Page 2 of Palace of Betrayal

Bending, she picked up Mountbatten, her white Persian cat and tried to give him some love. He fought to get free from her hold in punishment for leaving him. “Seriously, Monty, if I don’t work, you don’t eat.”

Her cat flicked his tail in the air in evident disgust and walked toward her bedroom, where she knew he’d lie in the middle of her bed, ignoring her for the rest of the night.

Taking a quick shower and changing into skin-tight jeans and a white tee, she spotted her wolf tattoo in the mirror as she pulled the tee over her belly. The small tattoo was the same one all the Zenobi girls had, although they had them in different places. Hers was on her left rib cage and had hurt like hell, but she liked it. It represented the spirit of the wolf and the pack mentality. Zenobi was a pack, a family, and they looked after the weakest when needed.

Heading into the kitchen, she grabbed an apple and moved to the fridge for some water. Eyeing the medication sitting on the middle shelf, she sighed. Bebe had been taking the drugs for a month in preparation. Now it looked like it wouldn’t happen if she was out of the country. Grabbing a mineral water from the fridge, she wondered if there would ever be a time when she had a family of her own. Roz made it work with her gorgeous girls and that adorable baby boy, but she had the love and support of a man who thought she hung the moon.

A pang of envy twisted in her belly, not because she begrudged Roz that happiness. God knew she deserved it more than anyone after the hell she’d been through, but Bebe wanted that too. Going it alone was her only option right now as the clock kept ticking and that elusive man stayed hidden from her. If he even existed.

Closing the fridge, she headed out the door to the meeting Roz had requested, driving the Mini, which was a gorgeous grey and so much fun, to the Athena offices. When she pulled into the car park at the front, the lights were out, but she knew they’d be using the room at the back, which had no windows to give away a mission. Secrecy was crucial to everything they did.

Laughter moved through the building as she entered, closing the door and reactivating the alarms as she went. The sound of Mercy laughing, after everything she’d been through, made her lips tip into a wide grin, a sense of pride and love for her friend filling her heart.

Zenobi had come close to losing her. First physically from the wounds she’d received, then from the mental torture she’d been through at the hands of those animals, but now she was out the other side. She’d had her cover blown during a mission involving Zack, the leader of Fortis Security, the other group of Black Ops guys they worked with on occasion. Mercy had been raped, beaten, and left for dead. She still had bad days, and when she did, they all rallied around her, making sure one of them was there for her.

“Hey, Mercy.”

Mercy smiled, her honey blonde hair swinging in the ponytail she wore. “Bebe.” The younger woman crossed to her, hugging her tight. “God, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Bebe pulled back to look at her and get a feel for how she was doing. Satisfied her friend was okay, she squeezed her arm gently. “Yeah, we’ve crossed over a bit, but it’s good to see you now.”

Mercy shrugged. “Nature of the job.”

“Bebe!”

She twisted to see Lorna, Laverne, and Lili walk into the room. The three women were all wildly different to look at but all stunningly beautiful. Lili was medium height with dark hair and big blue eyes and looked as innocent as the purest snow. Laverne was blonde, with long hair and hazel eyes with long lashes, and at nearly six feet in height was model tall for a woman. Then there was Lorna, who looked like she ran an empire and dripped class from every pore with her sleek blonde hair and intelligent hazel eyes.

Lastly, there was Roz, who was the epitome of badass in her book. She had short dark hair, full lips, wide, pale green eyes, and a body men had, and would, die for if she were still in the field. Her own colouring had become something that she hardly recognised as different to these women. Her copper skin and dark hair were typical for South Asian women and yet here she was, just Bebe, the sister they loved for her heart. That didn’t mean she didn’t endure the hatred her Pakistani heritage could elicit in some ignorant people. The hate towards people with her skin tone could be exhausting but she’d learned to roll with the punches and only educate those worth educating.

“Hey, Roz.”

The woman assessed her and Lili before, seemingly satisfied, she spoke. “Good work on that last job, you two.”

The compliment was as good as they’d get from Roz, but it meant a lot.

Bebe winked at Lili, who smiled. “Thanks.”

Roz had a handful of files in her hand as she moved behind her desk and took a seat. The desk was glass and chrome and had several pictures of her family proudly displayed. The room was large, leaving plenty of room for them to sit in the easy chairs or on the couch as the meeting began.

Leaning forward, Roz clasped her hands, and the anticipation in the room rose. There was an electric current in the air increasing the feeling that something big was about to happen.

The thrill of a new target, a new mission, was revving through her blood.

“I know I don’t have to say this, but I want to reiterate that the job I’m about to give you is top secret. Nobody but the people I’m talking with and those of us in this room are to know about it unless I say so. Do you all understand?”

Bebe felt her blood run hot. Her heart rate increased just a fraction at the serious tone and the fact Roz was reiterating the secrecy they worked under when each of them knew the importance already. “Yes, of course.”

Murmurs of agreement came from the others, and she saw Mercy cast her a glance.

“Good.” Roz nodded and opened the file on the top. “We have reason to believe that five underground auctions will take place over the next six months. We don’t know where or exactly when, or what the product will be, but we do know that the buy-in for even entering the auction is a priceless object.”

“Do we know who?” Bebe asked, feeling her skin itch with the need to get started already.

“We believe The Collector is behind it.”

Laverne crossed her long legs; the denim shorts she wore made them look even longer. “Damn, no wonder they called us. The entire world has been hunting that bastard for years and hasn’t had any luck.”

“Which is why they brought us in to handle this. We believe the items for auction are projects stolen by The Collector and his people from different government agencies around the world. Not just projects but software and hardware that, if allowed into the hands of terrorists or even garden variety assholes, could bring the world to its very knees. The agencies involved haven’t come up with anything, and as they don’t trust each other not to lie, they decided as a group to bring in an independent to chase this down.”