The King (Gentlemen Rogues 2)

Ten seconds later, the lock flashed green and I pushed the door open.

I saw nothing of importance. I didn't even know what I was looking for, just following protocol. I’d lost my asset, so I had to assess the environment, assess where I’d gone wrong, and make notes for next time.

Yes, but you are also sulking.

Okay, fine, I was sulking. I had messed up. Gabe had tried to give me advice, but I had been so convinced I knew what to do. Fuck.

Empty. Damn it. There was nothing in there. Nothing that said anything about her. I had trusted her, and instead of me building the asset, she was playing me.

And like a fool, I fell for it.

Asset development 101: Don't become their asset.

I was a fool.

You can focus on being a fool or focus on fixing it. Now, think.

If I were her and I was being watched, what would I do? What were the possible scenarios? Then it came to me. We hadn't tapped her phones, so she'd likely gotten a call out. A call could be traced.

I mentioned the idea to Rook, but he was already checking, so what else? What had I missed? She’d made us think she was buying our act, which meant she was already wise to us.

But why even call out our names unless she knew exactly who I really was and had been watching us.

She’d known that we had eyes on her, which meant everything had to happen quickly and quietly without us noticing. God knew, she had some help, but she wasn't with anyone in New York as far as we knew.

Unless...

She wasn't alone. That meant either we'd had bad intel again or she was with someone who could vanish or who didn't exist. I quickly searched the room looking for signs that I was right.

We’d wanted her to lead us to Webster, thinking that he wouldn’t be with her, especially not after what happened in the Winston Isles. But what if he was?

Jesus.

Oh fuck, he'd been here with her all along. We’d been expecting her to lead us to him, and he had been here right under our noses.

I started dialing Lock, but before I could get a call through, a hand clamped over my mouth. “You always were too smart for your own good."