Code of Conduct (Cipher Security, #1)

by April White

I use the Black Widow analogy because of my Iron Man leg, but I grew up on a steady diet of Charlie’s Angels reruns.

guys who cheat on their wives lie like shag rugs.

“Serves him fucking right for bangin’ someone else’s bongo.”

Bicycles and skateboards were approximately as welcome in his world as lice and misogynists were in mine.

I couldn’t decide whether I should be insulted or flattered, so I was both – and neither.

My thirteen-year-old self had practiced in a mirror until disdain oozed from my eyes when the eyebrow went up.

The money transfer had been done from Dane’s device to Dane’s wife. Those two salient facts meant the difference between something mischievous and something criminal, and no matter how annoying mischief might be, it wasn’t enough to trouble my conscience.

“A word only has the power you give it. Truth is just five letters unless the promise of it is honored, and trust – those five letters are meaningless without a whole lifetime of evidence to back it up.” – Gabriel Eze

The woman was a mystery – the good kind of mystery, with intrigue and hidden bits to tease and tempt a man into uncovering her secrets.

No one likes to be a foregone conclusion.”

“Fear and excitement produce the exact same physiological response. It’s what you do with all that adrenaline that makes things interesting.” – Shane, P.I.

I was smitten. More than smitten, actually. Probably something closer to besotted, with a side of lustful thoughts for added intrigue.

“Don’t shit on a plate and tell me it’s fudge.” – Dan O’Malley

the fake marshmallows in the packaged shit taste like freeze-dried ass pellets,

The fact that it was the elevator she strolled toward, and not actually me didn’t seem to matter. She was like a curvy magnetic neutron star, with the strength of a hundred billion Teslas. She smiled at me, probably because I was staring and it was either smile or flee, and the room lit up a thousand candle watts brighter.

“Was it really nice to meet me? Because I felt like you just sniffed my ass and raised your hackles to see if I’d submit.”

Everyone: “Are you a natural redhead?” Me: “No, I soak my hair every night in the blood of my enemies.” – Sandra Greene’s tote bag

“Obviously, The Princess Bride has a movie quote for every occasion, but you might be surprised to know that Bull Durham comes in a close second.” – Shane, P.I.

“When you wear black clothes and someone asks whose funeral it is, look around the room and tell them you haven’t decided yet.” – Shane, P.I.

“I tend to see things in zeroes and ones, Miss Hane. There are no degrees of truth. There is truth, and everything not true. When there are blanks, I fill them in. Mostly, I fill them in with the truth, but sometimes, when there isn’t enough truth, I get bored and creative, and that’s usually when people end up going to jail.”

“Payback and Karma are the bitchy little sisters of Revenge, and I promise you, it’s not a family you want to mess with.” – Shane, P.I.

“He would probably argue high-functioning sociopath with overactive protective instincts,”

“Cliffs of Insanity. Right after a sword fight with Inigo Montoya. He won, clearly.”

“We’re taught that parents are the ones we’re supposed to trust to protect us, and if they do their jobs right, we get to learn self-reliance in a safe and secure environment. But when they screw up – and boy, do they screw up – parental betrayal is possibly the worst thing a person can ever go through. When the person you trust most in the world tells you you’re shit, you either believe them, or you break.”

“Whatever words get said in the heat of anger, or cold fear, or even calm conversation, it is your choice to believe them, and your choice to give them meaning. Because you know what? They are just words, and the only power words have over us is the power we give them.”

“Falling kisses are the ones that whisper like snowfall in a great forest, filling the silent spaces with perfection. They make you feel as though you are the only two people in the whole world who understand.” – Miri Eze