ANTONIO

Our mission is simple today. The only thing my team needs to do is infiltrate a corporation building and download the Intel the place has on their hard drives. It should be easy, especially because I'm going in solo, undercover.

I've been under cover so many times. It's one of my specialties. I'm just a people person and know what type of lies people will believe. Plus, I'm a Mexican. Everyone loves Mexicans, right?

Well, maybe not Trump.

I smile as Felix fixes the tie that's around my neck. He runs his hands over my collar and down my black suit. "You're looking good."

I display my winning smile and nod. "Why, thank you."

"Remember, you won't have a gun." Drake's voice thunders from beside me in the van. "So, make sure it doesn't come down to that."

"Of course." I agree. "But, I have my ring, which has a laser in it, and a bunch of other weapons that will not be detected. Like, the knife in my belt buckle or the ones in the soles of my shoes."

"And you have your com in your ear." Felix reassures me, even though I don't need the reassurance. I'm confident I can get in and out of the building quickly with what we need.

The com in my ear won't be noticed as well. The com is made of a plastic substance, and it's so tiny that I can barely see it in Felix's hand before he puts it in my ear. The object works, though, and the only way someone would see it is if they used an otoscope like the ones doctors use to look inside patients' ears.

"Remember your lines?" Felix asks, but I ignore his silly question as I hop out of the van and grab the brief case full of fake documents that I'm supposed to carry in.

"No need, brother." I reply quickly. "I got this. See you in a few."

They close the van door, and I adjust my suit and tie, not looking back. I run a hand over my curls, making sure they're in place. I haven't looked in a mirror, but I'm sure I look sexy as hell in this attire. Hopefully, the person at the counter will be a woman, and I can just swoon her to let me inside.

As soon as I step in and see a blonde with brilliant blue eyes that look me up and down, I know I've got this in the bag. The room is small with a few waiting chairs sitting atop a marble floor. A few doors line the walls, and a semicircular desk stands front and center in the room. Behind it, there are a few doors which I assume lead to the more important parts of the building, one of which owns rows of hard drives and storage.

With a smirk upon my lips, I waltz up to the counter and set my briefcase on the floor. "Hi. I'm here for a routine checkup on the hard drives in room 47."

Ajax is in my ear in an instant. "You're with the security company, Maxwell."

I smile at the lady and pull out a card from inside my suit. On it, Maxwell's logo is etched. Information about my fake identity is also on it, and I gladly hand it over to the curious desk clerk. "I work under the Maxwell security company. This month's checkup is scheduled for today."

Fortunately, Ajax cancelled the real monthly checkup so that there wouldn't be any problems.

"Let me do a quick security check." The woman sets my card on the marble counter as she begins typing away at her computer. "Give me a couple minutes, Mr. Martin."

Whatever online information she looks at, I will check out on. Ajax has got layers and layers of my fake identity out on the web and in the system. And after our business, he'll erase it quicker than anyone can blink.

"Okay. You checked out. But, if you don't mind, I'm going to join you for the inspection." The woman says as she leans over and presses a button on her desk.

"If I don't mind?" I jump to flirt as I glance at her name tag. "I'd love for you to join me, Lydia."

Whatever button she clicked has a new lady joining them from the back. This woman has dark skin, short, black hair, and a curious look in her eyes.

"This is Maxwell's inspector they sent for this month's inspection."  Lydia repeats to the dark haired woman. "Will you watch my desk for a few minutes while I escort him downstairs?"

"Of course." The woman gently smiles and seats herself at the front desk.

Well, this is a minor setback.

"Thank you." The pretty blonde hands over my card and leads me to the back. As we walk down the narrow hallway, her heels click against the shiny marble floor, the sound bouncing off the walls. "So, I don't recognize your face. Normally, Maxwell sends Broderick. Was he sick today or something?"

I clear my throat, and within that time, Ajax has already searched the system for Broderick and his information. Ajax's raspy voice is like music to my ears. "There's no Broderick. She's tricking you. They send a different guy every time, anyway."

I smile to the lady. "I am not sure if I've met this Broderick guy. I thought they just sent a different person every time."

The lady seems satisfied with my answer as she tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She opens the door at the very end of the hall and walks me inside where rows and rows of towers are filled with hard drives. Row seven is where I need to go, but I don't make a beeline for it. Instead, I walk over to the sole table that rests in the corner. It has a few chords and empty hard drives atop it, but I scoot the objects aside and place my briefcase on it.

