When this nightmare began three weeks ago, I never imagined I’d end up here. I thought they’d realize their mistake, kiss my arse in apology—as they should—and we’d share a glass to laugh off their epic levels of stupidity. It’s a fuck up on their end that should’ve been smoothed over in a blink. Someone else’s fuck up—not mine. I don’t fuck things up, at least not at work, and never anything as royally as this.
My personal life is a different story.
“Bella, you can sit there and chew on this all day. Doesn’t change the facts.”
I want to shift my feet, drag my sweaty palms down the sides of my denim, and then drop kick his arse across the room. But I don’t allow myself any of that. Instead, I tip my head, narrowing my eyes. “I dare you to call me Bella again. Only those I love or trust get that side of me and you certainly don’t fall into either category at the moment.”
His jaw hardens and he sucks in a breath. “Let me call your father. You’re a Donnelly. We owe it to him—to his legacy and that of your grandfather. He can acquire proper counsel. You’re going to need it.”
I open my mouth when I shouldn’t … but that’s nothing new. Holding my tongue has never been my strong suit. But this man, whose generation in British Intelligence falls somewhere between my grandfather and father, should be castrated—he’s that piss poor at his job. “I wouldn’t need a solicitor if you knew how to perform a bloody investigation. My grandfather is surely rolling in his grave knowing he once believed in you.”
His voice lowers. “Isabella, do yourself the favor of taking me up on my very gracious offer of calling your father—”
“You call my father and, I swear, he’ll bust your nuts for incompetence until you’re forced to beg him for mercy.”
This beanpole of a man hasn’t always been an imbecile, but he’s worked too long and has seen better days. He hasn’t kept up with technology or the gym, and should’ve handed over his credentials years ago.
Even so, this isn’t good.
This is leaning on the side of catastrophic.
If this were simply not good, they would have summoned me to Vauxhall. Instead, they cornered me here, a bogus meeting in an abandoned warehouse in Hackney under the guise of needing to discuss a case. My car is four streets over. One of me, five of them. I’m an operative, and an unarmed one, at that.
I also know if they drag me in from here, there’s no way I can prove they’re bloody fucking wrong. Whatever they’ve done, they did a bang-up job of framing me.
“The money trail doesn’t lie, Isabella. We’ve been following it for weeks.”
“It’s bogus,” I snap. “Someone set me up and you know it.”
He shakes his head and his minions, who’d dance a jig upon order, step in beside him. With muscle at his sides, he stands straighter and keeps spitting his poisonous lies. “We’ve got two in custody and they’re being transferred to the city as we speak. It’s not looking good for you. You need a solicitor, and from the evidence I’ve seen, a good one.”
Fuck.
From my periphery, the door is too far. I have no idea what’s behind me or if there’s another way out, but from the way they’ve arranged themselves, I highly doubt there is. Just because they’re minions, doesn’t make them dim-witted.
All I can do is talk. Lucky for me, I’m brilliant at that.
“They’re my targets and you’ve already shot my cover to hell. I’ll interrogate them myself and get to the bottom of this.”
He shakes his head and has the nerve to smile. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Then, please, do me the honor of telling me what is going to happen.”
He takes a step toward me but I don’t flinch. If we were alone, I would have been out of here twenty ticks ago and he’d still be writhing on the dusty, gritty floor. “You know what’s going to happen.”
I know exactly what he means, but I keep talking because, at this point, my best chance is to rile him. “Have we traveled back a century where the boys with tiny balls take care of business in back alleys instead of Vauxhall where an asset can get a fair shake? Or are you still rubbed raw that my father was bigger, better, and more brilliant than you?”