Back for another #WIP Wednesday snippet again and I’ve got more from my upcoming release ‘Early Sins’ the prequel for ‘Lethal Sin‘. I premiered the cover already, so make sure to check it out! If you’ve already read ‘Lethal Sin’ you may have been a little curious about Camille’s sordid past, about how she got involved in the assassin game, which ultimately puts her on the path to collide with Mateo in the first book. I was so caught up in Camille’s story myself that this prequel started flowing out. This scene follows shortly after the intense series of blog hops (over the last few weeks) that outlined a sparring match / lesson Smith had with Camille, which all leads to Camille changing and growing into the assassin she’s meant to become.
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“I’ll survive, Smith. I always do. You don’t need to worry about me.”
He nodded and then rubbed at his neck again. “Good. Now, about the other discussion I want to have with you. You know how beautiful you are -”
“I know that assholes think I am.” Even if you don’t. “And that I didn’t have any trouble making money on the street, and I’ve never had to struggle to find a drink when I want one.”
“Yes… that’s all true, but your beauty is more than that, more than just some commodity you’ve traded. It’s a weapon too, a disguise, your biggest strength. You’re not the first woman to end up in this line of work, Camille. I’ve known a couple, and the ugly parts will always exist, the extra risk will always exist, but you have something I don’t.”
“Which is?”
He stopped them, facing her as he spoke. “They will always want to believe you are weak. That because you are beautiful, you are automatically fragile. They will always underestimate you, will think they can frighten you, break you, and that makes you far more deadly in this dangerous game we play than any man.”
“How?”
“Because, no matter what, you won’t break.” His jade eyes were steady as he said those words, but she couldn’t make herself respond. “You can make them believe anything you want them to. You can be tough and intimidating, like you were when we went on that job in New Hampshire, or you can make it so they never look at you as a threat. You can make it so their eyes skip right over you, or make them so distracted by your beauty that they never see the knife at their throat until their blood is pouring down their chest. That is what I want to show you next, the advantage you have.” He started to walk forward again, his eyes moving up towards the sky where the growing dawn was lightening the clouds. “We’ll talk about it tonight, after we shower and go back to sleep for a while.”
For a brief moment she saw his expression clearly, and for once she saw what was hiding behind the mask of cool control he usually had in place.
He looked proud.
He was proud of her.
“Okay, Smith. I’m in.”
He smiled a little. “I know you are, C.”
—
What are they going to do? Come back for #SatSpanks to find out! In the mean time, check out these other snippets on other blogs below.