Heat and Pressure preview

There was blood on the wall and on his face, although he was quite sure that some of it wasn't his own. The man might have been a jeweler but he certainly fought like someone who didn't have any qualms about trying to break someone's jaw. A switchblade in the hands of that lunatic would have been enough to deal with even if he had been armed, but his gun had flown into a corner somewhere as they fought and he was bloody screwed, being beaten to a pulp by a traitor. The jeweler had loomed over him for a split second before lunging…and then fallen as a gunshot rang off the marble. He wheezed to his feet to face his savior and saw Kate holding his gun with shaking hands.

Lately, every time they worked together, everything went to hell.

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She had played the part magnificently; he had to give her that, although, with her customary stubbornness, she had yet again taken it too far. Outside of the jeweler's, he had warned her that failing to play her part could cost them dearly, but she had simply pouted at him and reminded him that all she wanted was to finish the mission so she could leave the CIA. He had to wonder if she was repeating her wish to "get out" to convince herself that it was even possible.  If she played her cards right, it could be.

And yet, the second they had entered the store to the chime of the doorbell, she was transformed. The elegantly sparse boutique held diamonds the likes of which he was sure Kate had never seen in her life and probably never would see in person again, jewels which cost more than her meager Pan Am salary paid in a year. But she hadn't flinched; instead, she had transformed, walking a little slower, a little straighter, into the poised sophisticate whose lover could afford to buy her multiple pieces from the cases. Thank God the CIA was footing the bill, although since it was just a loan he was still going to be left with the odious task of getting the bracelet she chose back from her. Richard would leave that up to him, of course. He watched her browse as they waited, absently toying with her own earring as she eyed a pair of ruby and silver chandelier earrings.