“No.” I shook my head. “You’re not going to say it to me. I don’t work for you, Eloise. I don’t appreciate the drop by visits, or the lunch. Leave me alone.”
I moved away from the table, but her hand clasped my wrist, gripping against my watch.
“Ow,” I whined.
“You can’t walk away like that.”
I shook her off my arm and rubbed my wrist. “I’m not a recruit. I don’t care how much you threaten me. Vaughn can handle what you need him to do. He’s very good at his job. Leave me out of it. I won’t get that code for you.”
I ran out of the café before she could stop me with another assault of lies or manipulation. Before she broke through the thin wall I had built. Before she used my love for Vaughn against me.
Chapter Twelve
I poured two glasses of wine. The wine fridge was stocked with expensive delicious bottles. It wasn’t the kind of small cooler that looked as if it would fit in a dorm. No. This was a full-sized fridge, taller than I was.
I ran my finger along the counter. My eyes darted to the door every few seconds, watching the keyhole. Waiting for Vaughn to turn the lock and walk through the door.
Not long after six I heard the familiar click-click. The handle twisted and the door opened.
I took a sip of the red wine.
My gorgeous boyfriend walked into the kitchen. I offered him a glass.
“Hi, honey. I’m home.” He grinned.
“Hi.” It was hard not to smile, even when I was tense. Even when I was coursing with fear.
He kissed the side of my neck before accepting the glass. He eased onto the stool across from me.
“Something is going on.”
I nodded. “Something is.”
He took a swig of wine. “Fuck. I haven’t even been home five minutes.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
His fingers dug into my thigh, firm and reassuring. “Tell me what it is.”
“I want to know what your arrangement is with Blackwing.”
He drank another full gulp. “I don’t have an arrangement. I have a contract. Is that what you mean?”
I shook my head. “No. I want to know about me. What do they have on you?”
He blinked. “Where is this coming from?” His hand fell from my leg.
“Can you just answer? Be honest with me. That’s the agreement you and I have, isn’t it?”
“Of course it is, but where is this coming from?”
I sighed. I didn’t want to tell him about Eloise before I had the facts. I saw this happen in deposition after deposition. Revealing the source of the information first, often made the cause seem unimportant. I needed the cause.
I pressed him with my eyes. “What did you have to negotiate in order to bring me with you to Paris? I’ve always known there was something. I should have asked before now.”
Vaughn rubbed the side of his jaw. His wedding band caught the light. “I had to extend my contract with them. That’s all.”
“What kind of an extension?” There was no way it was that simple. I thought I was starting to understand more how Blackwing operated. It wasn’t the kind of organization that focused on family first. There weren’t any families.