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“Give him the ring,” I tell Simon as he continues to hold on to it.
“No, there’s never been a bastard around this table, and it’s not going to start with us.” Simon makes a show of pocketing the ring with a sneer.
“I don’t need your fucking ring or your poncy-as-fuck club.”
“We’re not a club,” Julian corrects him.
“Whatever makes you happy.” Ryan laughs, shaking his head as he looks around the room. “You need me and the reinforcements I bring with me. I don’t need you. My life’s pretty fucking good where I am right now.”
“Why are you here, then?” Simon asks with a smirk.
“Well, you fucked with the wrong bastards, didn’t you? Now, you want to sit here and have drinks…pretend nothing’s fucking going down even though you buried one of your own today.”
“Give him the fucking ring, Simon,” Julian bites at him.
“I’m not here for the ring. I’ve got my own.” Ryan flashes his hands at Simon. “I’m here because he’s on his own.” He nods at me. “While I might still knock his teeth out for bringing Eve into this, there’s no way in fuck that I’m walking out of this room until I know she’s safe.”
“She’s one of us,” Casper says on loudspeaker. “We protect our own. We don’t need a ring to hold our promises accountable.”
“So, with that out of the way.” Ryan sits back in his chair. “Who am I taking care of? Give me a name, and we’ll make them disappear. No questions. No mess. No trail.” He levels each of us with a shit-eating grin.
“Warren, Your Grace.” Percival hands me the phone.
“Richard,” I bark into the phone, making it clear I want him to fill me in on what’s happening with Catherine’s arrest quickly.
“She posted bail,” he tells me.
Blind fury twists my gut. “How the fuck did she afford it?”
“I looked into it. The address checks out as a Coster King property.”
The information settles like a lead balloon. I had the bitch right there, in my grasp. I should never have walked away or let the police deal with her. This is why when I want something taken care of, I do it myself with my own hands so that I know when it’s done, it’s fucking finished.
“The payment came from a Chapman account,” the police commissioner says. He pauses for a beat before he adds, “It would appear that you’ve found your mole.”
“You’re certain that she is connected to Chapman?”
“Something’s off,” Ryan states as he types a message into his phone. “If she’s working for Chapman, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to give themselves away so easily.”
“What would you have me do now?” Richard asks.
“Nothing. You’ve proven you are useless to me,” I spit down the line. “I have no further use for you.” I end the call and get to my feet.
“Wait,” Ryan calls after me as I walk out of the room with Percival following behind. “I’m coming with you.”
“No, this isn’t a team mission.” Continuing down the hallway to my suite, I give Percival orders on what to do next. “I want the address, and I want the car waiting for me in the usual place. No one leaves the club, and no one comes near this room.”
Once I’m in the suite, I make quick work of getting changed into my combat trousers, a black T-shirt, and a hoodie. I grab the flick knife from the safe hidden inside the wardrobe and slip it into the pocket of my hoodie, along with my handgun.
While I lace up my boots, I steal the odd glimpse at Eve. She looks peaceful, even though she’s still pale. Before I leave, I tuck the sheets around her with a kiss to her forehead. It doesn’t matter how much time we have together, I’m always going to be awed by her stunning face and the fact that she’s mine.
My beautiful darling. “Nothing will touch you again,” I promise as I push through the hidden panel door beside the wardrobe.
I take the steps down to the underground tunnel leading to the other side of the river. The incognito black Fiesta is waiting for me in the underground car park belonging to the Secret Intelligence Service. As I approach the car, Ryan opens the door for me to get in.
“Designated driver,” he tells me when I’m about to tell him to get the fuck out. “Jump in, amigo.”
Maybe Simon’s right—he’s not the kind of person we need around our table, even if he brings resources with him.
