SASSY IN STILETTOS ARe version by Nana Malone

never
forget in his life. He could still feel her hands in his hair as she tugged. The
disbelieving expression in her eyes when he’d slid his finger over her clit and
sent her reeling over the edge. The way she’d ridden the waves of pleasure,
directly meeting his gaze, her lips parted as she whispered his name over and
over and over again.
    Caleb’s orgasm slammed into him, quick and hard. His
body trembled as the memory of her took hold, nearly solidifying in his brain. Even
as the warm water sluiced over his sensitive skin, he wasn’t satisfied. The
tension wasn’t as prominent, but the need was still there.
    “Fuck.”
    He turned the water to icy and gritted his teeth. Harsh,
but it was the only way he was going to get her out of his head. She didn’t
want anything to do with him, so the best he could do was focus on work.
    Teeth chattering, he turned off the water and
wrapped a towel around his waist. Before heading into the bedroom to get
dressed, he grabbed his phone off the kitchen counter and made quick call.
    “Sabine, bring the girl over.”

Chapter
9
    Caleb eyed the young brunette as she strolled
around his apartment, touching all the electronics. “Something doesn’t feel
right about this, Sabine.”
    Sabine ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “Look.
It’s a babysitting gig. You only need to watch her for a couple of days. A week
tops. I’ll get everything sorted and get the heat off of me, and I’ll come back
for her. That’s it.”
    Caleb studied Sabine. Her large, doe-brown eyes
made people want to believe her. They had been her greatest asset in the field.
She looked innocent. It didn’t hurt that she was beautiful, but her eyes sold
it. As she turned them on him now, he knew better than to think she didn’t
understand the effect she had on people. But the Sandersons had died. And she’d
been partly to blame. He wanted to believe that Sabine had an in with the
cartel, that he could finally find out who killed all those agents. That family.
That little girl. But he also knew better than to place his trust in Sabine. When
all had been said and done, Sabine had pointed the finger at him at the debriefing.
Said it was his poor planning to blame. And the brass had believed her. Sure,
he still had his post, but he’d lost the will to keep working. If she’d told
everyone what she’d seen, he might have had a very different life.
    Through the corner of his eyes, he watched the
girl as she examined his television. She ran her hands across the top. Her eyes
widened like she couldn’t believe how big it was. As she flicked her hair over
her shoulder, she glanced back at him. Caleb’s heart seized. Flat, dark brown
eyes stared up at him, but there was something... He couldn’t put his finger on
it, but there was something familiar and sad about the girl. 
    Maybe because she had that same glassy, panicked
look in her eyes as Micha had at the rehearsal. “Carlotta?” he asked. “How old
are you?”
    Immediately her gaze darted to Sabine before she
answered. “I’m twelve. I will be thirteen in December.” Her accent was lilted
and thick, but she spoke English. Her father had gone to school in the states
before returning with his business degrees from Wharton to take over his family’s
criminal enterprises. An America success story of sorts.
    “Do you watch much television at home?”
    This time the gaze she gave Sabine was hostile,
reproachful almost, but she answered him quietly. “No. I wasn’t allowed.”
    That would explain her fascination with the
television.
    “Caleb?” Sabine snapped her fingers in front of his
eyes. “Do we have a deal? I don’t have much time. If you’re not going to watch
out for her, then I need to make other arrangements. But I have to tell you,
given that we’re here, I don’t really have many options.”
    Caleb turned his attention back to the woman he’d
once believed he loved. There was something off about her. About the girl.
About the