Leon stared at me a moment, his head tipped slightly to the side. “Do you live far away?”
I grinned before I could catch myself. “You could say that.”
Knowing he’d already taken a browse through the Guild’s servers—something that he could be killed for if anyone knew—I was surprised he hadn’t run a search on me. Or maybe he had, but he was just making polite conversation.
“What about you?” I asked back, lifting my coffee to take a mouthful. “Your American accent is solid, I’m thinking you live somewhere on this side of the world.”
He just smiled, and something fluttered in my chest. Holy hell, Leon had a great smile.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to check as our waitress arrived with the plates of food we’d ordered. I’d opted for avocado on toast with poached eggs and blanched asparagus, with a side of extra crispy bacon. Leon had ordered a big breakfast, complete with a stack of pancakes covered in syrup, along with an extra side of bacon.
My stomach rumbled with the delicious smells, but as soon as I unlocked my phone, my appetite disappeared.
“What’s wrong?” Leon asked as I scowled down at my phone.
I read the alert over again, then sighed and put my phone on the table. “New assignment already. No rest for the wicked, I guess.” Except I was almost positive this next job was going to achieve what was failed in Prague. It was a suicide mission, through and through.
But it was also going to be my best bet at working out who was trying to kill me. It did seem odd that nothing had gone wrong on this mission. Maybe because I was working with a partner?
Or hell, maybe I was just being super paranoid and no one was actually trying to kill me after all.
“It hasn’t even been twelve hours since your last contract paid out,” Leon pointed out. “What’s the job?”
I gave a short laugh, picking up my cutlery to eat. I could look closer at the assignment when I was on my way home. “You know I can’t tell you that.”
Leon stared at me a moment longer, then ran a hand over his scruffy chin. “You always follow the rules so strictly, DeLuna?”
I almost choked on my mouthful.
“Yes, Marx, I do. And I’m willing to bet you do, too. No one gets to our level within the Guild by playing vigilante.” Except, I knew he’d hacked files that he shouldn’t have. Maybe Leon was more of a maverick than I gave him credit for.
Which would be disappointing… because rule breakers within the Guild didn’t last long. The executioners took them out swiftly, and it’d be a shame to never see Leon again.
He just smiled back at me. Then swiped my phone off the table.
“Leon!” I protested, reaching for it. The screen was locked, though, so I wasn’t that concerned. He was just teasing.
“Danny,” he shot back with a smirk, running his thumb across the screen and motherfucking unlocking it . “Chill, you’re not telling me, so no rules are being broken. Eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
The sheer authority in his tone almost made me do what he said, then I sucked a sharp breath and swiped for my phone again. He moved it out of my reach as he read the job description, leaving me with the options of letting him have it… or causing a scene getting it back.
As tempting as it was to leap across the table and wrestle it back, it was irrelevant. He’d clearly already seen exactly what I’d seen in that job assignment, because his smile slipped and his eyes widened.
“Danny, you can’t take this job.”
My temper flared. “Screw you, yes I can.”
Leon glared but handed my phone back to me. He’d seen as much as he needed to see already.
I gave a frustrated sigh. “I don’t really have a choice. I already declined three contracts this year.” While we were allowed to pick and choose our contracts, it was only within reason. No one knew for sure, but the limit seemed to be three declines per year. I’d never even met another merc who’d declined more than three… and lived to tell tales about it.
“The fourth decline execution is a fucking myth, Danny,” Leon scoffed. “The Circle perpetuated that rumor themselves to dissuade agents from declining jobs. They’re not going to kill an asset for being a bit fussy on acceptance.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t feel like testing that theory. Besides, the payout on this one is bigger than my last three years of work combined.” I shrugged like I wasn’t internally panicking.
Leon threw his hands up, breakfast entirely forgotten. “Because they don’t actually expect you to make it out alive. Danny, this isn’t a normal contract. That target has been on the Circle’s personal hit list for years . Do you have any clue how many mercs have gone after him and never made it back?”
I gritted my teeth. “No. But you clearly do.”
His gaze flashed with frustration, and his jaw tightened. Evidently, this particular assignment was hitting a nerve for him, for some reason. Perhaps he’d known one of those previous mercs?
“Don’t underestimate me, Leon. I’m one of the best the Guild has right now, and this job is not beyond my abilities.” I pushed my food away. So much for a nice breakfast.
Leon’s nose flared, and his hand tightened into a ball on the table. “I wasn’t questioning how capable you are, Danny. But this target? He gets even the slightest hint that you’re Guild, and he will kill you. No questions asked.”
Oh yeah. This looked personal for him. Who had he lost?
Licking my lips, I tamped my anger and pride down. “Well then, I better not slip up.” I unlocked my phone and clicked accept on the contract.
Leon paled. Then he shook his head slowly. “This is suicide, Danny.”
“Every single mission we take could be suicide, Leon. We just have to be better than our folly.” I picked up my coffee and took a long sip. Even if I were leaving for the airstrip with an empty stomach, I needed a little caffeine in me. Then an idea popped into my head. “If you’re so concerned, do it with me.”
Leon’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
I indicated my phone. “The assignment called for two agents. Given the nature of it, I can assume the other was a tech bunny.”
He scowled. “What did you just call me?”
“Tech bunny,” I repeated, trying hard not to laugh at his outrage. “We make a good team, don’t we? I bet they already sent you the contract. Just accept it so you can watch my back again.”
Leon stared at me for a long moment, then ducked his eyes away. “I can’t.”
Oh. “Why?”
“I didn’t get the contract.”
But he hadn’t even checked his phone. And it was common knowledge that contracts were offered out to multiple tech bunnies, as they were less specialized. It was often a first in, first served for them.
“How do you know?” I pushed. Something was up.
He swiped a hand over his hair and looked back up to hold my gaze. “Because I put a block between our profiles. They won’t assign us any of the same contracts again.”
He did what?
“I wasn’t aware that was something you could do,” I murmured, trying really fucking hard not to let that hurt my feelings. “When did you do that?”