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SAFFRON
As we disembarkedfrom the plane, Lock said the one thing that all of us were thinking. “So we're just going to trust the villain that were not walking into a trap?”
I swallowed hard. Because he was right; I did not trust Drake Webster. And the fact that my brother did was a problem. That man had killed my parents. But for some reason, Oversight was leaning on Gabe, and Gabe was folding.
So now we were in New York, a major holding for Antonio Igno, and we were going to walk into one of his hotels and steal Graciella. Because according to Drake Webster, she wasn't just the hapless fiancée of his son Massimo. Father and son liked to share, and Graciella was heavily involved in the business. There wasn't anything Antonio didn't tell her.
“We don't get to pick the mission. We have to look alive, and get it done.”
Tabs rolled her eyes. “Don't give us the party line. I can tell this pisses you off, and it should.”
It did piss me off. But we were going to get her. And when we got her, we were going to get Antonio. One step at a time. And if Webster was lying, if she wasn't here or it was a trap, I knew Gabe would kill him. And despite the orders from Oversight, he wouldn't hesitate.
“All right, let's get to the safe house and get ready.”
Lachlan was watching me carefully. We hadn't talked about anything that had happened in the gym. My moment of weakness. I knew what he wanted. Problem was I didn't know what I wanted.
You know what you want. You want him to have faith in you, but you can't force that.
Fine. Yes. I was scared to death of ever reliving that moment. It was one thing to have open discourse as an agent. Lives were at stake after all. But he let feelings cloud his judgment, and that hurt. And I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to forget that. The way he’d talked to me made me feel so small, made me question everything I said and did. That was hard to shake.
The safe house was just down the street from the Bliss Experience Spa. The plan was hopefully simple enough. Graciella was scheduled for a facial, a massage, and sauna. I booked Tabatha in for spa treatments since Graciella didn't know what she looked like. If Tabs was able to corner her in the sauna, she would dose her with the same compound Lock had been given during his bag and tag, and we’d carry her out as quietly as possible.
Saint was our comms and demolitions expert as well as our backup covering the exits. Lachlan and I were going in as staff.
If the sauna plan failed, our next solution was for Lock to get her. Of course he would be very hands on with her, which I didn't love, but there was nothing I could do about it.
We had been warned that she would be with armed guards. But since she didn't have a guard with her in the Winston Isles, they likely wouldn't know me. So when she went into private areas for her treatments, I would be the one dealing with the bodyguards.
At the safe house, we all changed into our gear, and I grabbed my braids and tied them into a high ponytail. I caught Lachlan looking at me with a sappy smile on his face. “You look like a kid with your hair pulled back.”
“I promise you, I’m grown.”
“Don't I know it.” He licked his lips. “You've got this, Saff.”
“I had better. We’re only going to get this one shot.”
When the three of us were dressed, Saint marched out to set up the van we'd procured. Once we were in back of the spa, we did our comms check then our contact inside the spa let us in through the back door. She smiled at me. “I assume you’re Saff?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’m Margo. Right through here.”
She led me, Tabs, and Lock to the employee locker room and slipped me the schedule and said, “The bookings are for Jessica.”
I gave her a confused look. “Who's Jessica?”
She laughed. “Ugh, a lot of stars will use pseudonyms. You know, to protect their privacy.”
I checked the schedule. “This is wrong, I think. She's supposed to have her sauna first.”
The young woman shook her head. “She changed it. She’s not going to do the sauna at all now. She’ll be starting with massage.”
I glanced at Lock. “You’re up.”
He nodded. “Got it.”
The three of us were shown to the massage area. Tabs and I waited in what was essentially a green room for the massage therapists. Lock went in and activated his comm unit.
