Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“Distasteful?” Outrage sparked through her.
“I wasn’t trying to…” Drake stopped two steps down from her, his hands fisting at his sides. “Taylor, I did not sleep with you to get information on your father.”
“You asshole.” Kim moved out from behind her.
Drake’s hand came up as though he was trying to fend off the oncoming attack. “Now, Solo, you know how these things go. It was mentioned to me that she and her father were lying about his whereabouts. I knew he was taking side trips to Moscow-friendly countries. So yes, I know her father was a double, but I don’t blame her. Of course she helped him. He was her father. She might not have known what was happening.”
Despite the fact that she’d known what the Agency suspected, hearing it from Drake’s lips made her flush with anger all over again. Did everyone think her father was a traitor? Had the Agency used those rumors to bolster their position in the world? Did everyone who knew her before think she was in prison because she’d betrayed her country?
“So you slept with her to find out,” Kim accused.
“No. I slept with her because she’s gorgeous and I cared about her. I slept with her because I wanted to sleep with her,” Drake argued.
Well, of course he did now that there was an op involved. It wasn’t like the man had come looking for her. He said he’d been “planning” to find her, but he’d likely known where she was all along.
“But you knew the Agency was investigating Lev,” Kim countered.
“He knew because I told him.” Brad jumped into the fray.
“He told me, but I never once asked her a question.” Drake stared Kim down. “I didn’t use my position with her for anything but to get close on a personal level. She was leaving. She was getting out. I made plans with her for after she left.”
He’d made lots of plans. All of them lies.
“Look, I told him what I knew because he was there and he needed all the information I could give him,” Brad explained. “I certainly didn’t tell him to sleep with her. I told him to be careful.”
He had been. He’d carefully maneuvered her into a position where she would have told him anything. Those questions had been coming. Drake would never have been so overt as to simply ask her. Not in the beginning. He’d set himself up to be in her life for a little while. He would have taken that time to make her comfortable. When she’d slept, he might have slipped out of bed and looked through her laptop. Probably downloaded it for later inspection. If they’d had more time, he would have casually gotten her to talk about her father.
Her father’s death had fucked with Drake’s plans. How sad for him.
Drake held up both hands. “We’re not getting anywhere with this. I need to know what happened that day. I need to know where they took Taylor and where her father is. I’m done being kept in the dark. Where’s the conference room? We’re going to sit down and hash this out after I’ve spoken to Taylor privately.”
She wasn’t going to be alone with him. “You can do whatever you like. I’m going to call the director and explain that I’m not going to work with you.”
“And he’ll explain that there is no op without me,” Drake returned with a savage edge. “You have no idea how close I am to this. This doesn’t happen without me or Kyle.”
“Then find yourself another operative.” She wasn’t actually going to walk away. She’d worked too hard for this, but she wasn’t letting Drake have the upper hand. She turned and started up the stairs. “Kim, if you’re okay with it, we can head back to Bliss.”
She’d made it to the big landing when she felt a hand on her elbow. She turned and Drake was right there, his handsome face flushed with emotion.
“You’re not going anywhere. I know there’s been some kind of apocalyptic misunderstanding here, but if you’re involved in this op then you’re involved with me.”
She pulled her arm away. “I assure you, no one is more involved than me, and I don’t care if you were the one who was asleep at the wheel when Julia Ennis turned. Your guilt means nothing to me. I’m sure you’re feeling like your ego got trashed because a female agent outwitted you, but I don’t care. Julia Ennis set in motion the plan that ended up killing my father. At least that’s what we thought at the time. Now we know she’s been alive all this time, so she might have been the one to actually pull the trigger. That’s why he’s dead. You didn’t stop her. Hell, she was probably pretty and you were too busy trying to fuck her to see she was working you over.”