Byzantine Heartbreak Read Online Free

himself smile. “Why not?”
    “Letch,” Nayara chided him. Her frown came back.
    “What?” he asked.
    “I may even have imagined it,” she said. “The reaction, that is.”
    Ryan found himself straightening up as he put the bits and hints she had given him together. “Wait...wait. This isn’t someone you like. Well, you might like them. It’s someone you think likes you. Or is...what, making a move on you?” He lifted a brow. “Hitting on you ? Someone has guts.”
    The crease between her brow deepened a little. “I’m not sure they had seduction in mind, Ryan. It was incredibly subtle. And subtle isn’t something I would usually associate with this person.”
    Who has she been meeting with the last two days? Ryan made a mental note to find out as soon as possible. Who was it that had flummoxed her? He hadn’t seen her so unsure of herself in years.
    “So you think you may have been misreading the situation?” he coaxed.
    “Possibly.”
    “You weren’t,” Ryan said flatly.
    Nayara simply looked at him, waiting for him to explain himself.
    Ryan shrugged. “At the level we work and the sort of people we deal with, they don’t accidentally let slip anything. Everything they do, subtle or not, is planned and deliberate. They’ve had training and years and years of experience at hints and gestures and timing. Whoever this joker is, they meant to leave you with exactly the impression you got.”
    Nayara was back to frowning again. “They meant to leave me confused?”
    Ryan shook his head. “They left you thinking about possibilities. Potentials. And they’re going to leave you stewing about it for a while before they follow up with their next gambit.”
    “Which will be?” Nayara asked. Ryan was the politician, the strategist. Nayara always bowed to his expertise when it came to this sort of game-playing.
    “They’ll give you the perfect opening and wait for you to make the next move. To commit yourself by showing interest.” Ryan shook his head. “Gutsy. They’re obviously very good at this. They have to know you and I would talk about it and that I would figure this out. They have to know I would warn you and if they know you at all, they know your standard reaction would likely be to take their head off, symbolically, if not literally. But they’re still making a move anyway.”
    Nayara’s frown deepened. “I can’t take his head off,” she said simply. “He knows that.”
    “ He? So it’s a man I have to castrate.”
    “You can’t touch him either,” Nayara replied quickly.
    “Why not?” Ryan had a sudden thought. “Hell, it’s not Cáel Stelios, is it?”
    Nayara rolled her eyes. “Are you joking? He’s more likely to hit me up for our best ouzo than a date. Besides, his style isn’t at all subtle. Do you remember his attempt to get my comm number the first time he met me?”
    Ryan grinned. “Wounded bulls have more finesse. My mistake. I know he’s attracted to you...but most men with a pulse are.”
    Nayara gave him a soft smile. Then she pulled the mantle closer around her shoulders. “So the best way to deal with this other man, you think, is simply to ignore the opening when he offers it?”
    “Only if that is what you want to do,” Ryan replied. He fought to keep his tone non-judgemental.
    Nayara considered the matter, her head tilted to one side just a little. Ryan didn’t let the slightly innocent posture fool him. She was a world-class analyst. Just because he was better at political strategy didn’t mean she was a lousy judge of people. She had to be good. She ran this station and an entire Agency of miscreants and rugged individualists, who had spent centuries, if not millennia, going their own way. Despite that, the Agency ran like a well-oiled pocket watch.
    Nayara touched Ryan’s shoulder. Her touch was light. Comradely. Nevertheless, he could feel the impact right down to his toes. He caught his breath, then drew in another lungful of air, hiding his