Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
“You should not trust her.” Jezebel stood just outside of the suite. Ryan was at her side, but his gaze was on the closed suite door.
Two of Jezebel’s guards waited down the hallway, poised near the elevator. He recognized Hans and Mayo because they were the two men who typically accompanied Jez wherever she went. Her personal protection service.
When you’d made as many enemies as Jezebel had over the years, you tended to need your own guards. People you could trust completely.
On more than one occasion, Jezebel had hinted to him that she was ready to get out of the business.
It was hard to tell her age for sure. When streaks of gray slid into the darkness of her hair, she tended to take steps to ruthlessly eliminate them.
A former ballerina, Jezebel still worked out religiously.
Her mind was razor sharp, and her instincts were usually on target.
Which meant…
You should not trust her.
Hell. His gaze slid to Jezebel. Her words had only carried to him. The guards near the elevator would not have been able to pick up her whisper. “You know something you want to share about Simone?”
“She is a ghost, I told you that already. The fact that she has no history should make you extremely nervous. It makes me nervous.”
“You have her prints.” He was sure of this.
Jezebel had causally offered Simone some tea after they’d come to an agreement about Simone’s cooperation.
As soon as Simone had headed into the bedroom to rest for a bit, Jezebel had made the little tea cup vanish.
Thus, the prints. “I know you’re going to run them. ”
“And I know that I probably won’t get hits in any system on them. Something tells me that your new friend hasn’t been apprehended before.” A thread of admiration came and went in Jezebel’s voice. “She’s good at her job.” A little hesitation. “Might even make for a good CIA operative.”
He took a step back. “We are not recruiting Simone for future missions.” No way.
“You’re right. We should see how this one goes first before we make future plans. Good call.”
His temples throbbed. “You just told me not to trust her.” Now she wanted Simone to join the CIA? What?
Jezebel smiled. It was her unsettling smile. “Just because we can’t trust the woman, it doesn’t mean she can’t be exceedingly useful. Use her.”
Use her. Those two words did not sit well with him. His hand rose, and his index finger skimmed over the bridge of his nose.
“You’re doing it again,” she murmured. “Feeling guilty, are we?”
His hand dropped.
“That’s one of your tells, and I’ve warned you about it before.” She had. “You rub your nose when guilt slides through you.”
He’d broken his nose ages ago. When his sister Agnes had fallen out of a treehouse and he’d caught her. In return for his heroic effort, she’d kicked him in the nose. An accident.
And yet…
Funny thing about that whole incident…he felt guilty as fuck about it. To this day. Because he was the one who should have been watching Agnes on that fateful occasion. He’d promised to watch her, but he’d gotten distracted and…
He’d barely made it to the treehouse in time.
I won’t get distracted ever again. When someone needs me, I will be there.
“Don’t feel guilty for doing your job,” Jezebel advised him.
“I’m not going to let Simone get hurt.” They needed to be very clear on this particular point. “She will not be put in danger.”
“The woman is playing a game with international criminals. She’s already put herself in danger.” A pause. “What was she trying to steal that was so valuable?”
He stared back at Jezebel.
She grunted. “If you don’t know, find out. And if you know and you’re covering for her, why the hell are you doing that? Red flag. Blazing red flag.”
“Jez…”
“My goal is to apprehend Konstantin. He’s my target.” An inhale. Her slender shoulders seemed to brace. “My final one, by the way.”
Shit. “You’re seriously retiring?”
She looked toward the waiting guards. “My father had this charming little villa in France when I was a child. It was surrounded by miles and miles of fields. Beautiful green fields.” She sucked in the side of her cheek. “No bad guys. No monsters. No death. I was safe there.”
He knew her father had been a French artist. He’d fallen hard for Jezebel’s mother when he met her in South Africa.
Jenkins was not her real last name. Then again, Jezebel wasn’t her real first name, either.
“Sometimes, I miss safety.” Her gaze was still on the two guards. “You get tired of worrying about betrayal everywhere you turn.”
“Jezebel.”
Her gaze slid back to him.
“I would never betray you.” A promise that he meant to the depths of his soul.
