Page 53 of Shades of Loyalty
But I can’t help myself.
Regardless of how he affects me, I stay still, my eyes locked on him. I wait.
After he finishes scanning the room, his eyes meet mine for a moment before he turns to Hayden and a man I don’t recognize. He looks older than everyone else in the room. I can already guess who this is.
“Alright, everyone,” Julian starts, but Daniel cuts him off with a sharp glare. “Thanks, but this is my job. I’ll take over from here.”
Julian scowls but doesn’t say anything. I imagine it’s for the best. I wouldn’t want to get into a fight with Daniel if I were Julian, but they come close every single day. Dangerously close, sometimes.
“As you guys already know, we have a new person working for us in medical treatment. I’m sure most of you gave her a visit, but if you didn’t, she’s here with us today,” Daniel begins. I blush immediately, wanting to hide. But it’s almost impossible.
Every single person in the room is staring at me, and though I hate the attention, I force myself to smile kindly.
Julian grins. And the moment I see that, I know it’s not a good sign. Not at all.
“Why isshehere, boss?” he says suddenly, his voice dripping with mockery.
God, I want to slap him. But only a naive woman would do that, and I’m not that stupid.
I sort of wish I was, though.
Daniel growls.
“She’s our new nurse, idiot. You should know that by now. How many times did you visit her? Four times or so?” he snaps. The words leave me feeling satisfied, but I know it was stupid of him to let Julian get under his skin. We both know that’s exactly what Julian wants.
“So? No woman has ever joined our meetings. I think it’s extremely unfair,” Julian rolls his eyes, visibly annoyed by my presence.
“No woman worked for us before, Julian. Get a hint, Jesus. You knownothingabout my family’s work, hm? Besides, her appearance isn’t even the reason for our meeting, so you can relax,” Daniel says, stepping back and pointing toward the whiteboard.
I exhale, relieved that Daniel doesn’t get the opportunity to engage with Julian any further. It’s the best for everyone here.
“You all know Volkov,” Daniel continues, gesturing to the board. “During our last meeting we had, his men were supposed to tell Hayden, Roy, and me about the shipment. Remember that?”
I shift in my chair, uncomfortable with the topic. I know it’s necessary to talk about, but I wish I didn’t have to be there while they discuss the man I failed to save.
My chest feels tight, like someone’s sitting on it. I can barely manage to breathe.
But I try to hold it together, refusing to break down in front of them. Daniel steps forward, keeping his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket, his expression hard and focused.
“Roy’s death made us lose a good guy. Not good enough, because he’d be here if he was. But that’s not exactly the point of this meeting, either.”
He pauses, his gaze sweeping the room. He ignores me for the moment, probably because he knows how much this conversation is hurting me.
And it is. But I ignore the images in my head, the staining blood on my hands. I try to steady my breath, pushing down the frustration and pain.
“The point is, someone talked. Someone knew when the meeting would take place and gave this information to someone else.” Another dramatic pause. “I still don’t know if those guys were supposed to kill Roy, or me.”
What the hell?
I look up at him, my expression shocked. What does he mean by that?
“It doesn’t matter right now.He’sdead. They’re gone. And until now, none of our missions have been interrupted. But the next shipment? It’s huge. And anything could go wrong. But we’re going to prevent it.”
A guy I don’t recognize stares at Daniel with a confused look. “I don’t really get it, boss.”
Daniel sighs as if he expects his words to be self-explanatory. To be fair, they kind of are, but he just has trouble explaining them.
I’m a bit confused, too. I know from a previous conversation that he hasn’t been the boss for long, but he really needs to work on his speech skills as soon as possible.
