Stars and Scars (Platinum Security: Shadows of LA)

Chapter 3: Charlotte

Grayson's presence washes over me. I felt it before he even entered the room. He cuts an imposing figure, with broad shoulders, square jaw, and sinewy build. I can see the hints of elaborate tattoos on his forearms. They look like they go all the way to his neck. The idea of sitting still for hours and hours while a needle goes in and out of your skin terrifies me, and Grayson's done it a lot. This man is not afraid of pain.

His eyes capture me the most, however. The silver-gray depths of his gaze threaten to swallow me up whole.

Jax makes the introductions, but Grayson's gaze never wavers from me. Grayson is subtle, but I can feel my skin burning everywhere he moves his gaze. This guy isn't on the Platinum Security social media pages. He must be new.

Lucky me.

"Grayson is one of our newest assets, but he comes with a grocery list of qualifications. He spent over a decade working for the CIA."

"The CIA?" My voice breaks a little when I speak. "What kind of stuff did you do for the CIA?"

Grayson's nostrils flare as he takes me in with his gaze.

"The kind of stuff I'd have to kill you if I told you about it."

If anyone else said that sort of thing to me, I'd laugh in their face. Grayson doesn't inspire anything of the sort. I feel a chill run down my spine. I can see things in the depths of Grayson's eyes. Things that tell me he's hurt people before. Killed them.

I should be afraid, and I am a little bit. But I should also be repelled, and I'm not. Instead, I feel a need to get closer to Grayson. A lot closer.

Jax keeps on talking, droning on about Grayson's credentials. I nod and try to listen, but it's hard to do anything with those smoldering silver eyes burning everything they touch.

I wonder if the impression I get of Grayson is right. He seems authentic, but he worked for the CIA for a long time. Could he possibly be for real underneath all of his spy layers?

Or is that perceived realness just another layer of smoke and mirrors, obscuring the truth?

If he is as real as he seems, then it's as if he's from the exact opposite universe as me. In my world, everything is out in the open, but glitzed up and staged and produced.

Grayson walks in a world where the glitz doesn't count. I get the feeling that he's all too familiar with the dark underbelly of both of our worlds.

Jax winds up his spiel, and gives me a look as if he expects me to say something back. I hadn't been paying attention, not really. I stammer out something generic.

"It sounds to me like I should be well protected."

Jax beams a smile, so I know I said what he wanted to hear. He turns to Grayson, still grinning.

"Well, Grayson, it looks like you're going to do some real work for a change, instead of playing in the jungle and licking hallucinogenic toads all day long."

Grayson cocks an eyebrow.

"Actually, the hallucinogenic slugs give a much better buzz."

Jax snorts, and Grayson shrugs.

"I'm ready to begin the mission..."

Grayson squeezes his eyes shut and contorts his face into a grimace.

"I mean, I'm ready to start the job. I do need more information, however, about the nature of the threat Ms. Gilroy faces."

"I can play you the video they hacked into my live stream." I dig in my purse and extract my phone. "And please, call me Charlotte, not Ms. Gilroy."