Mind of Danger (Body of Danger #3) - Sidney Bristol Page 0,43

to sweat.

Jo followed him away from the party, down a hall and into the large office that screamed trying too hard with its glossy wooden paneling, leather furniture and brass light fixtures.

There were the usual faces.

Giovanni’s two bodyguards. They were cousins of some sort from his father’s side. Then there was the uncle from his mother’s side sitting on the leather sofa smoking a cigar, pretending like the bodyguards weren’t there.

The strife between the two families was obvious and amused her. Normally. Not tonight.

And there, hovering by the windows, was Isaac.

Giovanni shut the door behind them with a thud.

“Well?” he demanded.

She slid her hands into her pockets and turned to face him. They all had a part to play, and this was hers. She grinned and allowed herself to feel the thrill of uncertainty that would no doubt sell her act.

“Not even a happy holidays?” she asked.

Giovanni leaned toward her, arms crossed over his chest, gaze hard. This was the real him, the one he hid behind smiles and jokes. “What happened in Seattle?”

She glanced at Isaac and shrugged. “We got you a Christmas present.”

Jo removed the slim external hard drive from her pocket and held it up between her fingers. It could have fit on a thumb drive, but in the end they’d all agreed a slightly bigger delivery method would sell the story harder.

“You—what?” Giovanni’s jaw dropped.

“Don’t ever say I didn’t get you anything.” She tossed the hard drive at him.

Giovanni’s hand snapped out, and he grabbed the bait. “It really exists?”

Now Jo paused and let her eyes go wide. “You didn’t know? You didn’t really know?”

Giovanni opened and closed his mouth.

She was banking on his need to always be in control. He might be the product of a business relationship, but he still had to bear a profit. Most people saw his bodyguards and uncle as a support structure. She saw them as his puppet strings.

Giovanni’s back straightened and she could have cheered.

She had him.

“Hook this up. I want to see it.” He held the drive out to the bodyguards.

The one with fairer hair stepped forward, taking the drive in hand and turning it over. He spared her a glance before crossing to Giovanni’s desk.

The instant they plugged the drive in, they were sentencing themselves. Zain had engineered some code to look like a bomb, but in truth it was their Trojan horse, delivering a virus to Giovanni’s system that would capture everything and commit it to the FBI’s evidence against Giovanni, and by extension his family.

“Isaac?” Giovanni turned toward Jo’s partner in this drama.

“Yes?” Isaac perked up, seeming more like his normal self.

“What happened to Dion?”

“Oh.” Isaac shrugged. “He thought he could eliminate the competition.”

The FBI had taken Isaac’s recordings off him before releasing him into her custody for tonight. If they dared to believe him, he’d never passed on the content of the recordings. The only thing Giovanni should have to go on were their suspicions and the brief conversation Isaac had with his boss the first night.

Isaac and Giovanni stared at each other.

Something was passing between them she couldn’t understand.

Giovanni turned that scrutinizing gaze on her. “You’re aware we have a rat.”

Jo glanced at each man in the room in turn, watching her, then shrugged. “I heard things, but I also knew you’d handle it.”

“Remember that deal down at Mike’s? You were there that night, weren’t you?”

“Of course.” She shrugged. “You asked me to be there.”

Shit.

She remembered that deal. She’d had to wear a wire and nearly got heat stroke from how hot the place had been.

“One of my old man’s people remembered something funny about that night.” Giovanni pulled out his phone.

Crap.

What was he doing?

She glanced at the computer. The drive was plugged in and the bodyguard tapping away at the keys.

“I’ve got someone who wants to ask you a few questions.” Giovanni reached for the door.

“Sure thing. What can I help with?” she said with swagger.

The office door opened and Sasha stepped in. His arm was wrapped in a bandage and there was a bruise on one side of his face.

Fucking hell...

“Sasha?” Giovanni gestured at her.

This was bad.

She didn’t know what he had on her or what he wanted, but she knew that if Giovanni himself was bringing Sasha in, this couldn’t be good for her.

“That’s her.” Sasha’s voice was heavily accented.

“Nice to meet you.” She let her gaze travel up Sasha’s body.

Three budges that were likely weapons stuck out to her. One at the ankle, another at his left hip and