“Please don’t,” a familiar voice said. Adam. Liam stepped back. Adam was standing right there in the hallway, leaning against the wall. And Jake. Jake had been just about to lose his balls. “Serena would be so upset if she lost half her chances at getting pregnant. Not that I can’t handle the job. I can, but she would be all over him. She’s a sucker for a sad story.”
Liam growled a little, a predator denied a nice fat meal. “What the fuck was that about?”
Jake’s eyes came up. “Adam spoke too soon. I had you right where I wanted you.”
Right. “You wanted me to shove your balls up into your intestines?”
“Like you could. I was just about to kick out and shove you back, then I was going to get my hands around your throat and drag you into our apartment and then I was going to beat your ass until you come to your senses,” Jake vowed.
“You wouldn’t have been able to lift your arms after what I was going to do to you.” Jake was high if he thought he had the upper hand in that little fight.
“Or we could all just stop hitting each other and talk this out,” Adam suggested.
“Pussy,” Jake shot back. He flexed his hand and stretched.
“I’m not the masochist here.” Adam turned to him. “Will you please talk to us? You’ve been a fucking asshole for four days.”
He’d avoided them at every turn. And they were his friends, or at least they seemed to be. Damn it. Ever since Simon Weston had put that file in front of him, he’d been at odds. “I’ve been getting in good with Avery.”
“I have no idea what the fuck you’ve been doing,” Jake shot back. “I think you might have been sitting on your ass or maybe you got a better deal and decided to start something with the competition.”
Anger flared. Jake was just asking for a thorough beating . “You want to explain what you mean by that?”
“What about asking politely do you not understand, asshole?” Adam said to his partner. He turned back to Liam. “We agreed we would just talk to you then the Neanderthal here had to go primeval on your ass. Look, Ian told us what happened. Can we please talk?”
He got the feeling if he didn’t they would press the issue. “Fine. But you only have until eleven thirty. I have to meet Avery.” He followed Adam inside, Jake hard on his heels. “So I take it Ian told you two to corner me?”
Adam turned, his eyes confused. “No. I’m worried about you.”
He really looked like he didn’t have a clue. “Ian didn’t mention that MI6 is on to us?”
Jake shut the door behind him. “Yes, he and Damon explained what was happening, which you would know if you had bothered to answer your texts and come to the meeting he called.”
Liam had ignored it. He’d been at Canterbury Cathedral with Avery. He’d taken a damn bus tour and held her hand when he knew he should be working. “What excuse did Damon give?”
Adam frowned. “Excuse? He needs an excuse to be MI6?”
“He needs an excuse to have not told us.”
“Ian knew. Look, Li, the only reason we’re still here and haven’t gotten our asses shipped back to the States is that Ian is working with MI6. He still has connections, and he’s using them to keep us here. We didn’t have any idea that MI6 was looking into UOF and Molina. We’re only still here for two reasons: Ian’s connections and the fact that you’ve managed to do what Weston couldn’t.”
“Get into Avery’s bed. Tell me something. Why doesn’t MI5 take over? They could just pull the records they want.” And then Avery would be out of this for good, and she wouldn’t have to find out about his involvement.
“You know the answer to that,” Jake said, scrubbing a hand through his hair as he sat on the sofa. “God, Li, what the fuck is happening to you? Where is your head?”
“The arms sales are happening on foreign soil. They sent Weston in because his family has done a bunch of charity work in Africa and Asia.” Adam’s eyes narrowed. He could be brutally intelligent when he wanted to be. “What exactly did you and Weston talk about if you didn’t talk about the op? Look, man, something’s going on here. You get pulled in by that MI6 guy and suddenly you’re acting like you don’t know a one of us. What did he say?”
He shook his head. “Weston was kept in the dark, too. He didn’t know we had a deal with Knight on the table.”
“Then why didn’t he have you arrested?” Jake asked. “Adam’s right. Weston was playing an angle. He was trying to turn you against us. What angle did he use?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Liam shot back. Now that he was forced to face it, he realized he wasn’t going to open his mouth until he’d talked to Ian. “I already talked to Eve. I’m taking Avery in tonight so this is all completely unnecessary, and if things go right tomorrow, we might be home in a day or two. Tell me something. Are we handing Nelson over to the Brits or has Ian got that worked out with the CIA, too?”
“Nelson has been disavowed. He’s an embarrassment to the Agency and a potential threat to everyone who works for Langley. What do you think we’re going to do?” Jake stared at him, his jaw a harsh line.
So tomorrow was assassination day. “And the MI6 mission?”
Adam shrugged. “Not our problem once we take out Nelson. We had a big sit-down last night with Damon. They believe Nelson is likely attempting to make a buy. At first they thought Molina was just taking kickbacks to allow the weapons shipments safe passage, but those meetings with Molina make me think he’s the middle man. He’s a dealer.”
“How does a borderline agoraphobic shut-in go from running a charity to arms dealing? Something’s wrong here.” It was a mystery, and he didn’t like it. It didn’t sit well with him. And if they took Nelson out, where did that leave Avery?
“No idea, but again that’s something for MI6 to deal with. We’re not going to take Nelson out in front of Molina. We’ve bugged the restaurant they’re meeting at. The Brits agreed to put an agent of theirs undercover as a waitress. We’re going to follow Nelson and take him out when it’s safe. Molina’s operation will continue, and MI6 can figure out just where the arms are coming from and we get to go home and get back to normal.” Jake turned, his eyes going a little cold. “Do you have an exit plan for that girl?”