“Right,” he says. “Well, you’re here now.”
“I am.”
We reach the end of the hall. I slow, shifting the files slightly in my arms.
“Want some help with that?” Edward asks, eyeing them.
“I’m good, thanks.”
My office isn’t that far away.
“So I was thinking,” he continues. “We could go out, grab lunch. Talk through the next steps on the case.”
The offer is casual. And I don’t answer immediately. I think about the two men positioned outside the office in an inconspicuous black car. They haven’t stopped following me all morning, and I know they won’t.
If I went out for lunch, they’d be there, too. Which would be fine. I’ve learned to live with their presence. The problem is that they report back to Matteo.
And while there’s a flicker of irritation that I have to be cautious about who I go out to lunch with at all, I have a feeling Fadden and I leaving the office together would not be well received by him.
I think about the kiss yesterday. He doesn’t own me. But he kissed me like he did.
My lips tingle at the memory of it. The world had indeed stopped. And so had my heart and every other part of me.
I stare at Fadden for a minute. Matteo and I are complicated. The last thing I need are further complications.
“Thanks for the offer, but I think we should just talk in my office,” I tell him, my voice just as casual.
He pauses. I can see him working through my reply. He hadn’t been expecting it. There’s a brief burn of something that looks a lot like rejection in his expression.
“You’re a busy woman, Beaumont,” he says, recovering easily. “Another time, then.”
“So.. my office? We can discuss the case there.”
His gaze sharpens slightly. “Yeah, that works.”
We turn, heading in that direction.
“I’ve got some updates anyway,” he says. “Thought you’d want to hear them sooner rather than later.”
I glance at him curiously. Neither of us says anything until we arrive at my office. Rachel steps forward to take the case files in my hand and after handing them to her, I lead him in. We take our seats and I wait patiently for him to speak.
“One of the Pakhan’s lieutenants is dead.”
My expression doesn’t change. And I’m imminently glad for that. But at those words, I feel a ringing in my ears. And something inside me stills completely.
Dead. I know exactly which lieutenant he’s talking about and I know exactly how.
I suck in a sharp breath. “When?”
“Few days ago,” he replies. “The Bratva’s currently up in arms. Confused. Because they have no idea who did it. Whoever it was, the job was clean. He and two other men were found dead in a cabin far out of town.”
The image of how they must have been found flashes in my mind. The look in Matteo’s eyes as he killed them. The sounds, the screams.
“They’re rattled,” Fadden continues and I’m glad he doesn’t seem to notice my unease. “Whatever they were doing wasn’t sanctioned. And that’s not all. Some of their shipments have been going missing.”
I look at him sharply. “Missing?”
“Intercepted. Misrouted. They’re trying to figure out how.”