“I know.” A brief smile. A real one that lit her dark eyes. “But everyone isn’t you.” She pointed toward the door. “I like her.”
Okay, that was surprising as hell. Especially since Jezebel had begun their little corridor chat by saying Ryan should not trust Simone.
“Not many people would still be sarcastic as hell after what she experienced. That tells me a couple of important points about her. She’s tough.
She knows how to hide fear. And she’s highly adaptable to high-stress situations.
She is a true chameleon.” A little furrow dug between her brows. “That makes her incredibly dangerous.”
“Being a chameleon?”
A slight incline of her head. “I’m a chameleon. So are you. We’re whatever we need others to believe we are. We blend in order to get our missions accomplished. That woman in there—Simone Sailor or whatever her real name is—she is only showing us what she wants us to see. Stay on alert with her.”
“You just said you liked her.”
“You like her, too. Isn’t that the problem you have?”
His lips pressed together.
“She’ll either help us and cooperate or she’ll set us up. Time will tell. Stay on guard.” A rough exhale. “Dammit, I wish your brother Nash was still working with us. I could use more people that I trust on this one.”
He wished his brother was with him, too, but he was damn grateful that Nash had finally gotten out of the CIA and that Nash was back to focusing on being a doctor once more.
But, in terms of people Jezebel trusted…
“Oh, you’re saying Harry isn’t good enough?
Do you not have faith that he’ll take out all the bad guys in a single, powerful attack? ”
She quirked a brow. “Are we being funny?”
“It’s his third mission,” Ryan murmured. “He’s just hitting his groove.”
“Why in the world did MI6 give us a green agent?”
Now that was a great question to ask. Dead serious, Ryan responded, “Perhaps because someone wants us to fail.” The only answer.
They shared a long, hard look. Then Jezebel asked, “Did you show Simone the chip that had been hidden inside the egg?”
“No. Didn’t show it to her. Didn’t mention it at all.” Things were classified for a reason.
“So she did see it when Konstantin originally gave Frederick the egg.”
“Maybe. Or maybe she found it when she swiped it from me.”
“Excuse me?” Real surprise.
Yeah, he hadn’t been able to tell her that part before. “Uh. The egg. Uh, she might have swiped it from me at one point, but I got it back. No worries.”
She did not blink.
“I got it back.” A bit defensive.
The wheels seemed to turn behind her dark eyes. “So we don’t know if Simone found the chip when she stole it from you or if she really did see it when Konstantin delivered the egg. She could be lying to us in order to avoid arrest.”
“We don’t exactly have a lot of reasons to arrest the woman.” Ryan had to point out, “She stole from Frederick. He’d have to press charges. I was bullshitting with her about the arrest because I wanted to keep her close.” I want to protect her.
“Oh, I am sure Simone is aware of any pending charges. The very fact that she has agreed to cooperate in lieu of any charges tells me that your friend has committed all sorts of crimes.”
He feared the same thing.
“She can be useful or she can be a wrecking ball to this mission. Watch her. Guard her. Protect her.” Jezebel began to walk down the hallway. But, after three steps, she looked back at him. “Just be careful and don’t fall for her.”
Ryan laughed.
Jezebel didn’t.
“Oh, come on.” Another rough laugh escaped him. “It’s me.”
“Yes, and I saw the way you looked at her. Be careful. Even spies can get their hearts broken.”
He had the feeling she was speaking from personal experience. But she didn’t need to worry about him. “No worries. My heart isn’t on the line.”
She didn’t reply. Jezebel took the egg—she’d tucked it into her pocket—and she climbed onto the elevator with her guards. A few moments later, the elevator doors closed, and she vanished from sight.
His heart was not on the line. Not. One hundred percent not.
He opened the door to the suite.
Harry rushed toward him. “I, uh, couldn’t stop her!”
Fuck. “What did she do?” He closed the door. Secured it. He’d left them for minutes. Minutes. And Simone should have been sleeping during that time. Only…
She strolled from the narrow hallway, looking extremely bright-eyed and awake.
“Calm yourself. I was starving. I figured you had to be starving, too, so I ordered room service.” Simone slanted a glance toward Harry.
“Someone nearly fainted. Though why he fussed so much, I have no idea. Room service is not a capital offense.”
