Page 25 of The Spy

Gennifer smiled at me, and I sensed a hint of malice around the edges.

Saff dropped her usually warm voice to a chilly tone. "This is definitely unusual. Is there a reason that you showed up at Rogues uninvited?"

I had to bite down the smirk that tickled my lips. I loved seeing my sister start to act like the absolute boss she would be. For years I'd fucked up, trying to control everything she did, not giving her a chance. But she was beyond capable. Hell, in the next couple of years, I’d have to properly hand over the reins, and I'd do it with ease.

Frank held up his hands. "That is our fault. But we were in the neighborhood, and this is pressing. Our apologies."

Gennifer gave Saff a sweet smile, and Saff just lifted a brow before saying, “Oversight has no jurisdiction on these grounds. We work together because we're a team, not because you're the boss. Before you walk into one of my meetings again, you will notify us of what's so damned important."

I loved seeing her come into her power.

Every single person in the room held a collective gasp. What I wanted to do was howl with laughter. Instead, I gave my sister a conservative nod.

"Gennifer, Frank, since you've come all this way and interrupted our meeting, what can we do for you? I assume it's urgent."

Frank nodded. "It is, unfortunately, urgent. It’s about Jennings Tate, the billionaire. Family business is antiquities."

King sat forward. "I know Tate. He was a couple of years behind me at Eton."

Frank nodded. "Yes, which is why we came to Rogues. Your connections and your knowledge of Tate will be useful."

I nodded again. "Go on."

Gennifer just stared me down. I could feel her gaze on me, but I refused to look in her direction.

Frank continued. "As you know, the Tates are rumored to have an unscrupulous background. How their family has been funded has been a mystery for years. Some good investments have shown on the books, but the initial seed money, the occasional influxes of untraceable cash, that's all dirty money. They have laundered it well, hidden it in shell companies, but now, Tate senior has gotten in bed with some very nasty people.”

Millan asked for Saff's laptop. She handed it over while still scowling at Gennifer. Her ability to see through people seemed to give Frank the all clear. Gennifer, on the other hand, was shady as fuck.

Frank pulled up a shared file on Tate. "The man on Tate's right is Justin Wells, your basic white American kid. When Justin went off to college in New York, he found himself some interesting company. He landed a Russian girlfriend with Bratva connections. Her family seemed to like him. Our records indicate he had a Russian grandmother. He got very interested in arms and started running guns for her family. Now, he's one of the foremost global arms dealers. He has some primarily legitimate businesses, but those are fronts for the money laundering for his illegitimate business. He has been supplying arms to all his friends in the Middle East and South East Asia. Now Tate and Wells have formed a friendship. We believe Tate is getting into the arms business with Wells and Wells is using Tate's contacts to wash his money though Tate’s antiquities business."

Saff sighed. "Let me guess, you want to put someone under with Wells?"

Gennifer smiled and shook her head. "No, not Wells. If we can get Tate in line, we’ll have access to his whole network as an asset. We need information. And the Tate family is notoriously secretive. Very private."

"We can put Rook and Devlin on it," I offered.

Gennifer cocked her head and smiled at me like I was an idiot. I knew what she wanted, but I’d already said no to this. "Actually, we want to do more than that. All the other agencies have tried to access Tate's information from the outside. The only way is getting through the front door."

I chuckled at that. "I thought the Crown didn't spy on British citizens."

Frank nodded. "Of course, we don't."

The fact that he said that with a straight face made me cough. I did notice the stress on the word we. "Okay, then what?"

"Rogues isn’t publicly government sanctioned. If you have a look in Tate's house, that would be perfectly within your rights as an independent private organization."

I nodded. "Sure, we can place eyes on Tate Enterprises."

Gennifer shook her head. "No, think closer. We want someone to go deep undercover and become Jennings’s love interest. The Tates are very careful. If you cross them, they will be lethal. Obviously, the person going under has to be subtle and a skilled agent. Someone we haven't used before but who has impeccable training and can get close to Jennings."

I knew what she was going to say.

I knew it, and I was helpless to stop the words falling from my mouth. "I'm guessing you already have someone in mind?"

Saff started nodding as if she knew it would be her. Lachlan had already started frowning and clenching his jaw. His wife was an agent. He knew how things went.

But when Gennifer turned her attention to Tabatha, Saff's brows went up. Lachlan relaxed, and Tabatha blinked in surprise. "Me?"

Source: www.allfreenovel.com