Why does she look pained when she says that?
“Your brother knows I’m the writer, doesn’t he?” Fran says quietly when we reach the door to my house.
“Which brother?”
“I suspect Leith, though maybe at this point it’s both of them.” She blinks rapidly, as if she’s fighting back tears.
I don’t deny it. There’s no point. “He’s likely guessed it, aye.”
“Does that mean I’m in grave danger?”
“You’re in grave danger already. But for now, he trusts me to handle this. He gave me a job to do, and I’m going to do it well.”
“Right.”
We enter my house, and I gesture for her to sit on one of the loveseats in the living room.
I take a seat across from her, lean forward, and rest my elbows on my knees. I hold her gaze, and she squirms as I don’t relent. The next few days will put both of us to the test.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she whispers. “Please, Tate, seriously.”
“Why not?”
“Because you look like you want to eat me alive.”
Heat flares between us, fast and furious.
My voice is husky and affected when I whisper, “I do.”
Her cheeks heat, and her jaw drops open. “You did not just say that.”
“Actually, you did. Want me to repeat it?” I love teasing her. Fran’s no wallflower, but when I push her buttons, I love the way I make her squirm. The image of her splayed out on my bed, bucking under my punishing stripes, sends heat coursing straight through me.
She shakes her head. “All good.”
I pull us back on task. “Everything, Fran. Everything you know about Wales.”
“Well…” she looks to the left and winces a wee bit. It’s barely noticeable but I’m trained in watching for micro expressions. She’s hiding something.
Again.
“Your Mum filled you in quite a bit, didn’t she?”
“Not enough, though.”
She flinches, then nods. “Right, then. Okay, so… first, Aisla’s cousin works for the Welsh.”
What?
How could we have had someone right under our noses be affiliated with our enemies?
She shakes her head. “Don’t blame yourself or anything, seriously. When Aisla was hired by you, she passed every background check, and for good reason. It wasn’t until after she began working for you that her cousin was hired.”
“So it was the Welsh that failed a proper background check.”
Fran shrugs. “Well… not necessarily. It could’ve been intentional, couldn’t it have been?”
I blow out a breath angrily. “And you and Aisla never thought it prudent to mention this to us.”
