With shaking hands, she took the file. “May I read it at my desk?”
“Of course. Take a few moments.” Nigel nodded her way. “But I really can’t let you leave.”
She turned and walked out the door. She was suddenly afraid there was no way out of the trap. None at all.
Damon called out for her, but she kept walking. She might not be done with the operation, but she was certainly done with him.
Tears blurred her eyes, but she brushed them away as she sat down and opened the file. It was time to work. If there was one thing in the world Penelope Cash understood, it was duty.
Chapter Nine
Damon let the door slam shut before rounding on Tennessee Smith. He was killing mad. Her face. Her sweet face had gone blank and he’d known he’d just destroyed something lovely and fragile. Now Ten just happened to mention that it was all for nothing?
“You couldn’t have said something when you walked past the bloody door?”
Ten just smirked. “Hey, I always like a little drama, man.”
Damon got in his face. “Do you understand what you did?”
“I understand what you did. I understand that you fucked that girl and then broke her heart. That was quite easy to see. Don’t worry about it. Baz’ll probably kill her, but then you won’t give a shit. She’s just a pawn, right?”
Rage boiled and he couldn’t stop himself. He reared back and his fist met Ten’s jaw. He was satisfied with the way his hand cracked, the way Ten stumbled back.
Ten dropped his usual charming-guy act, his eyes hardening. “I’ll take that once, Knight, because I think you just figured out how much you fucked up your own life, but don’t try it again. You won’t like the outcome.”
“Knight, you will stand down!” Nigel got between the two of them, his face a bright red. “I told you it was a bad idea.”
“I was trying to protect her.” He couldn’t let Baz have her. He couldn’t allow it. Since Baz seemed determined to take everything Damon gave a damn about, he couldn’t keep Penelope. Baz had killed Jane without a thought, but he would likely torture Penelope. He would make her hurt.
“You protected her by ripping her heart out and stomping all over it in front of everyone?” Ten asked.
“I had to. You don’t understand her. She wouldn’t have left me.” Penelope would have stood by his side no matter what the cost. She was brave and smart, and for some reason, she’d started to love him. He wasn’t a fool. He knew she was attracted to him. He’d used it to his advantage, but it wasn’t until a few moments ago that he realized how deep her feelings went. She’d declared to everyone that Baz couldn’t break them up, that she was here for him.
He believed her.
Which was why he had to let her go.
Ten snorted, his hand rubbing along his jawline. “It didn’t occur to you to talk to her about the situation? To sit her down and give her your logic?”
“She wouldn’t have left me.” She would have found a way. She hadn’t left him in the Tube station despite his direct orders. Baz could have taken her out while she held his unconscious body.
“Well, I doubt she’ll give a damn about you now.” Nigel moved back to his desk. “What a bloody mess. We need her. Do we know how thoroughly compromised we are?”
Ten glared his way but took a seat across from Nigel. “He doesn’t specify which operation he’s targeting, but he mentioned Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have twenty operatives in those countries under various covers. Some of them have been working their way into terrorist cells for years. If we have to pull them, it’s a massive setback.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Damon couldn’t sit. He was too tightly wound. He’d wanted Ten to hit him back, wanted a brutal fight. His hands were still clenched in fists thinking about Penelope sitting out there alone. She’d gone pale. He’d thought for a moment she might faint. “You’re going to have to pull them all. SIS doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.”
“That’s not your call, Knight.” Nigel leaned back. “He’s threatening our operations, too.”
“Do you still think he’s working for the Chinese?” Damon couldn’t resist the gibe. “Do you think the Chinese are behind any of this?”
“I think it doesn’t matter who he’s working for. It could all be a bluff, but after realizing our tech department’s been compromised, I can’t call him on it. I need you to meet with him. You have to figure out what he wants and if it has anything to do with the operation on the boat. Given that he’s planning on meeting you somewhere in Northern Europe, I would say he does have something to do with this whole Nature’s Core mess.”
“He told me he wanted to talk about the operation when he cornered me in the Tube.” And if Baz was involved, then The Collective was involved. How was The Collective involved with an environmental group?
“All the more reason to run the operation as planned,” Nigel explained. “Beyond that, I need you to give me time to figure out what he knows.”
“And when we have everything we need on him?”
Nigel’s eyes narrowed, staring right into his. “Then I need you to kill him.”
Finally someone was talking sense. “Of course.” That was a forgone conclusion. He would make it his life’s mission to see Baz in the ground. “But Penelope is out of this. And I want those photos destroyed.”
His vision had misted over with a red haze of anger when he’d seen the photo Baz had left with his directive. Tell Damon I want to talk to him or this continues. I’ll get him instructions on time and place. And he should bring his whore with him.
The photo had been grainy, a still from a video. The bug on her bag had caught them in the act. Penelope’s legs were spread, his hand on her pussy, her pretty face open. The moment of her orgasm. It was ingrained on his brain. He would very likely die thinking about it. It was their intimate moment, the first time he’d been with her.
And Baz had put it out there for everyone to see. Like it was a porno.
That was what he planned for Penelope. Humiliation and death. He couldn’t allow it to happen. She was more than an asset. She was…
He wasn’t even sure of what he felt. He simply knew that she wasn’t safe around him. His first job was to protect Penelope. Somehow she’d become important.