a snake slithering around.”
“Don’t call her that again.”
Ariel held her ground, unflinching. “What’s it going to be, Crewe? Her or me.”
“There’s no choice. She’s my lover, and you’re my partner. I don’t have to choose.”
“Yes, you do. I can’t work under these conditions. I don’t trust you, Crewe Donoghue. I no longer trust your judgment. It’s completely impaired. The second a hot piece of ass walks by, you can’t think straight. I need a partner more focused than that.”
“I’m still not going to choose.” I kept my voice steady even though I wanted to scream at her. “If you want to leave, that’s your decision. I’ll pay back your investment in the company as well as a severance. What’s it going to be?” She believed in my scotch and in my intelligence organization. She knew I was an exemplary business partner, London excluded. She was walking away from both wealth and security.
“I’ll be back tomorrow with my lawyer.” She turned around and walked to the door, her hips swaying.
I called her bluff and realized it wasn’t a bluff at all. My eyes watched her walk away, but I kept a straight face. “London did nothing wrong.”
Ariel stopped at the door and turned around. “How can you say that?”
“She did what she had to do to survive. Neither one of us can judge her for that.”
“But I judge you for allowing her to survive. You should have sold her to Bones because she fucked with all of us.”
“If I remember correctly, you were in handcuffs and London freed you.” London didn’t owe Ariel anything, but she helped her when Ariel had been nothing but cold to her. That kind of compassion was nearly nonexistent.
“And if I remember correctly, she was the reason I was in handcuffs in the first place.”
“She took me to the hospital. She could have just left me to die, but she didn’t.”
“But she let you get shot in the first place.”
All of her responses were black and white. “She asked Joseph not to hurt me or any of my men. It’s not her fault he didn’t listen.”
She released a cold laugh. “No, Crewe. Everything is her fault.” She threw the door open and stormed out.
I slowly sank into my chair and stared at the open doorway. Her heels clicked against the tile of the grand entryway, and I listened to the sound until she walked out the front doors. When she was gone, I knew she wasn’t coming back.
My best employee just quit on me.
I’d been a businessman long before she came around, and I would still be a great one with her gone. But that didn’t erase the scar her departure left. Her words sank into me like bullets in the flesh. My life was uneventful before London got off that helicopter. But the second she was a part of me, everything began to change. I lost my judgment, and now I lost someone close to me.
It made me question everything.
49
London
Crewe didn’t come back to the room at his regular time. Even when dinner was served, he still didn’t show up. I knew he had a lot of work to catch up on, but I was surprised he hadn’t popped in for at least a visit.
I started to get worried.
I hadn’t shown my face to the rest of the castle because I knew everyone hated me. If I ran into Ariel in the hallway, nothing good would come from it. None of the men would touch me, but Dunbar would strangle me with just his eyes.
But the later it got, the more concerned I became.
I didn’t have a cell phone to call him. My only option was to search for him in the castle. If I didn’t find him, one of his men would know where he’d disappeared to. I put on a pair of jeans and a sweater and walked downstairs. The first person I came across was Dimitri, the man who took Dunbar’s place when he’d been put on guard duty. He gave me a quiet scowl but didn’t say anything. His hands were held together at his waist, his gun on his hip. He didn’t draw his weapon or insult me, but his eyes did enough damage on their own.
I walked into Crewe’s office and found it vacant. His laptop was closed and everything was neat and tidy, like he hadn’t used it at all. I took a look around to see if he left any clues behind, but there was nothing.
I walked