I sift through my papers for a moment until I pull out a clipboard with a long checklist on it. As soon as the lady takes a glance at the paper, I can tell she isn't going to be patient through this process.

Good. Maybe, she'll leave early.

I smile at the woman as I start on the first row, checking off boxes as I gaze up and down the aisles. She isn't amused as she leans against the table and watches me complete the first page of checks. When I flip the page and begin working on the second row, she sighs and says, "So, what's your story, Mr. Martin?"

I recall everything Ajax said about my fake identity, and I gladly recite it. "Please, call me Ray."

"Okay, Ray. What's your story?" She tilts her head, one leg crossing over the other.

I move to the third row as I remark, "You first, Lydia."

"Okay." Her smile is brilliant as it lights up her olive skin. "I work this job during the day, but when I get home, I write and record songs."

When I nod and lift my eyebrows as if I'm impressed, she continues. "One day, I'm going to make it big so that I don't have to sit behind a desk any more."

"If you believe it, you can achieve it." I reply as I walk over to the fifth row.

She giggles at that, her laugh so cute. This mission has been much more enjoyable than I expected it to be. "So, what about you, Ray?"

"My job bores me as well." I tell her my fake relation. In fact, I tell her quite the opposite of the truth. "Nothing interesting happens. Ever. It's the same damn thing every single day."

"I agree." The woman bites her lip as excitement flickers in her eyes.

I move on to the sixth row. The seventh is so close I can almost taste it. All I need to do is plug in my flash drive into one of the hard drives in the seventh row. It should be easy because the flash drive I have is hidden as part of my watch. All I have to do is take it out, plug it in, wait until Ajax gives me the go, and then tuck it back into my watch like nothing happened.

Other jobs have been much, much harder than this.

Lydia suddenly stands up straight and begins walking toward me. "Do you want to spice up our work a little?"

The breathy way she says it has me losing my focus. Still, my legs carry me to the seventh row. When I see the hard drive I need to plug my flash drive into, I quickly take the tech from my watch and plug it in, all in a matter of seconds before Lydia walks down the row and over to me.

"Spice it up?" I chuckle lightly. Boy, I must look mighty fine in this suit to have her craving me already. Normally, it takes at least an hour to have a woman at my feet. "What are you saying?"

Lydia's diamond eyes stare at my lips as her red fingernails move along the length of my clipboard until she has her hand on my belt buckle, yanking me toward her. I let the clipboard clatter to the floor as our bodies slam together and her lips find mine.

"My god." I hear Ajax laughing as mine and Lydia's heavy breathing fill the air. "That's one way to get the job done. Just be ready to get out of there whenever I give you the go. The flash drive is already at thirty percent."

Damn. I wish it would load slower. Lydia has both her hands lost in my hair as my arms wrap around her waist. Her red lips smash against mine as our tongues tangle together. Hot breaths splay over our skin, our hearts racing.

This got heated, fast.

"Fifty percent to go." Ajax says in my ear, making me want to rip the earpiece out. While making out with a girl, hearing his voice is just weird.

Lydia's fingers pry at my belt, but I know we won't have time for that, so I stall. I grab her ass and lift her up, pressing her against the aisle behind her. We make out some more, and then I bow my head, letting my lips roam across her jaw, her neck, and farther down.

"You've only got twenty percent left." He tells me. "Might as well close it up, hot shot."

I pull away and smile to Lydia as she stares down at me with her blue eyes full of lust. Seeing that look in her sexy eyes makes me want to forget about the mission in general, which is pretty embarrassing, but what can I say? I'm a ladies' man.

"Lydia, this has definitely spiced up my day, but I just got promoted from a desk job to doing this. If I get caught with my pants down, I'll have hell to pay with my boss." I tell her all of this, her eyes narrowing with disappointment. "But, I'd love to have your number."

She sighs. "You really want to end this before it even gets interesting?"

I tilt my head, my expression probably showing her that I want to do exactly the opposite, and that leads her to lean down and to kiss my lips again. Her hot touch against me makes me curse women for their sexiness.

"Got it. Get out of there, Tony." Ajax's voice pierces my ear as I use my free hand to reach behind Lydia and snatch up the flash drive. I slip it into my watch easily behind her, and I can let out a breath of relief when I know I'm in the clear.

I continue to make out with Lydia, unable to break apart from her.

"Tony?" Ajax groans. "Come on man, get out of there."

I would answer him, but I can't. Lydia's hands have found their way up my shirt, her small hands rubbing down the length of my abs. Her lips have latched onto mine, and I can't find it in myself to stop her tongue from sliding into my mouth.