Ryan squeezed his eyes shut. “You couldn’t stop her from ordering food? You couldn’t stop her from making a phone call?” What if the call hadn’t been to room service? What if she’d called someone else and leaked their location?
“Well, I, um, didn’t want to hurt her…”
Ryan’s eyes flew open. “Damn straight you didn’t want to hurt her. You put your hands on her, you hurt her, and we’ll have a major fucking problem.”
Silence.
Okay, he’d probably been way too aggressive with all of that.
His breath blew out. Slowly. “We’re not eating in here. Simone and I are going downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant.”
“We are?” Surprise flashed on her face. “But…the hit…”
“The goal isn’t to stay hidden. The goal is to bring the bad guys out into the open. We’ll have eyes on us at the restaurant.” Jezebel had already told him that agents would be located throughout the hotel and restaurant. Just not the agents he knew and trusted well.
“Cancel the order,” Ryan told her.
She stared at him a beat longer, then spun on her heel and marched back down the hallway to the bedroom.
“How do you know…” Harry’s low voice. “How do you know that she isn’t calling some of those associates she mentioned? She could be plotting her escape.”
“She’s definitely plotting an escape.” He’d be a fool to think otherwise. “It’s just not going to happen. I won’t let her go.” His gaze had lingered on the hallway as he watched Simone vanish, but now he glanced at Harry. “Don’t ever hurt her.”
Harry swallowed. “Understood. I-I wouldn’t.” Then he grimaced. “Unless I had no choice. Unless…unless she is coming at me with a weapon and I had to stop her…”
Ryan moved to stand toe to toe with Harry. “Can I trust you?”
“I’m MI6!” His cheeks flushed. And his voice cracked.
“That’s not a yes and that’s not a no.” He stared into Harry’s eyes. “Let me make certain that I am perfectly clear. Simone doesn’t get hurt.”
“Th-that’s…it’s not something I can promise.
It’s not something you can promise!” Fast words.
“If she comes at you with a knife or a gun…you’ll fight back, too.
Unless you’re going to vow that you won’t ever hurt her, either?
What are you going to do, stand there while the woman kills you? ” Harry asked Ryan.
“Ahem.” Simone’s overly loud throat clearing.
Ryan had already heard the tread of her returning steps. The little tap of her heels.
Harry looked over at her, aghast. But Ryan kept his gaze on his prey. You will not hurt her.
“I am not planning to kill anyone,” Simone announced. “Not a soul. As the saying goes, I’m a fantastic lover, not a fighter.”
What? Ryan’s head swung toward her.
She smiled at him. “Hi, there, lover.” Simone winked.
He growled.
“I’m about five seconds away from hangry, so how about we head out?
” She’d swiped some slick, red lipstick across her mouth.
Put a little dark shadow over her eyes. The lipstick made her mouth look all the more tempting.
The dark shadow somehow had her eyes appearing even bluer.
Simone extended her hand toward him. “Shall we?”
He took her hand. Curled his fingers with hers. “No one is killing you.”
“Right. Because you’re my protector, and they’d have to go through you in order to get to me. That’s the deal, isn’t it?” Mocking words.
“Yes.” Not mocking. One hundred percent serious. “That is the deal.”
But her expression changed. What could have been alarm flared in her eyes. “I promise not to kill…” Her stare darted toward Harry. “I will not kill either of you. But in return, how about you two charming gentlemen promise not to die? Because I truly do not want anyone’s blood on my hands.”
Oh, he did not intend to die.
And he would make no promises as far as killing was concerned.
“I won’t die,” Harry swiftly said.
Ryan lifted Simone’s hand to his mouth. He just could not help himself. His lips brushed over her knuckles, and he reminded her, “Pretty sure I told you before that there’s something I intend to do before I die.”
Her brow crinkled in thought. Then her eyes widened as she remembered.
I’m damn well not dying before I fuck you.
“Time for you to get the hell out of this suite, Harry,” Ryan ordered. “Keep your eyes open. You pick up intel that I need, then you come to me, right away. Until then…” He lowered Simone’s hand. “I’ll be staying close to our very important witness.”
As close as humanly possible.