The Boss Assignment (Rogue Protectors Book 3) by Victoria Paige (summer beach reads .TXT) 📕

“How many sandwiches do you need? I’m taking this …” Declan lifted the top of a biscuit. “Ham and cheese.” His phone chimed again and he groaned. “She said she’s already in the loop anyway, and you need her before you can do anything. So why can’t she come over?”

Garrison grunted. “No cops in this house.”

Antonio seconded this.

“We might need a favor from her every now and then.”

“Looks like that’ll apply more to you,” Bristow chuckled.

“This middle of the line thing is screwing with my marriage,” Declan muttered as he typed a text back to his wife.

There was a ding right back.

“Put that thing away,” Garrison ordered. “And put it on silent. Or better yet turn it off. We’ve got something to discuss.”

“Fuck.” Declan slipped the phone into his back pocket. “If she divorces me because of this …”

“She won’t, but you can decide whether to tell her this …” Garrison paused. “Someone tried to shank Claudette in prison.”

Charly’s eyes flew to Antonio with a masochistic desire to see his reaction to the news that someone tried to kill his former lover.

Uncertainty wound around her heart like barbed wire, underscoring the fragility of what was starting between them.

They’d hardly started.

Was it even a relationship?

He said he couldn’t promise anything.

Was that the same thing he told Claudette?

Antonio didn’t give anything away, his face stoic. He took a measured sip of his coffee before asking, “Is she all right?”

“I’ve got to say, Antonio, your ex-fiancée is quite the survivor,” the CIA officer continued. “Yes, other than defensive wounds on her forearms, she managed to turn the weapon on her attacker.”

Charly fretted over the word “ex-fiancée.”

“We’ve dug deeper into her assailant’s background and she’s linked loosely to a Ukrainian criminal organization that has affiliations in Los Angeles.”

“Are they the same ones who bid on the Z-91?”

Garrison looked at Bristow, who glanced up from chewing. “No direct link yet. I told you Nadia is better at digging up shit.”

“As of now, Powell is not working for us.”

“Was that the woman who was providing communication in Mexico?” Antonio asked. “Did you piss her off, Garrison?”

“None of your business,” John replied. “Are you deflecting? Aren’t you interested in what Claudette has to say? Looks like to me you’re the one who might have pissed off the one person who can tell us who’s behind this.”

“Don’t keep us in suspense.” A muscle ticked at Antonio’s jaw. “What does she want?”

“So cold …” Garrison glanced briefly at Charly before returning his attention to the businessman. His message was clear, but she wasn’t sure if he was doing that to get a rise out of the man who’d become her lover. “… considering you never really ended your relationship.”

The barbed wire pierced deeper. Suddenly, Charly didn’t know where to look. Her eyes met Bristow’s and she had to drop her gaze at the sympathy in them. She cleared the lump in her throat and raised her eyes and stared at Antonio again. Keeping her face neutral was making her jaw hurt.

“After she entered your prison system, I couldn’t find her,” Antonio said. “And Claudette knows what we had didn’t constitute a relationship. ”

“Sure about that?” Garrison asked. “Because one of her terms for helping us was to have a face-to-face with you.”

Antonio still wouldn’t look at her, all his laser attention was on the CIA officer as if he fully intended to shred him to ribbons. “That’s fair.”

Oh my God. So that meant he agreed that there was still something tethering him to Claudette?

“Good!” Garrison responded instantly as he started tackling his food. “We have a noon appointment.” He turned his attention to Declan. “That you can tell Gabby.”

“Are you sure you want her anywhere near Claudette before you get information out of her?” Declan asked.

“Good point,” John replied. “But I thought that was some information she’d latch onto.”

“John, you know Gabby is on to your shit. You’re just throwing her a bone, but the steak is right here,” Declan tilted his head in Antonio’s direction.

“Somehow,” Charly started as another conclusion dawned on her. “I feel like I was bait, and Antonio was the real target.”

“Nonsense,” Bristow said. “John is nothing but an opportunist. He has no love lost for Claudette. He would have found his answers if Nadia hadn’t bailed on him.”

“Why did Nadia bail?” Declan asked.

“She’s had enough of spook work,” Garrison muttered.

“Gabby said she wouldn’t give a straight answer,” Declan added. “And I sure as fuck hope you’re not giving Claudette a chance to walk free. She needs to rot in hell for all she’s done.”

“Careful,” John said. “You don’t want to hurt Antonio’s feelings … especially…”

“Enough!” Antonio slammed his palm on the table, startling Charly as his chair scraped back and he stood. “I draw the line at hurting children and that includes taking them away from their parents.” He looked at Declan. “I have no sympathy for her because of what she put you and your wife through. You can be assured any reduction in her sentence will not come from my influence.” Glancing back at John, he added, “Arrange the meeting. Even if she imagined the extent of our relationship, I want closure for me and her in every way. Now if you all will excuse me, I have some calls to make.”

“But you haven’t finished eating,” Charly protested.

Finally, Antonio gave her his eyes. Gone was the warmth and teasing from earlier. In its place was the steely gaze of the Antonio who she met back in Mexico. The Antonio who ordered her on the plane. “Keep it in the fridge. I’ll eat it later. Do not throw it away. We do not waste food.”

Antonio walked out the door and appeared to be heading to the patio fronting the basement entrance.

Silence reigned at the table until Bristow said, “John, you can be such a dick.”

“What were you trying to accomplish?” Charly fumed. That was the most uncomfortable interrogation and even she felt she was put on the hot seat. “Putting Antonio