Page 26 of The Spy
"Yes, you. You're a skilled senior agent, and you've been an agent for over six years now. You're good undercover."
"But that's always been short term."
"We don’t mean to overstep our boundaries here," Frank interjected. "We know Oversight is here as an uninvited guest, but this is right up your alley, and we wanted to present the opportunity."
I was going to fucking kill them. They knew the protocol was to talk to me and Saff first, and then we would decide. But now they made this announcement in front of the whole team. Gennifer wanted the chance to call me out for saying no about Tabatha. Wanted to see Tabs's reaction when I said she wasn't going.
Tabs was a team player though, and she saw some of the bullshit from a mile away. "Well, you presented it. I'm sure that Saff and Gabe have many thoughts on this idea, so I'll talk to my bosses and they'll let you know."
Gennifer arched a delicate brow. "Don't you realize that this is an opportunity for you?"
"It is. But again, it's not up to me, or you, to make this call, is it?"
Gennifer licked her bottom lip, and Frank was frowning at her. I could see it now. She'd presented him with an opportunity and he thought it was a great idea, but he hadn't seen her other agenda.
Frank wasn't a stupid man. Now he was seeing the way Gennifer's wheels were turning, and he didn't like what he saw.
Rather than spouting the flippant, Welcome to the club, buddy, that was on the tip of my tongue, I turned to Frank and said, "I believe you heard my agent. We'll deliberate and let you know."
Gennifer blinked her eyes. "This isn't something we can sit on for long, Gabriel."
"I'm aware of that, Ms. Goode. We are Rogues Division. We know how to handle this. So we'll discuss it and let you know."
With an irritated huff, she pushed to her feet and stormed out. Frank stood, smoothed his jacket, and turned to follow her as he said, "She's right, this is time sensitive."
"I understand. It's still a decision I have to make though, isn't it?"
He nodded. "We await your response."
When they were both gone, my sister glanced at me with a full-on what-the-fuck expression written all over her face. But she composed herself quickly and turned her attention back to the team. "Let's finish our meeting. Gabe and I will deal with the arseholery afterward."
Oh, I'd deal with it all right, with my hands around Gennifer Goode’s bloody neck. No fucking way was I letting Tabs go undercover as some billionaire's girlfriend.
Over my dead fucking body.
Or even better, over his.
Gabe
"How do you want to handle it?" Saff asked as she marched into my office, throwing her hands down on my desk like I had some ultimatum to answer for.
“Get the fuck out,” I growled. From my side of the desk, I just scowled at my sister.
“Just a bit tetchy, aren’t you? Obviously, it’s not ideal.”
I stared at her. Was she kidding me? Not ideal? This was a bloody disaster. Tabatha undercover with some handsy twat. She was a bloody field agent. She wasn’t suited to long-term undercover work. Moreover, I needed her training my team.
I wasn’t going to let that wanker put his hands all over one of my best fucking agents. “It’s not bloody happening. She’s not fucking going under,” I muttered through clenched teeth.
"Tabs is not the one you're mad at."
I knew I was being irrational. But irritation and anger still bubbled under my skin. How the fuck dare they walk in and throw jobs at my goddamned team?
"Gabe, I know you're mugged-off. I get it. But we have to ready a response. I already spoke to Rook and Devlin, and they agree the intel is credible. It makes sense to put someone under. Whether or not it has to be Tabatha is your call. You are Ops Command."
I angled my head, lifting a brow.
"What? You are still Ops Command. I'm Ops Command in training, baby commander at best. I don't make the calls. Well, I could make the call, but then you'd override me anyway, so let's just skip that and go straight to doing what you want."
