She ran a hand through her dark brown hair that matched Savvy’s. Her eyes held a hard glint as she surveyed the scene. “What just happened?”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead, trying to ignore the pain racking my body. This attack, this warning, changed everything. Our cover was blown. I plucked the knife from the ground and wiped the blade against my pants.
Marisa stepped closer. “What happened? Talk to me.”
I needed time to process this, so I lied. “I’ve been training. That’s all.”
She peered into the darkening copse of trees separating this house from the neighbors, like she didn’t quite believe me. Then she changed her tactic. “Has Savvy talked to you at all recently?”
“Nope.” I’d been hoping she was talking to her mom.
“I’m concerned.” She smoothed any wrinkles in her pants. “She’s not herself. She’s not fighting with me or giving me any attitude.”
What did she want from me? To tell her that Savvy would turn out fine and that everything was okay? I couldn’t tell her that because I wasn’t sure myself. Honestly? This was the least of our problems right now.
“Our family life hasn’t been exactly normal. I realize that.”
“Marisa.” I couldn’t lie anymore. I had to tell her. To hell with processing. We needed to take action.
She continued, “I’ve had time to think and to forgive. Now, I just want to get through this and move on with my family. Make up for lost time.”
I held back a sarcastic laugh. Life would never be normal. No matter how many times Savvy and I dreamed about a normal date, I never mentioned that to me it was just that, a dream.
“What?” she asked. “You don’t believe that’s possible?” Her words pinned me down.
I looked her in the eyes and spoke frankly. “No, I don’t.”
Marisa got in my face. Close enough to kill me if she had a knife on her. Close enough to put me on edge. But instead of yelling or lecturing, she gripped my arm.
“Don’t ever think you can’t have normal. Life is what you make of it. You have control to be what you want to be and do what you want to do. When this is all over, you’ll have a choice. I pray to God for Savvy’s sake that you choose normal.”
I broke our stare. That was easy to say but she hadn’t tried yet.
The screen door closed with a bang. “What’s going on out here?” Savvy stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. “Conspiring about me?”
Her mom jumped back, waved her hand and blabbered on about meals for the rest of the week. Good thing. Because her words had left their mark on me. Did I want to find normal? I couldn’t answer that yet. If I’d lived a normal life then I’d never have met Savvy.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to tell them. “Just stop it!”
They both fell silent. Savvy sniffed the air. Her gaze took me in, her eyes narrowing. She studied the ground, the impressions, the ripped grass. “What happened out here?”
I glanced between them, hating to shatter our pretense of a life. “We leave. Tonight.”
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About Laura
Laura writes about spies, murder, and mystery. She’s the author of the exciting Circle of Spies Series, the Prom Impossible books, and the time travel mystery books, Heist and A Royal Heist (2015). She’s a former elementary teacher and currently lives in New England. After spending time reading books to her kids and loving a good plot turn, she put her fingers to the keyboard. She writes to entertain and experience a great story…and to be able to work in her jammies and slippers.
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Redpoint Press
Heart of an Assassin: Circle of Spies, Book 2
Copyright 2012 Laura Pauling
Second e-book edition, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, except for brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, blog or broadcast.
This is a work of fiction, and is produced from the author’s imagination. People, places and things mentioned in this novel are used in a fictional manner.
Summary: Savvy finally reunites with Malcolm, the hot assassin she fell for in Paris. No longer the accidental spy, she strikes a dangerous deal with a family of assassins and must complete a series of deadly missions.
Edited by TS Tate
Cover design by Novak Illustration
ebook ISBN: 978-0-9852327-2-6
Find out more at laurapauling.com
Contents
About Heart of an Assassin
Title Page
Copyright
Also by Laura Pauling
One
Two
Three
Four
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Forty-four
Forty-five
Forty-six
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