Reyna bared her teeth. “I don’t even know what you have. It might not even be worth my time.”
“It is.” His confidence was unwavering. “Go talk to them. Get my assurances and…and I’ll start from the beginning.”
“Fine,” she spat. She vaulted out of her chair and burst through the door. She slammed it shut behind her, frustrated by the entire ordeal. She’d naively thought she’d be able to walk in there and he’d tell her everything that she wanted to know. Fuck, she should have known better. Nothing ever went her way that easily.
Gabe rounded the corner and dragged her away from the door. “Great job so far.”
“What? He hasn’t told me anything.”
“He’s told you a fuck ton. A spy for Harrington himself? Beckham as his mark? We’re getting so much out of this.”
She entered the second room and found Tony leaning over a series of monitors. Gabe moved to stand next to him and give her privacy as Beckham scooped her up. She threw her arms around his neck and buried herself into his chest.
“You’re okay,” he said soothingly. He traced lazy circles into her back. Then he kissed the top of her head and pulled back. “You’re okay.”
She swallowed and nodded. “Gabe said I did good.”
“You’re doing brilliant.”
“He was spying on you.”
“I heard.”
“Motherfucker,” she spat.
“You’re almost done.” He grinned and kissed her again.
“Well, what should I tell him? Do I meet his demands?”
“They only have to be met if he cooperates,” Tony said, not even bothering to look up from the computer. “If he delivers, we toss him in a prison cell and let the bastard rot away forever.”
“Then how are we any better than Visage?” she demanded.
Tony looked up at her and blinked. He was clearly used to living in a world of zeroes and ones. What she was suggesting didn’t compute.
“Reyna, we can’t let him go,” Gabe said.
“I didn’t say we should. But if we imprison him, then how is it any better than what happened to me?”
“He turned you in,” Beckham growled.
“And he turned himself in for this. For the beating he got and the interrogation. He did it knowing that someone he cared about could be killed. Could you imagine making that same sacrifice?”
“He’s manipulating you,” Gabe said with a sigh. “Are you suggesting we rehabilitate him? A man who admitted to being a trained spy?”
“No. I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I’d be happy if he was gone. I don’t want to lose focus of the reason we’re fighting against Visage. We don’t want to become as bad as they are.”
“Give him the assurances,” Beckham said.
“Beckham,” Gabe grumbled.
“Thank you,” Reyna said. “I’ll get what we need. If he doesn’t deliver and this is really a trap…I don’t care what you do to him.”
Beckham nodded. She knew the bargain she’d struck with him. Everett could be dead by the end of the night. The option was entirely up to him.
She left the guys in the room and strode back to Everett. She heard someone call behind her, but she was already inside. Everett grabbed her and wrapped his handcuffs around her neck, cutting off her air supply. She gasped for air and knew she had only seconds to react before he had complete control of her.
She stomped her foot onto the top of his. Something crunched and Everett howled. But he didn’t release her. She tried to jab at his kidneys or do anything that could incapacitate him, but he dodged her arms. Still cursing her for his foot.
With an instinct she’d mastered over hours and hours of training with her brothers, she grasped Everett’s arm, bent forward, and jerked him over her shoulder. Unprepared for the momentum that she had, he rolled up onto her hip and then she slammed him down onto his back. Her foot landed on his throat.
“Don’t fucking move,” she growled.
Gabe dashed into the room, holding a pistol in his hands. His eyes widened in shock at Everett lying flat on his back and Reyna on top of him. She knew that she wouldn’t have been able to deliver that so effectively if Everett hadn’t completely underestimated her. But it didn’t matter, because it had fucking worked.
“Well, I guess you handled that,” Gabe said, lowering his weapon.
“Why the hell would you attack me?” she shouted at Everett as Gabe manhandled him into the chair again.
Once Everett was seated, he shrugged. “No one wants to be a prisoner. You would have been good leverage.”
Reyna shot him an exasperated look and stalked away from him. He had only made things worse for himself by underestimating her. What an idiot!
A few minutes later, Everett’s hands and feet were tied to the chair and Gabe finally left. Everett’s eyes were on her. They still hadn’t quite lost their shock.
Her hand went to her throat where the handcuffs had dug into the skin. “I had assurances for you. Now if you don’t tell me, they’ll kill you. And I’ll let them.”