She nodded. “He’ll probably have a guard. But that’s where you come in. You’re pretty good at fluttering your eyelashes. I’m sure you won’t mind doing that again tonight to distract them.”
Placing her hands on her hips, Millie raised her chin. “I may be gorgeous, but I have a brain, too. I never would’ve gotten this far without it.”
“Are we really going down this road again? Yes, you’re good at your job. But out of the two of us, who has the greatest chance of convincing Will to trust us?”
“I suspect this Leyna person. Who was she again?”
Shaking her head, Petra motioned toward the hallway. “Just help get things ready for tonight. We’ll reconvene two hours before. In the meantime, I have some people to contact.”
Millie rolled her eyes. “Right, like all of those ones who turned down helping you with this assignment?”
Petra gritted her teeth and forced her voice to be even. “I did manage to get some help with regards to weapons and a place to stay, but I’m not going to argue with you any more. Leave before I take out some of my pent-up energy by punching you in the face.”
“As if you could best me.”
“You said that about Will, and he just about had you unconscious.”
Millie sniffed. “I had things under control.”
Petra massaged her temples. “You’re nearly as bad as my brother.”
“I’d say the same about one of mine, except he’s mellowed out a lot since finding love. Maybe you should try the same.”
“Yes, because a woman with dangerous enemies is quite the catch.” She waved toward the door again. “I need a break from you to regroup. Go.”
Studying her a second, Millie nodded. “I’ll check in with you in a few hours.”
As soon as she heard Millie’s door close, Petra let out a sigh and placed her head in her hands. Not because of Millie, although the woman tried her patience, but because Petra had exactly nine hours to contain her feelings about Will.
Despite her display of nonchalance with Millie, seeing Will again was going to be difficult. She couldn’t risk showing any sign of affection because she had a feeling that if she did, Will might try to pursue her.
Not because he felt the same way about her as she did him, but Will would want answers. Once he put his mind to finding them, he didn’t give up. The man had always been as stubborn as an ox. And given his new position, he might even have the resources and contacts necessary to find her later if he tried.
Rubbing her face, Petra inhaled deeply. Right. She could do this. All she had to do was save the man she still loved and then hurt him so badly he’d want nothing to do with her ever again. That couldn’t be that difficult, right?
If that were so, then why did her heart ache at the thought of never seeing William Evans again? Petra was starting to understand why people hired mercenaries to take care of a problem within a family. Attachments, no matter how well bottled up, made things fucking difficult.
~~~
Will had just managed to don his white coat and boot up his computer before Gio walked into his lab. Even though Will had seen the man’s face a hundred times before over the last few weeks, this time Will noticed something different. Gio’s usually calm and collected face was replaced with a clenched jaw and narrowed eyes. Will asked, “Did you talk with your father?”
Gio took a deep inhalation and let out his breath. “Yes. He wanted to take away my high-level clearance.”
Will couldn’t care less about Gio’s relations with his adopted father. But Gio was the reason Will had his freedom, so he needed to ensure nothing went wrong. “Why?”
“Because Liang told my father I’ve spent too much time in the children’s research wing.”
Will shrugged. Liang was the director of the research facility in Sichuan. “You have spent too much time there. I told you to be cautious.”
Gio motioned with his hands about the room, asking if it was safe to talk. Since Will had neutralized the bugs, he nodded and Gio continued, “You know what they’re doing is illegal. Keeping first-borns locked up to protect both themselves and the public is one thing. But keeping children with no magical powers in prison and denying them an education, that’s criminal.”
“Spoken like a true future politician.”
“Stop it, Evans. I will find a way into the British Parliament and once I’m there, I’ll ensure the safety of humans and Feiru without violating the law.”
If given the chance, Gio would carry on about the future of Feiru-kind for an hour. Glancing to the clock, Evans changed the topic. “The volunteer test subjects are still coming, right?”
“Yes, they’ll be here momentarily. Although you want to make sure you don’t fuck this up, Evans.”