anyone sitting outside Williams’ office when he entered, except for the man’s executive assistant.
Should he stay sitting? Stand? He had no fucking clue what was expected of him. With a grumble, he pushed to his feet and turned to see a woman entering the office, giving Williams a chin lift as she did so.
Not a woman, the woman.
Son of a fucking bitch.
Her heart-stopping dark eyes were laser-focused on him. Crew caught the slightest crinkle at the corners and a twitch of her lips before her expression turned blank.
No fucking way.
“Colin Crew is the group one leader of the Tri-State Federal Task Force that I told you about. You’ll be reporting directly to him.”
She stepped closer and jutted out her hand.
He stared at it for a second noticing what he hadn’t earlier—her very subtle manicure and ringless fingers—before letting his gaze slide back up to her face. But on that trip, he noticed she now wore an ID badge around her neck.
She had probably forgot it in her car.
For fuck’s sake.
“Camila Cabrera,” she introduced herself, then tipped her head when he still hadn’t shaken her hand. “Do you prefer Colin, Crew… or Sir?”
He blinked. What?
He opened his mouth, then shut it to clear his throat as he grabbed her hand, squeezing it more firmly than he normally would while shaking it. He might as well establish his dominance from the start because he had a feeling after their exchange outside, she’d be challenging his leadership.
At every fucking turn.
When she tried to pull her hand from his, he held it for a few seconds longer before finally releasing it. “Crew works. You? Camila or Cabrera?”
She shrugged. “No one calls me Camila except my grandparents. I respond to Cam, Cami or Cabrera. Or even C.C. That’s what my daddy calls me.”
“Good to know,” he practically wheezed, having a hard time breathing after hearing that last part.
Not only did her last name sound familiar, so did the nickname C.C. Even so, his brain was having trouble placing her.
“Well, I look forward to working with you and your team,” she said, a sparkle dancing in her dark eyes.
Jesus fuck, she was going to be trouble. She was going to overturn the fucking apple cart. He just knew it.
He opened his mouth to tell Williams that he wanted someone else to take Butler’s place. Anyone but the woman in front of him.
But just as the words were starting to form, Cabrera turned to the supervising special agent to ask, “When do I start?”
“Today.”
Today? He didn’t even get a fucking minute to come to terms with this whole thing? To prepare his team?
“All right, I have another meeting in five minutes. I just wanted to introduce you two.” He glanced at Cabrera. “Come to me with any problems.”
Go to him with any problems? What the fuck did that mean?
“Will do, sir,” was her answer. She turned to Crew. “Walk me out?”
Hell no. His eyes met Williams’ and he swallowed that answer. “Sure.” He waved a hand toward the open office door, and she stepped through it.
He followed her to the elevator. They said nothing while waiting for the car to arrive and once inside, both stared at the closed doors for the time it took them to reach the ground floor.
They said nothing as they stepped outside into the bright sunlight. Wincing, he pulled the sunglasses from where he had them hooked in his shirt’s neckline and slipped them over his eyes.
If there was a reason she wanted him to walk her out, she sure was keeping it close to the vest.
“Well…” he started, ready to get the fuck out of there.
“I bet you know my father. You seem to be about his age.”
There was no fucking way he was her father’s age. Unless she was conceived when her father wasn’t a man yet but still a boy.
He snapped his gaping mouth shut. “Who’s your father?”
“Williams didn’t tell you?”
Like earlier, he didn’t like the direction of this conversation, either. Not a fucking bit. “Should he have?”
“I figured that’s why you don’t look very happy about me joining your task force. Not because of our earlier run-in.”
“I—” didn’t have a choice, that’s why I’m not happy. Crew shook his head. Telling her that he was forced to accept her as a team member wouldn’t make things any easier for either of them. He didn’t have any choice but to accept the inevitable. “No, apparently he didn’t feel the need to share that information with me. Do you want to share it, instead?”