Operation London Read Online Free

moments of sputtering and she turned to Harry, her gray eyes broiling like storm clouds.
    "Even when I carted his ass in, he still couldn't respect me," she said, reaching absently into her bag for the stash of cigarettes she kept in the inner lining . Putting the white stick to her mouth, she was stunned to feel it snatched from between her lips.
    "Harry!"
    "I thought you quit," he said, staring into her eyes with such obvious disappointment that Ava had to look away. She rubbed a hand over her sculpted face, looking down at the complicated gold and red pattern on the carpet. It was more than the cigarettes that were causing Harry to look at her with such sadness.
    "He doesn't have any respect, Harry!"
    "Ava, you need to be beyond this!  How many times have I told you that you can't take things to heart."  He put one finger under her chin, pulling her face up so their eyes were level.
    "Kiddo, we're quiet . We stalk. Division Lynx. Not Division Wild Boar. You make the headlines and we lose some of the protection that secrecy affords us."  Harry shook his head. "I knew it was a bad idea to let you go ahead."
    "Harry, don't say that," Ava pleaded, grabbing at his hand . "I goofed, I know it, but don't blame yourself."
    "That's what we do," Harry said, shaking his hands free of hers gently . "We accept the blame when its ours, Ava. We all have to do that."
    Harry walked back to his car, leaving Ava alone, dressed to the nines and feeling miserable . He had warned her, long before this night, long before she had ever begun to get herself into trouble. Listening to Harry point out the mistakes in her execution of justice over the past few years, Ava noticed the same phrases had come up over and over again. You're not a vigilante. This is the law, it's not personal. You have to separate yourself emotionally. Sometimes you become the role you're assigned to. It's dangerous. You're going to get into trouble.
    And here she was . In trouble. She was too involved, and it was going to cost her. This time her saving grace was supposed to be the party. Now she had screwed up her salvation. If she had been afraid of meeting with Tess McQueen before, she was absolutely petrified now. Sighing she began to walk to the edge of the street. Her limo wouldn't be showing for almost an hour, and she didn't feel like waiting.
    The night air was humid and warm . Ava wished with her whole being that she was wearing different shoes. She walked carefully down the street, avoiding potholes and pitches in the sidewalk. Her silky hair lifted on the wind, blowing around her curvaceous body. Many men stopped to gawk at her as she traipsed by in her flame colored dress on her ridiculous heels. It made her consider how long it had been since she had gone on a real date. Thinking back, she found it difficult to pinpoint the last time she had just gone out to dinner, had a couple of beers, gone dancing or for a picnic. She felt a blush creep up her neck as she pulled at her mind, trying to find the last time she had been in bed with a man.
    Sinclair Lewis, a very cute coworker, had been her last serious relationship . She was shocked to realize that it had all ended between herself and Sinclair almost four years ago!  He had been nice enough and very good-looking. But even four years couldn't erase the general feeling of....she didn't know what it was exactly. Maybe it wasn't so much a feeling of something as a lack. Namely   lack of chemistry, which had been the contributing factor in the relationship's downfall, coupled with the fact that she doubted Sinclair had ever listened to a thing she said. She was merely an exotic ornament he wanted around to boost his self-esteem. Nothing more.
    Feeling completely dejected Ava found a bench and parked herself on it . Across the street she could smell the delicious aroma of piping hot beef from a food stand. She made her way over, feeling like she was floating towards the meal, especially since she realized an