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“What equipment?” I interrupt, my anger getting the better of me. “Either tell me, or I’ll go and sit in the car, because me being here is a waste of time otherwise.”
“No going back after I tell you?” Leon’s giving me a last chance to back out, but considering the extent of the mess I’m already in, I may as well go all in.
“Just tell me,” I growl and Leon’s eyebrows drop. He’s not used to being spoken to like that. Well tough. Raising a hand for Lucia to do the honours, he sits back to watch the show. This must be bad. Lucia turns her chair to face me.
“Explosives. Leon is acquiring a bomb.”
There isn’t a flicker of emotion on Lucia’s cold, heartless face, and I realise what I should have accepted earlier: she knew.
She more than knew; as I sit here looking at her now, she could have been the real mastermind, Toby just the lovesick fool she got to do her bidding. This is beyond what I thought they could possibly be up to and my mind struggles to accept this is really happening.
“Where?” My hand stays loose in Lucia’s, but I’m clenching my teeth so hard I expect them to shatter.
“That would be telling. Let’s just see how the next couple of days go.” She squeezes my fingers; the urge to squeeze back and crush hers is painfully strong.
A bomb.
There’s going to be a fucking bomb.
But where and when? And Belle… does she know? Is that why she’s here? Leon will kill her in a heartbeat if she tries to stop him. As if I’ve summoned her, the door pushes open and Belle steps in, smiling prettily, the tray of drinks balanced in her hands.
“Nervous?” Leon asks, watching her every move. Belle’s hand goes to her neck and she fiddles with her necklace.
“Uncomfortable. It’s not the same thing,” she corrects, speaking to Leon, but looking at Lucia with venom in her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone I know here. But I’ll get over it.”
Leon chuckles at her feisty responses even as I baulk at the tone she’s taking. Is she trying to get herself killed? She knows how dangerous these people are.
When Belle leans over me to place a beer on the table, her scent threatens to snap my self-control. Is it the remnants of our bond, lingering because I refused to complete the rejection? Or is it her?
I can remember, vividly, how she tastes, how she feels in my hands, how her hips move when she rides me. I don’t need the bond to know that this is my woman. She’s it for me. Her breathy moans as she comes apart replay over and over in my mind.
The necklace she keeps touching – the sight of my ring resting against her tanned skin pleases my possessive side. She’s still mine alright.
Shifting in my seat to hide how hard she’s making me attracts Lucia’s attention. She scowls when she catches me watching Belle. With a strange glint in her eye, Lucia glares at Belle who’s working her way around the table.
“Ethan admitted you’re mates.” Lucia watches me as she speaks to Belle, an eerily calm expression on her face. Her cool demeanour is making me more nervous than if she was ranting and raving.
“We were mates. Not anymore.”
Lucia laughs, the sound shrill in the oppressively quiet of the room. “And you expect me to believe that?” Her eyes dance with nothing short of perverse pleasure at having the opportunity to torture Belle right in front of me.
Leon is quiet. I’d bet money he’s hoping for a fight, but that’s the last thing I want. Much as I’d love to watch Belle kick Lucia’s ass, we need more time to figure out what they’re up to. Belle narrows her eyes and straightens, running her chain through her fingers and twisting the ring around. I hold my breath, praying she doesn’t blow her cover.
“It’s okay. You can have him.”
Ouch. After the rejection, that one really stings. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s my chain she’s fiddling with, her words would have cut me to the core. Surely the fact she’s still wearing my gift means something.
Belle catches me staring at her fingers and drops her hand.
Lucia glances from me to Belle, who, incredibly, leans against the doorframe with her tray tucked under one arm, looking somehow amused and bored at the same time with Lucia’s blatant attempt to wind her up.
Bristling at Belle’s defiance, Lucia swings her chair toward mine and rests her hand on my thigh, dragging her hand higher and higher. “If you’re so over each other, why didn’t you just tell me about it straight away? You had the chance when I saw you talking at Liv’s.”
I don’t move a muscle, just smile at her softly even if the sound of the blood rushing through my ears is deafening. This is all wrong.
“Because I didn’t want anyone to know about it. It’s embarrassing.” Belle sounds genuinely unconcerned and her acting abilities are freakishly good.
When Lucia leans forward and touches my chest, I force myself not to slap her hand away. Even as she presses her thigh against mine, stroking one hand over my shoulder and around the back of my neck.
