To FlamingMushrooms, thanks for the suggestions! I used almost every one, and was extremely grateful. That last word especially. No other word could be better-- winks.

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Chapter 6.

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Declan's POV.

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Heading to Lucas's hotel room, I fought nervousness as I walked down that wide hallway on the fourth floor. My head spun with tips and pointers that I needed to remember about being Costales: how to walk, how to sit, how to stand, what to say. It was a lot to remember. At least Spanish was in my list of languages I was fluent in.

I didn't bother to knock on the door to Lucas's room since our studies showed that Costales never did so. I simply stuck in my key card in the slot and entered the hotel suite.

The suite was large, and red was the obvious main theme of the room. The headboard of the bed was tall, exquisitely carved redwood, with a shiny red satin bedspread, red pillows, red curtains… Then I saw the red wine sitting ominously in an ice bucket, with glasses nearby on the nightstand. On a silver tray were cherries, raspberries and strawberries. She had been expecting Costales, for sure.

She must have heard me enter because I heard her voice drift in from the bathroom:

"Is that you, honey?"

Her voice slightly startled me, but I quickly recovered.

"And who else would it be, mi amor?" I replied, grabbing a strawberry casually and popping it into my mouth.

"Perhaps the boogeyman, Victor," she said, drying her hair with a towel as she exited the bathroom. "You can never be sure these days."

God, she was different in person than the picture showed. Her wet auburn hair fell beautifully on her shoulders, and she sported a stunning figure, clothed only in a red towel to cover all unmentionables, which I suspected I'd be mentioning soon.

Somehow, I felt guilty in her presence, and began to think that the mission was turning awfully… easy. I began to feel dirty, like someone who was cheating on his girlfriend… even though I didn't have one. It was a very strange and confusing feeling.

But I tried hard to keep focused, keep in character, to keep my mind on the mission.

I reached behind my back and clicked on the wire I had attached there. All I needed was a confession, and then I could grab her and get the hell out of here.

"How long have I kept you waiting, Abby?" I said sitting on the bed and unbuttoning my shirt.

"Too long…" she replied, coming over to me and sitting on my lap. Oddly enough, I grew nervous, and I wondered why. I had done undercover jobs before… what made this one so different?

Oh, but I knew what was different. What was different was that I knew Zhen was watching me, even at this very moment. It put a huge dulling mark on my edge.

God, I hoped she'd understand. She had to… it was all part of the job, right? I reassured myself of this as I grabbed Lucas's face and kissed her fervently.

I was performing fine, but inside it was paining me to do so. Every touch of her skin to mine, every stroke of the hairs on the back of my neck… even through the mask it felt too real.

"What's the matter, darling?" she asked me, and that's when I knew I had screwed up. She was noticing something wasn't right in me. I had to make up for it.

"I just forgot how good you tasted, mi amor," I recovered smoothly, drinking her in once more. God, I might as well have been kissing leeches, for how much of a bad taste it left in my mouth, and how awful of a feeling it put in the pit of my stomach.

Even still, I powered on through, and wanting so much for the worst part of all this to end. I needed to talk, before this woman went for the gold with me.

"Darling," I spat out between breaths. "Dixon needs to know where we're going next… What do I tell him?"

She pulled away to glare at me with a deeply offended look.

"Always business, never pleasure," she said with a huff.

"Trust me," I said, nibbling at her ear. "Pleasure will be next. I just need to deal with this first before I can really… let loose…"

She smiled, most likely amused at this thought.

"No," she argued anyway. "You always say that and never go through. Pleasure first."

"I promise you, I will go through this time…" I tried hard not to sound desperate, and I could only hope I was succeeding. "Please darling, I want this done with."

"Fine," she said, reaching her hands around my back and holding me. "I'll tell you."

I smiled at my own victory and impatiently awaited her words. Then I felt her grasp my wire and crush it in her fists.

"But without this," she added, angrily throwing it to the ground.

"Declan, what happened?" Luther said in my ear. "I lost feed on your wire. Declan? Declan!"

I looked to Lucas with shock and confusion as she reached behind my ear and peeled the tiny micro-earphone off the back of my ear.

"Or this," she declared, throwing that on the floor too. "And definitely without…"

She reached to my neck, and slowly peeled off my mask. In shock, I watched as she smugly added it to the top of the pile on the floor.

"That," she finished triumphantly.

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Surprise! Tell me what you think.
Signed,
--RedRogue