“Didn’t have to. A life for a life.”
God, I hoped he was right about that, because no way in hell did we need to get mixed up with Conrad Black. We were stretched to the limit as it was.
“Don’t look so worried,” Theo said, interrupting my thoughts before they could start to spiral. “He doesn’t know a thing about us. Or about me, other than the face I show. He doesn’t even know it was me that did the dirty work myself.”
And that was exactly why there was no way Theo had been the one who hit the trigger on that building. We never showed our faces during a mission, especially the two of us. It was too risky, but more than that, it would be really fucking stupid.
Theo may be reckless, but he wasn’t stupid. And I truly didn’t believe he’d put us at risk. Himself? Yes. That much was obvious due to the lingering issue of his removing his tracker. I didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if the missionhad gone sideways and we couldn’t figure out where he was to get to him.
That alone made me want to strangle him all over again. Or lock him in the closet for a repeat of some oral hate sex—I couldn’t decide which.
“If what you’re saying is true, then there’s a glaring problem,” I said.
“I know.” Theo was already nodding.
“Who the hell sent this video? Who blew up the building? And how the fuck did the video ring true for Alessio?” There was nothing our resident tech genius couldn’t do, couldn’t hack, couldn’t decipher. He’d run the diagnostics. The video wasn’t fake.
Only it had to be for Theo to be telling the truth.
“He’s not all-powerful,” Theo said. “I know he thinks he is, but something’s slipped through the cracks.”
The implications of that were too much to think about. Someone getting one over on Alessio? It seemed impossible.
And yet…
“Fuck.” I leaned my head back and stared up at the ceiling. “He’s not gonna take that well.”
“Not even a little bit.”
“And don’t think you’re off the hook with your goddamn tracker.”
“Noted.” Theo dropped his feet to the floor and stood, moving over until his thighs pressed up against my knees. Just that move—or maybe it was all the adrenaline and pent-up frustration—had my cock taking notice behind my towel.
“Have I fully satisfied the question-and-answer portion of this program?” He walked his fingers up my thigh and over to the semi creeping up beneath his touch. “Can we move on to a more…enjoyable way to end the night? I’ll make up for my wicked ways.”
The way he could flip a switch in conversation and demeanor made my head spin, and I had to halt his hand before my brain cells made an exit.
“On one condition,” I said, and like he knew what I was going to say, he groaned.
“Shep—”
“It’s non-negotiable.”
“You’re an ass.”
“And you’re nothing but trouble.”
Theo’s eyes narrowed, but I’d already won this battle, because he eventually relented.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll go. Buttomorrow.”
We were off to see the King.
16
SHEP
THE TRIP BACK to New York was a turbulent one, to say the least. Not because of any weather systems we had to navigate, but rather the volatile man sitting opposite me in the jet.