Abruptly, my phone goes off in my pocket, and Lydia and I finally break apart. Her lip folds over as she pouts, but I have to put her down to answer my phone. "Hey, boss. I know. I'm almost finished here."

I send her an apologetic look as I gesture over to my briefcase. In it, I pull out a pen and flip over a piece of paper. Lydia stares at it for a moment, but she comes around to signing her name and number on the sheet, adding a cute little heart beside her name.

I mouth, "Thank you."

She fixes her dressy attire so that it looks normal. She moves on to combing her fingers through her blonde hair, but I'm already closing my brief case and heading out the door. She follows a step behind, but I know that our conversation--of sorts--is sadly over with.

Soon, I'm out the door and walking toward the van. Once I walk around the vehicle, I slide into the driver's side and glance at Ethan, who is seated in the passenger seat. The look he gives me sends a shiver down my spine.

"Yeah... Sorry, I got a little distracted." I admit, dropping my brief case off somewhere behind me. I put the van in drive, not hesitating to pull out of the parking lot.

"You don't say?" Ajax's smart remark makes me roll my eyes.

"It's fine." Ethan says with a wave of his hand. "You got the job done efficiently. Good work."

"Thank you." A weight is lifted off my chest as I stare into his approving eyes. "Who says you can't mix work with fun?"

"Sometimes, your fun gets a little out of hand." Drake concludes from somewhere in the back of the van. We're already on route back to the CIA building, so my focus is on the road, not on him; however, his comment takes me back to the day where my mom said something along those same lines.

"Tony, this is getting out of hand." My mother said as she stared at the apple in my hand. I had stolen it from a local grocery store on my way home from school. My mother and I didn't have enough money for lunch, so I was starving. I couldn't help myself.

"We moved here for a better life." My mom told me with deep worry lines etched above her head. "You can't get caught stealing. Do you know how much I had to pay David to let me marry him so that we could be US citizens?"

I was only fifteen, so I didn't really understand, but I thought I did. I thought I knew everything then.

"David isn't a good guy." I remember telling my mother. Her brown eyes narrowed at me, her frown deepening, but she knew I was right. David just got married to my mother because he knew she'd do anything to let us become US citizens. Anything.

"I love you mom." I told her, sighing. We were both in the small mobile home David owned as we talked, sitting at our tiny dining room table. "But, I'm going out to get us some cash."

"Honey, you can't keep doing this." She shakes her head as she twists her wedding band around on her tanned, wrinkly finger. "Stealing is bad. God would not approve."

"God would not approve of David." I replied shortly before rising from the table. My appetite was lost, so I handed the apple over to my mother. She looked hungry to me in that moment. "I'll be back, mom."

"Be careful, Tony." She responded lovingly, combing a strand of her curly brown hair behind her ear. "Please."

"I will, mama." I told her before kissing her forehead and exiting our house.

After I left, I walked down the sidewalks for a long while. I passed through some suburbs until I got to the larger part of the city, where the business was chaotic.

It was a good place to snatch wallets. I was never noticed stealing from there. We had lived in the US for three years so that my mom could become a US citizen after marriage. During that time, I perfected my craft of pickpocketing.

"Excuse me." I bumped into a woman who had on way too much makeup and looked at me with a condescending look in her eyes. I was glad I was able to dive my hand into her purse the same instant she was distracted.

The money I stole from her could've fed me school lunch for the whole month. I was proud of that gain.

I didn't steal from those who were nice. I didn't steal from those who looked like they needed the money. I took from snobby rich asses who didn't need the money.

The one time I stole and got caught, I stole from the wrong person. Well, technically, the right person—the person who basically saved my ass.

Jerome.

I was walking down the street just like any ordinary day when I turned a corner and rammed right into him. Immediately, my hands went to work.

My left hand unhooked and snatched up the black man's expensive watch as my right hand found a bulge in his pocket where I gladly took his wallet. While all of this happened, I talked to him loudly, spouting nonsense that caught him off guard.

"I'm so sorry, sir." I yelled as nearby people bumped us, giving me an opportunity to slide the man's belongings into my back pockets. "I apologize."

"You're okay, kid." The man said in his deep voice before stepping back. "Watch where you're going more often."

"I will, sir." I promised, and in that moment I felt bad because he was kind to me, but I knew I had to do it if I wanted to buy the things my mom and I needed. "Have a good day."

He probably didn't have a good day, especially after he found out he was pickpocketed.

I, on the other hand, had a great day. Little did I know, there would be more good days to come, all because I stole from the right man.