Page 99 of When He Lies
“Stop!” Simone erupted. “I am not leaving you. You need me!”
In so many ways. For so many things. But mostly…
He needed her alive.
The plan to use her as bait had seemed fine before two different hitmen had come for her. The waiter and the prick at the Arch. Ryan wasn’t about to let jerk number three close in for the kill. “The CIA can handle this without you, Simone.”
“But I’m the one who ties Konstantin to Frederick!”
No. “Frederick is the tie. He’ll roll at our meeting.” A meeting that was fast approaching. “I can count on him to serve the Russian up to me.” An inhale. “Your services are no longer needed.”
“What?” She gaped at him.
“You were going to run away at the Arch.”
“I was…” Her words trailed away.
His head cocked. “When did you realize that Logan was here?” He replayed things in his mind. “You had the broach and earrings on you right before we went out for that walk to the Arch.”
She wet her lips. “When we first walked out of the hotel suite, I didn’t know Logan was here. I took the broach and earrings because if the chance to disappear presented itself, I-I wanted to be ready to take it.”
He nodded even as his heart squeezed. “And you couldn’t disappear without your prizes.”
“I spotted Logan when we were downstairs. I knew he’d recognize the broach and the earrings. I decided to make a quick drop of the jewels as we left the hotel. Logan knows me. He would be watching carefully, and he’d collect the items as soon as I left them behind.” She swallowed. “You did collect them, right, Logan?”
“I’ve got them,” he replied, voice hard. “After I secured them, I tailed Simone to the Arch. When I heard the gunfire, I was going to step in, and then all the spies started swarming. I realized then that getting to Simone was going to be tricky.”
So the guy had climbed through the ducts.
“And here we all are…” Logan drawled.
Here they were. But they were about to go in different directions.
“I didn’t want to leave you,” Simone suddenly said. “Not at the Arch. And I don’t want to leave you now. I don’t have to be bad luck. We can be good together, I know it.”
He shook his head. “Not good. Great.” Life with her would be great. She’d be everything he wanted. A lifetime of her smiles…I want a life with Simone.
But first, he had a case to close, and he would not risk her. There were too many uncertainties. Her safety was the priority. So he had to say, “I want you to go, Simone.” He’d been trying to figure out how to protect her, and then Logan had slid into place perfectly. Someone Simone trusted. Someone who would keep her safe.
“What does your boss Jezebel want?” Simone snapped out. “Is this cool with her? Because I’m pretty sure she said I would only stay out of prison if I cooperated with your team.”
“Oh, that’s some bullshit.” Now Logan was on his feet, too. Though he’d put down his gun. “You blackmailed Simone into helping you? Threatened her with jail? That totally deserves a punch in the face.”
Ryan put down his gun, too. “I can handle Jezebel.” And, no, Jez did not know that he was removing Simone from the equation. Because maybe Ryan had learned a valuable lesson on his last mission in Vegas. Maybe he’d realized that you couldn’t always trust everyone on your team. He trusted Jez, but the others around her? No. No, he couldn’t risk betrayal.
Two hitmen have gained access to Simone while she should have been protected by CIA operatives and MI6 agents. Two…
Bullshit that he didn’t like. So he needed to remove her from the grip of the CIA and of MI6. Logan Sterling had no allegiance to either organization. As far as Ryan could tell, Logan’s only allegiance was to Simone. So Logan was her pass to freedom.
Ryan’s lips curled in a sad smile as he studied Simone. “You are the love of my life,” he told her, and he meant those words. He’d gone years drifting from mission to mission. Then he’d found her. No, she’d found him. That was her thing, wasn’t it? She found what was lost. “That’s why I am telling you this with absolute conviction…”
“Ryan?” Her eyes were very, very wide.
“I want you to get the hell away from me.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Frederick’s head fucking hurt. A loud groan broke from him as his eyes slit open. Just a fraction because the light suddenly shining down on him was far too bloody bright. “Turn it off!” he snarled.
