Blacklisted: Blacklist Operations Book #1 by Lauren Devane Page B

guy or a bad guy?”
    “What do you think?”
    “I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.” Suddenly it felt urgent that Aidan tell her how he classified himself.
    “It’s not that simple. Good, bad…it all depends on the day of the week. You’d probably consider me good. Others would see me as bad. Neither of you would be totally right.”
    When he’d started in the Army and been selected for Delta Force after four years, he’d considered himself wholly good. Serving overseas hadn’t shaken that image, nor had the first years with his elite squad. But things became gray and he left after a mission went bad and he found a way to get to Bartek.
    Then Oliver approached him and offered him another opportunity. No part of him wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t say no either. Not after what had happened.
    “So how do you see yourself?”
    “I’m just a man,” he said. Sophie wanted to ask more, but he was at the end of his rope, so she let it go. After a few minutes of silence, the car swerved.
    Sophie bolted to attention to find Aidan shaking his head, forcing back the sleep he desperately needed.
    “No way, Aidan. Either you stop for the night in the next five minutes or I’m driving.’
    “I wouldn’t let you behind this wheel for all the gold in Cairo.”
    “No. I’m sorry. You can hit me. You can drug me. You can force me away from my first real vacation in years and threaten to kill my best friend. But you’re not going to get me into two car accidents in one week. Not going to happen.”
    “You aren’t in change here.”
    “Maybe not. But if this car wrecks again, I will stop being cooperative. I will immediately run as far away from you as I can get and you’ll have to go explain to your precious boss that you were too stupid to get rest.”
    He sulked, but took a turn and pulled into the parking lot of a hotel. Turning off the engine, he slumped back in the seat and she gave a silent prayer of thanks.
    “Why did you think I’d run away from you when we got off the boat?”
    “Wouldn’t you have?”
    “I was planning to, but I reconsidered it after awhile. I guess I hadn’t made a decision yet.” The motor clicked as it cooled and she examined the rundown two-story motel.
    “Can I trust you here?”
    “If you promise me that you’ll actually sleep, I give you my word that I’ll be quiet and cooperative—at least until we’re back in the car.”
    He didn’t say anything, just searched her face as if trying to determine her sincerity.
    “I want to live, and I’m willing to work with you to achieve that if you’re willing to work with me.”
    “Deal.”
    Aidan climbed out of the car and walked around to let her out. Her legs were cramped, but the fresh night air helped her feel more awake than she had since the last time he slipped her sleeping drugs. Aidan unlatched her cuff and pulled her small, soft hand into his.
    “I have something to help treat your wounds. It was delivered with the car, or I would have given it to you on the ferry.”
    “What is it?”
    “A medication that’s currently being tested for field use. I can’t promise anything, but for most people it speeds healing fast enough that I’m willing to bet the last of your bruises will be gone by morning. Your hands should start to feel better too.” Remorse darkened his eyes, so she stopped herself from making any pithy remarks.
    They walked into the lobby and Aidan made arrangements with a man in a Red Sox hat. It seemed oddly out of place so far from America. Aidan took the key and guided Sophie to the elevator. The carpet was threadbare, worn from footsteps and weather. Even the air left a dry taste in her mouth, and she desperately wished for a glass of water to clear away the cobwebs in her throat.
    The room had little to recommend it. The bed was a double with stiff sheets and slick blankets that made a crunching sound when she sat down. The walls were papered in a red and gold pattern that had