Page 103 of When He Lies
“An egg,” Simone supplied. “Fabergé. Worth a cool thirty million.”
Logan whistled. “I could go for an egg like that.”
“It had secrets inside of it.” Simone squared her shoulders. “The kind of secrets that spies need.”
“So…” Logan was right beside them. “Where might the egg and the secrets be right now?” He glanced around the suite. “Guessing they aren’t just stashed in the suite’s safe, huh?”
“No.” Ryan pulled away from Simone. “Jezebel has them.”
“Oh, shit.” Logan rocked back on his heels. “She’s here, too? Look, that lady came to see me a time or two after the big dust up in Vegas. Got to tell you, I think she was threatening me. Maybe even blackmailing me.” His voice went flat. “Really fucking hate it when I’m blackmailed.”
Ryan just nodded. “Sounds like Jezebel.” He looked at his wrist. At the big, silver watch that circled his wrist. “Time to get moving. I need Simone out of here before the meeting. Out of the suite. Out of the hotel. Hell, out of the city would be good.”
Logan grimaced. “Sure, I’ll just fly her back to Vegas. No big deal.”
“It is a big deal.” Simone remained rooted to the spot. “I don’t want to leave you, Ryan.”
“People are going to die, baby. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
That terrified her. She did not want him dying. In fact, that was going to have to be something that was completely forbidden. No dying for Ryan. Ever.
“I’m trained for this.” His voice was low. Soothing. “You aren’t. If you are here, I will be focused on you. My attention will be split. That split attention could jeopardize the mission.”
“You’re just saying that, so I’ll feel guilty and agree to leave.” He hadn’t been talking about any split attention when he and Jezebel had been pulling her into the big mission in the first place. Now, two tiny attempts on her life later, and he was singing a new tune.
Ryan’s lips kicked into a half-smile. “I’m saying it because it’s true and because I need you to feel guilty and leave with Logan.”
Tears stung her eyes. “This phone had better ring the instant you are done. And you do not get shot. You do not die, understand?”
“Say you love me. One more time.” He swallowed. “I want to hear it.”
“I love you.” Easy. So why did emotion nearly choke her as she spoke those precious words? “I love you.”
“Good, then?—”
“But I am not crawling through an air duct vent for you. That is just not happening.” She actually would do it if necessary. She was just pissed that he was sidelining her.
“You don’t have to do that,” Ryan assured her. “I’ll get the guards to move position. I’ll clear the hall long enough for you and Logan to make an exit via the stairwell. I strongly suspect you already plotted a way out that would have you hidden from pretty much everyone’s line of sight anyway, didn’t you?”
Yes, she had. “The guards in the stairwell will need to take a break.” It wasn’t enough to just clear the hall outside of the suite.
He nodded.
“And you will absolutely have to stay alive.” How many times should she press that particular point?
Logan began to pace. “I really don’t like this plan. It’s shit.”
They both looked at him. “You got a better option?”
“I’m not the damn spy!”
No and neither was she. She was just a thief who had fallen completely and totally for the spy who swore that he loved her.
Meeting time.
Eight a.m. Ryan sat at a table in the back of the restaurant, one that would allow him a perfect line of sight to study every person who entered the establishment. He’d already ordered the full English breakfast—eggs, hash browns, black pudding, toast, and sausage. The waitress brought him freshly blended coffee along with the meal. The waitress—Charlotte. She sent him a covert wink before disappearing into the kitchen.
And he waited.
