Page 132 of What Remains

His dark eyes are warm, amused, and dangerously distracting. “Upload Jezebel’s photo?”

“Right, that’s it.” I’m smiling like I’ve got a schoolgirl crush. I might as well start doodling our initials inside a heart and testing out his last name with mine.

“Gwen?” He realizes I’ve wandered off into Overthinkingland. It’s a real place, trust me.

I snap my fingers, needing a physical cue to reset my attention where it’s supposed to be. “It’ll take me ten seconds to upload Jezebel’s image into the facial recognition program.”

“Not two?” He smirks, and I love that he’s giving me shit.

“I have to age her up first.” I turn, finally mission-focused, but then the man goes and playfully swats my arse.

I swivel around, blushing. And not gonna lie, turned on.

“You had that coming, remember?” He winks.

I angle my head, fighting distraction Armageddon 2.0 all over again. “You are soooo gonna get it. Later.”

If only later could be now. I need this man on top of me, under me, over me . . . all the ways, dammit.

Shockingly, I manage to pull my thoughts together enough to settle in behind my rig and get to work while he quietly watches on.

“Okay, done.” I shut my lid and stand in preparation for what I know will be a face-off kind of situation. “So, here goes.” I wring my hands together knowing he’s not going to like what’s about to come out of my mouth. “I plead guilty as plan A, not the backup one. If I turn myself in now, and I’m already in custody, they can’t pin the next attack on me. That’s how we screw with their plans and timeline.”

He falters forward, and I reach for his forearm and let my palm slide down to his wrist.

“We’re proactive, not reactive,” I tack on in a hurry. “Grandpa and POTUS can notify the Brits that I plan to turn myself in to draw out the real criminals. We tell them we believe someone’s planning to blame me for the air traffic attack, and there are more to come. To prove my innocence, I’ll offer to remain in their custody until the real perp is captured.”

He continues to stare at me.

Unblinking.

Unmoving.

The only indication I have he’s heard me is his racing pulse under my thumb.

“We have to do this publicly so we can control the narrative. We’ll clear everything up after the real criminals are taken down, and Grandpa can look like a hero. Playing chess while others play checkers, that way it won’t hurt his presidential run.” I lift one shoulder. “Or Diana’s mum’s, for that matter.”

“Thought you can’t use chess analogies.”

“That’s where your head went?” Yup, he’s stuck in buffering mode. Not processing what I’m saying. Or completely ignoring it. “Dad’s not around,” I tack on before getting back to it. “But really, this is our best option. We’ll turn their deepfake shit back on them, use it to draw them out.”

His thick, dark lashes flutter a few times, realization sinking in. “Bait?” He curses. “Is that what you’re suggesting when you say ‘draw them out’?”

Oh shit, he’s gonna have a heart attack. He’s all red in the face, and his pulse really shouldn’t be that fast. I let go of his wrist and set my hands on his chest instead, hoping to both soothe and distract him.

“This is the only way we can get ahead of them, and you know it.”

“No,” he grunts, “I don’t know it.” He squeezes his eyes tight and lets go of a strangled breath. “I’m going to need you to walk me through every damn detail of this plan,” he begins, eyes flashing open and sharp on me, “so I can decide whether it’s worth your father murdering me for agreeing to it.”

CHAPTER 46

Gwen

I’ve barely laid out the plan before Dad charges forward, his boots thudding against the hardwood, a vein standing out at the side of his neck.

I decided we should have this conversation in my suite, in front of witnesses, so no blood would be spilled—partially kidding. But my father is predictable about my safety, so . . .

Behind that indomitable force now, the mountains rise in jagged silhouettes beyond the glass, their snow-dusted peaks catching the wash of light. For one second, everything is quiet. Almost peaceful. And then it’s not.